In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at four stories to think about next week, including: Burgers & the Great Unpolishing, the Power of Nostalgia in QSR, Are We Delusional or Locked-In and is Meta Losing Their Wearable Good Will?
In addition, we have ads from: Chupa Chups, Blizzard, Super Members Council, Coca-Cola and NPR.
// Stories of the Week:
1.) Burger CEOs and the ‘Great Unpolishing’.
Fast Food CEOs told us a lot about the direction of pop culture recently. In a week where the McDonald’s CEO struggled to sample his brand’s new burger, prompting other burger CEOs to gleefully pile on, the risks of performative authenticity are on show as culture shifts further towards rougher, more truly authentic stories. This ‘Great Unpolishing’ isn’t new, but it’s grown all around us. From shifts towards more confessional albums, the return of low-fi films and content, the continued push against polished, but empty, ‘AI slop’ and more awards going to difficult, unlikable characters – we’re seeing a renewed appreciation of the vulnerable, imperfect and unpolished.
Brands leaning into unpolished authenticity don’t have to be boring, they just have to know what they truly stand for and embrace potential cringe. Fruit of the Loom’s ‘T-Shirt Suits’ in Japan (where double breasted suits made of jersey are sold in a bag) and Taco Bell’s recent Apple-esque product launches are both examples of authenticity and self awareness coming together. Both brands are leaning into their rich, and sometimes chaotic, heritage instead of polishing in search of aspiration. In a similar vein, perhaps the next burger CEO who struggles to wolf down his own product should just admit that even they don’t always love fast food.
2.) The Power of Nostalgic QSR.
If you were a kid in the US in the 80s and 90s, this NYT article about ‘Pizza Hut Classics’ locations probably has its own smells, sounds and tastes. Tiffany lamps, pan pizzas and red drinking glasses hold a nostalgic pull that you can’t fully appreciate unless you were there. Trips to a Pizza Hut stopped being as magical once the brand pivoted from its ‘red hat’ locations to more take-away offerings. However, as the article covers, the brand has created embassies of 90s nostalgia with their ‘Pizza Hut Classic’ format, allowing franchisees in certain locations to restore their restaurant to its pre 2000s glory.
The move seems more organic internally at Pizza Hut than expected, many didn’t know how many there were and there doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast list. However this confusion adds to the discovery in a way, making it seem like you can stumble across a time when reading a book at school to get a pizza, winning a baseball game or a family dinner out felt a little different.With people reportedly driving up to 5 hours to go to a ‘classic’, nostalgia in QSR is more than a pop-up opportunity. Now all we need is a Wendy’s with a salad bar and a solarium.
3.) Are We Delusional or Locked In?
TikTok’s sixth annual trend forecast, officially declares the “delulu” era dead, replaced by what it calls “Reali-TEA”: a collective pivot from romanticized escapism to grounded discipline, accountability, and shared struggle. The signature movement behind it is #TheGreatLockIn, a self-improvement sprint that started in mid-2025 and carried into 2026. However, ‘locking in’ isn’t a universally welcome shift, as the report states that 24% of non-participants called the ‘Lock In’ “toxic and performative”. The contradiction shows a pragmatism amongst younger audiences – recognizing that neither escapism or hustle is a catch all for the world we find ourselves in. Fantasy feeds are being replaced by grounded, useful content but everyone recognizes it will take more than one useful video to find a solution for today’s challenges.
4.) Is Meta Losing Their Wearable Good Will?
Meta sold over 7 million Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2025 – tripling year-over-year sales through making technology fashionable. However, the delicate balance the brand strikes to avoid a similar fate to devices like Google Glass is at risk on several fronts. A Swedish investigation revealed that Kenyan data workers annotating Meta glasses footage see “everything – from living rooms to naked bodies”, while a US class action lawsuit was filed alleging Meta’s “designed for privacy” marketing is “materially misleading.” With a new Android app called ‘Nearby glasses’ launching to detect smart glasses within 10 meters of a user, and greater scrutiny on the data it captures – are we seeing a turning point for Meta’s glasses?
Meta reports that demand is so strong for the devices that it plans 20m units of annual capacity, but the vibe change in how it’s being perceived is building and could mean we’re seeing the high water mark instead of continued success. Meta’s partnership with Rayban created a shield from the privacy issue and awkwardness of wearable tech, but how it handles the newest round of challenges will dictate whether that defense, and the good will that comes with it, can hold.
// Ads You Might Have Missed:
1.) ‘The Right to Be Curious’ – NPR:
When curiosity is under threat, asking questions is the best way to show its value. US public radio broadcaster NPR has altered its logo for the first time in 56 years, swapping the letters for “Who,” “How,” and “Why”, with the result shared on billboards, atop its DC headquarters, and in a full-page New York Times manifesto. The campaign reframes NPR from “news organization under siege” to “defender of curiosity” – a posture similar to a recent Guardian US effort. With Congress cutting funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, NPR comes out swinging instead of asking for sympathy. A brand with curiosity at its core is putting the need for curiosity on show, and in the process reminding people what’s at stake beyond its logo vanishing.
2.) ‘Save Me’ – Blizzard:
How do you promote an update to a game that’s 25 years old? If you’re Blizzard, you turn a potential legal dispute into a marketing partnership. To launch “Reign of the Warlock,” a new character class and late-game content drop for Diablo II, the brand tapped rapper and self-professed Diablo superfan Bbno$ to create an original music video and song. The collaboration is made more interesting by the fact that Bbno$ reportedly received a cease and desist from Blizzard for using Diablo-themed visuals on his website. The same fan behavior that triggered the legal team is now powering the marketing campaign. It’s a small but telling shift for long-running franchises: the people most likely to push IP boundaries are often the ones keeping the culture around a property alive.
