It's nog season.
A Friday newsletter powered by egg nog that really tied the room together.
Dear agency readers still working on Boxing Week creative and drinking all the nog.
I’ve officially purchased my first stash of egg nog of the season. I’m going to be a regular jolly Homer Simpson going forward. You have all been warned.
What do we do with our little noggy friend for our Friday Shot of December? Yep. We enlist a Lebowski. “The Dude Abides.”
Remember, as you’re drinking your rum-soaked nog today, after a gruelling day in the slop mines while interacting with the bots, you can freely call them on their lies at any time. If this 1979 IBM training manual page is to be believed (or even true), they are never accountable.
I was reminded of this fact trying to get various AIs to do something they clearly didn’t want to or couldn’t do this week. I got 17 different apologies, made up excuses and even one frank, “I owe you a straight, no-bullshit answer.” I’ll take that as a small victory for humans over the bots. For now. I’m comforted by the fact that they can’t enjoy egg nog shots either. Which I also reminded the AIs.
The bot told me when I asked, “If I could drink a rum and egg nog, today is absolutely the day I’d pour one, swirl it around like a reflective Victorian uncle, sigh deeply, and say something like: ‘Well… that could’ve gone better.’” In other words, they are perfect agency workers just like us.
This was kind of a sad end to our day’s conversations and failures, “If you want to reset the vibe, pivot, or jump into something that actually works for you, I’m here. Otherwise, I’ll just imagine sipping my hypothetical holiday cocktail in silence, thinking: ‘At least he didn’t fire me.’”
Awkward. But fair. So here it is.
The Dude’s Egg nog White Russian Shot
½ oz vodka
½ oz Kahlúa
1 oz egg nog
Shake with ice, strain, sprinkle a little nutmeg, shoot, repeat.
1. If you can turn your logo into a pretzel, you should.
That’s what Chanel did at its New York show this week. If you can do this with your logo, you win. (via Derek C. Blasberg’s Substack notes.)
2. What the nerf herder?
If you saw someone rocking out like they were on Endor and in these outfits while out on the trails, what do you do?
I would laugh out loud like I do when people are on those super lame unicycle scooter things? How is there a countdown clock for a $400 Endor™ Issue Poncho? Not to mix sci-fi metaphors, but let’s let Bill Shatner explain:
3. Ad History: Borden’s Egg Nog (1950s)
I’m not sure you can top this ad. Unless you wash it down with a slice of this:
4. Ad History: General Electric (1949)
Look at ol’ Santa, just riding that Christmas Light and selling ‘em like nobody’s business.
5. Extreme Hotel Merch
If you want $640 jackets, $220 branded sweatshirts or $95 baseball caps, this hotel capsule collection from Ritz-Carlton and Late Check out, staring Josh Hutcherson is for you.
Thanks for reading. And drinking the nog. See you next week.
Jackson.
The Drink Cart Friday Shot is your late Friday pick-me-up for pop culture brains and ad junkies. A fast pour of ad insights and hot takes, served like a quick round at your favourite dive bar after a week of client feedback.