The Zeitgeist: October 10, 2025

Today's Edition: BNPL, Body Care and AI Teammates

October 10, 2025

Good morning. This week, Advertising Week took over NYC, packing 20,000 attendees into 550 sessions, 1,200 speakers and 40 brand activations - enough to make even the most caffeinated marketer dizzy. Ad Age has the best on-the-ground recaps and insights, from marketers feeling AI fatigue to what to consider before your next brand collab.

Meanwhile, it was a banner week for rebrands - Lay’s, Long John Silver’s and Domino’s all unveiled new looks. Bold moves and bold timing, especially after the Cracker Barrel fiasco reminded everyone that not all refreshes go down easy.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Gushers turned its freaky ’90s ‘Fruitheads’ ad into a full-blown horror short

FruitHead blends nostalgic humor and psychological terror for Halloween.

By Tim Nudd | Ad Age

LEGO and Nike team up to reimagine shanghai primary school as modular sports playground

Lego China and Nike turned a child’s doodle of a 3x2 Lego brick into a full-scale, reconfigurable play zone at a Shanghai elementary school.

By Staff | Designboom

Also, KFC’s Big A** Wet-Nap, M&M’s Halloween Rescue Squad returns, Airhead’s Decoy Boy for trick-or-treating, DUDEWIPE’s Dumpkin Spice wipes, Columbia Sportswear’s “Engineered for Whatever” NYC stunt and Coca-Cola x Converse’s collab Chuck 70s.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

How Smelling Like a Doughnut Became the Latest Body Care Craze

Brands aren’t shying away from polarizing scents - they’re embracing the buzz and joining the conversation.

By Natasha Khan | The Wall Street Journal

What You’ll Be Eating in 2026, According to Grocery Trend Forecasters

Fiber, fancy frozen foods and beef tallow are a few of the trends that Whole Foods Market is predicting for 2026.

By Derin Yilmaz | Food & Wine

What makes a man? The internet is defining it for teen boys.

Digital masculinity content is causing higher levels of loneliness and lower self esteem in young boys.

By Caitlin Gibson | Washington Post

Corporate

Cisco unveils framework to transform workforce collaboration with AI agents

Cisco unveiled a new vision for AI “teammates” that automate tasks, manage workflows and communicate with each other.

By Tony Case | Worklife

Victoria’s Secret Is Desperate to Learn How to Sell Bras Again

CEO Hillary Super aims to revive its cultural cachet with new stores, a revamped fashion show and bras designed for a broader range of women.

By Lily Meier | Bloomberg

Columbia professor says ‘don’t be yourself’ in the workplace, actually. Here’s why authenticity is ‘overrated’

A new book by UCL and Columbia professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic argues that while authenticity boosts self-esteem, it can hinder leadership and perception.

By Sasha Rogelberg | Fortune

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print.

“Buy Now, Pay Later” has fueled a frenzy of consumption, while pulling users deeper into a debt spiral.

By Amy X. Wang | The New York Times

Drone delivery is finally having its moment

Drone delivery is accelerating as companies like Chipotle, GoTo Foods, Amazon and Walmart expand pilot programs enabled by new federal regulations.

By Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Business Insider

Why Did Walmart Just Buy a Shopping Mall?

The company plans to turn the Monroeville Mall in PA into a mixed-use development that will include retail, dining and entertainment space.

By Lauren Coleman-Lochner | The New York Times

Holiday shopping will look different this year, Adobe predicts: AI-assisted purchasing will jump a staggering 520%

Adobe expects activity to peak around Thanksgiving, with AI driving boosts in toys, electronics and jewelry.

By Alex Vuocolo | Fortune

Connections

Feed intelligence & AI tips

What the Arrival of A.I. Video Generators Like Sora Means for Us

The arrival of Sora - and rival AI video tools from Meta and Google - could mark the end of visual fact as we know it.

By Brian X. Chen | The New York Times

Patreon CEO Jack Conte Wants You to Get Off of Your Phone

In an interview on Uncanny Valley, WIRED’s podcast, Conte talks ChatGPT, Prince and the differences between influencers and creators.

By Katie Drummond | WIRED

Corporate Anxiety Is Fueling a Multimillion-Dollar Industry of Gen Z Translators

New firms are emerging to help brands reach a demographic whose global spending power will jump from $9.8T in 2024 to $12.6T by 2030.

By Katie Deighton | The Wall Street Journal

We teamed up with our audience to measure TikTok’s unmistakable draw

WaPo found that just 10% of what users see on TikTok comes from accounts they follow - proof of the app’s hyper-personalized, addictive algorithm.

By Jeremy B. Merrill, Caitlin Gilbert, Clara Ence Morse | Washington Post

Media Moves & Intel:

  • Alex Reisner, formerly contributing writer at The Atlantic, is now staff writer at the same publication, covering tech and AI.

  • Sammy Roth, formerly climate columnist at the Los Angeles Times, has left the newspaper and has yet to announce his new role.

  • Tomas Navia, formerly producer, investigative unit at ABC News, is now senior video journalist at The Wall Street Journal.

  • Dan Brendel, formerly reporter at Washington Business Journal covering economic development and commercial real estate, is leaving the outlet to pursue other interests.

  • Stephanie Meraz, formerly associate editor at The Coveteur and associate fashion commerce editor at PureWow, is now editor, news and trends, at AllRecipes.

  • Genevieve Uzamere, formerly senior editor at dmg Media (Daily Mail, Metro, etc.), is now senior editor at People, covering nostalgia and society & culture.

  • Layoffs were announced this week at People Inc.

  • Late Checkout, a Substack newsletter that bills itself as a “cheat sheet for jet-setters and go-getters with a penchant for all things food, drink and travel,” is accepting pitches across its various columns, including City Guide, Design Crush, Looky Loo and Side Dish.

  • Weekly A to Z, a Substack newsletter that covers travel and global culinary news, curates her weekly column by browsing news from FeedSpot, where she tracks her preferred food, beverage and travel outlets.

Also... peruse vintage video game marquee art following journalist Dan Sinker’s visit to Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL.

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