3.) ‘Jump’ – Coca-Cola:
World Cup sponsors have the unenviable task of exciting consumers about a tournament mired in confusion and controversy – with uncertainty on city hosting, ticket prices and fan access. Stepping up to this challenge to find value for its massive investment, Coca-Cola has released their World Cup campaign that feels like Daft Punk’s ‘Interstella 5555’ met Van Halen at a late night party. J Balvin and Amber Mark’s cover of Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ features Travis Barker and Steve Vai – as well as an animated video, directed by Mcflyy and with a cameo from young footballer Lamine Yamal. The ad is earnest in its attempt to talk about the tournament, but pictures of a space station monitoring football fans evokes ‘FIFA space headquarters’ as much as soft drinks. While it aims to spark a global party, its giant robots are also giving ‘enjoy the tournament or else vibes’. With three months to go until kickoff however, there’s still time for sponsors to make the occasion more David Lee Roth than Gary Cherone.
4.) ‘Impossible’ – Chupa Chups:
When everything claims to be frictionless, friction itself stands out even more. In announcing their new, easier to open wrapper, confectionery brand Chupa Chups has leaned into the opposite – creating the hardest to open lollipop ever made. The limited edition ‘Final Boss’ has been encased in carbon composite, wrapped in aramid fibres, coated in silicon carbide and dipped in liquid rubber. For consumers that have complained for years online about the brand’s packaging, the new edition shows how much worse it could have been. The stunt becomes an acknowledgement and a product announcement, fixing an issue by making it into a talkable strength.
5.) ‘Look After Your Super’ – Super Members Council:
Australia’s Super Members Council, representing 12 million members and $1.6 trillion in retirement savings, has launched an education campaign that reframes savings through a new visual metaphor – a golden goose. The ads, which eschew the traditional category fare of falling dominos or compound interest graphs, instead use the animal to show that if you look after your goose now, it looks after you later.
Nearly half of Australians say they don’t understand superannuation basics, but those who do are up to 6x more likely to take action like making extra contributions. The goose looks poised to create an enduring icon that may drive greater engagement with a complex topic – if it can create a similar compound effect over time to retirement savings themselves.
// Sunday Snippets
// Marketing & Advertising //
– Nike ACG creates a portable stadium kit allowing football to be played anywhere [Sports]
– The Australian Red Cross creates a band of musicians all saved by Life Blood donations [Charity]
– Taco Bell’s ‘Live Mas’ events are making it feel like the ‘Apple of Fast Food’ [Food]
– Car brand Cadillac launches in Australia with retro styled campaign ad [Auto]
– Robinhood takes on Amex and Chase with a premium competitor card [Finance]
– Uber mulls moving from a commission to subscription model for drivers [Travel]
– The collapse of Brewdog leaves pubs closing, employees suddenly jobless and ‘Equity Punks’ out in the cold [Food]
– Middle East conflict has grounded fast fashion in India and Bangladesh [Fashion]
– Amongst gains within younger drinkers, Pepsi looks to be the ‘choice of a new generation’ again [Food]
– On Running launches a new ad soundtracked by Fred Again and Jamie T [Sports]
– Graza shows its serious about mayo [Food]
– Merrell launches its latest brand platform ‘It Starts Outside’ with a poetic ad celebrating the outdoors [Sports]
– Jim Beam & Cadillac celebrate the launch of the Cadillac F1 team by highlighting a longer heritage together than most would assume [Sports]
– David is rumoured to be launching an ice cream with 30g of protein. The cows must be taking a few hours off a day to hit the squat rack. [Food]
– Luckin Coffee looks to acquire US chain Blue Bottle [Retail]
– Arsenal drops a cameo laden ad to promote their new fan app [Sports]
– Grocery chain LIDL announces they’re selling budget priced carbon plated running shoes [Sports]
// Technology & Media //
– IPSOS research shows that ‘AI Use’ and ‘AI Frequency’ are different things [AI]
– Harvard professors bemoan AI’s impact on student thinking [AI]
– Excel becomes an AI battleground as OpenAI announces new integration [AI]
– The IAB Europe looks at the ‘State of Sustainability in Advertising’ [Sustainability]
– Pew research shows that TikTok still has a hold on American attention [Social Media]
– X revamps creator subscriptions [Social Media]
– Meta allows AI rivals on Whatsapp in Europe to stave off anti-trust allegations [Media]
– Selena Gomez adds 415m to her ‘secret friends’ on Instagram to promote new podcast [Social Media]
// Life & Culture //
– As marathons become harder to enter, misplaced anger towards charity runners is increasing [Sports]
– How late night TV co-opted creator culture…or why is everyone eating spicy chicken wings? [Culture]
– Adidas unveils a custom soccer jersey celebrating Tina Turner [Fashion]
– Nonchalant? In today’s economy? Why Gen X still struggles with being ambitious [Culture]
– Are GenZ really unprepared for today’s workforce? Is anyone truly prepared for today’s workforce? [Work]
– Every outdoor basketball rim you see in NYC, is made in NYC [Sports]
– Why are celebrities on Go Fund Me and why does it make people so angry? [Culture]
// Until Next Sunday
As always, let me know what you think by email (dubose@newclassic.agency), website or on LinkedIn.
You can also listen to an audio summary and discussion of each week’s newsletter on Spotify. We’re also on TikTok!
