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Is All Ad Attention Good Attention?
Plus, Liquid Death is putting fantasy football on the chopping block
Welcome to The TV Room. Your weekly digest of television, streaming, and digital media insights that matter.
This week we're covering:
👖 Jean-eology: The Study of Controversy
🐭 Disney’s Next Dynamic Duo
🎥 Creative Spotlight: McDonald’s: “McDonaldland Meal”
🔪 Liquid Death’s Latest Execution
The Ad Campaign Igniting a Culture War
American Eagle's fall campaign featuring "Euphoria" star Sydney Sweeney has become an unexpected political flashpoint, with a simple denim ad transforming into the latest battleground in America's culture wars.
The campaign, which promoted Sweeney's "good genes" alongside images of her in denim, sparked immediate controversy. Critics on the left claimed it "promotes eugenics," while right-wing supporters (including former President Trump) praised the US company for subverting "wokeness." American Eagle maintains the campaign "has always been about the jeans" and their tagline of "trendsetting denim that leads, never follows."
Industry insiders weigh in
So what do industry insiders make of the work and the uproar?
Some see a basic, effective play. “A hot person in jeans. Basic is good,” said Will Lion, chief strategy officer at BBH, who dismissed the backlash as “outrage farming from the cynical or annoying.” For him, the campaign’s simplicity is its strength.
Others found the creative direction uninspired. Emily Gray, founding partner at Untangld, called it a “lazy pun” that leans on a tired trope; more early 2000s Jessica Simpson than anything culturally current. She points out that, despite the lack of imagination, the campaign still resonated with its target audience. “It’s not that consumers don’t notice the lack of diversity. Maybe it’s that right now, many just don’t seem to mind. That should worry the industry more than one poorly chosen pun.”
Does controversy drive results?
Despite (or perhaps because of) the backlash, American Eagle has seen its sales climb and share price strengthen in the immediate aftermath. The brand and Sweeney have both doubled down rather than apologized.
The Sydney Sweeney saga offers a fascinating case study for marketers: in our hyper-polarized climate, does courting controversy actually pay off? For American Eagle, the answer appears to be yes, at least for now. The real question is whether brands should prioritize short-term buzz over potential long-term brand damage when wading into culturally charged waters.
Read More:
TV Industry Updates
Disney's duo: After gaining full control of Hulu, Disney announced plans to launch a unified app experience next year.
Too close for comfort: The NFL scored a 10% stake in ESPN in exchange for media holdings, raising eyebrows the network’s neutrality.
Measurement wars: Audience measurement upstart HyphaMetrics was cleared of infringing on Nielsen’s patents, a verdict the startup called a “monumental win”.
AI’s new gatekeeper: Anthropic’s released its Model Context Protocol, giving publishers a lever to control and monetize how AI agents access their content.
Fee frenzy: Unilever reported that 2025 creator fees are all over the map, with two similar creators sometimes quoting wildly different rates.
Earnings call forecast: As the creator economy takes hold, Publicis Groupe’s chief projected that creator ad spend will soon eclipse linear TV.
Creative Spotlight: McDonald’s: “McDonaldland Meal”
McDonald's revived its iconic McDonaldland characters and setting in a nostalgic campaign that introduced classic IP to a new generation while appealing to those with fond memories of the original.
The Details:
The campaign centered around the new "McDonaldland Meal" and featured the return of Ronald McDonald alongside beloved characters like Grimace and Hamburglar from the brand's classic marketing universe.
Visual elements recreated the whimsical McDonaldland landscape, complete with a volcano, French fry areas, and hamburger patch, bringing back the fantasy world first popularized decades ago.
McDonald's strategically designed the campaign to bridge generations, capitalizing on nostalgia for older audiences while introducing these characters to Gen Z consumers who may not have grown up with them.
What We Loved: The campaign delivered a vivid throwback, blending playful world-building with a smart nod to brand heritage that landed with both old fans and a new generation.
Holiday campaigns are already in motion
Introducing The Nice List: your one-stop shop for holiday marketing resources, tools, and inspiration. Consider it your holiday prep HQ, where you’ll find:
The 2025 Holiday Advertising Trends Report, which includes insights from 600+ marketers on how brands are planning, spending, and measuring success this season.
What’s Driving Holiday Ad Performance in 2025?, a tvScientific x Adweek webinar that breaks down how marketers are adapting strategies in real time.
And more content to drive your 2025 holiday advertising strategy.
Marketing Mix
Fantasy football beheadings: Liquid Death has brought digital guillotines to Yahoo’s fantasy football platform in the game's new elimination-style leagues.
Snacking soccer power play: Kellanova has teamed with US Soccer as the federation's Official Snack, marking the first sports partnership for its portfolio.
AI agency action: OpenAI has hired Omnicom Media Group's PHD to handle its global media buying and planning.
Pizza value visualization: Domino's new campaign cuts cheeseburgers into comically small portions to show how its pizzas stack up against them.
Columbia embraces grit: Columbia Sportswear poked fun at "pristine" outdoors marketing with its new "Engineered for Whatever" platform.
ChatGPT checkout concerns: OpenAI is reportedly developing a checkout system within ChatGPT that has some retail startup founders worried.