Food brands are using fashion objects to buy culture without buying ad space.
Brand new bag: Chipotle, Unreal Snacks and Betty Crocker reach for fashion relevance
Chipotle debuted a limited-edition 'Big Ass Chipotle Bag,' a 3-foot-wide, 170-liter version of its takeout bag, to promote its digital-exclusive Family Meals offering. It is being given away through a multiweek digital sweepstakes for U.S. Chipotle Rewards members. Unreal Snacks partnered with designer Rachel Comey on the Coco Bag, a silver clutch that debuted at New York Fashion Week and costs $425 for preorder, with an official drop on Feb. 1. Chipotle Chief Brand Officer Fernando Machado said: 'It's fun, it's ridiculous and it's exactly the kind of thing we knew our fans would want to get their hands on.'
Betty Crocker released three cake slice handbags at $89 each. The first drop on Aug. 25 sold out within a day, and a second drop on Sept. 10 drew thousands of consumers queued at once. Poppi worked with designer Grace Ling on a 3D-printed runway bag shaped like a can, and Cadbury partnered with Luar on a crystal-clad insulated clutch for chocolate bars. Sarah Peck, senior brand manager for Betty Crocker at General Mills, said: 'The handbags turned recognizable Betty Crocker details into a form of self-expression.'
This works when the object is the brand, not a logo slapped on a tote. Betty Crocker sold out because the bag is recognizable as a cake slice, and people wear their taste. The risk is novelty without a point. A giant bag that promotes a digital Family Meals offer has a job. A silver clutch with a snack logo needs a better reason to exist than fashion week proximity.
Peck's line is the framework: take a recognizable brand detail and turn it into self-expression. Ask what your customers already identify with about your brand, then ask what object lets them show it. If the answer requires a logo to explain, the idea is too weak to be merch.
A creator with a stake in the business behaves differently from one with a contract.
Druski takes an equity stake in Gopuff and signs a multi-year partnership
Comedian Druski, whom Rolling Stone named the most influential creator of 2026, took an equity stake in instant commerce company Gopuff and entered a multi-year strategic partnership. He will launch exclusive products and consumer experiences for his audience and help expand Gopuff's reach through his Coulda Been Records and 4Lifers Entertainment properties. The article does not disclose financial terms, the size of the stake or the deal value.
The deal builds on earlier work, including the 'HARD PASS' campaign with Tom Brady for the Super Monday Off Coalition. Gopuff's other celebrity partners include Brady, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Cole Palmer. Druski said, from the press release: 'Gopuff has always been my go-to platform, so partnering together felt like a natural next fit.' Gopuff co-CEO and co-founder Yakir Gola said: 'Our role is not to simply appear in Druski's world, but to help add to it, while building entirely new ones together.'
An equity stake changes the math on a creator deal. Equity means Druski benefits when Gopuff grows, not when a post goes live, so the content has a reason to sell. The catch is that nobody outside the deal can tell if the stake is meaningful, because no terms were shared. Brands should ask creators what they would do with ownership before offering a fee.
Publicis posts steady growth and is candid that AI revenue and AI hype are not moving together.
Publicis calls AI a 'two-speed boat' as agentic booms
Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun described AI as a 'two-speed boat' on the company's third-quarter earnings call. Net revenue organic growth rose 5% year over year to about $5.16 billion (4.61 billion euros). Sapient, the transformation and technology consulting division, makes up 13% of total revenue. It improved sequentially, helped by U.S. growth, but still fell in the low single digits globally. Publicis expects Sapient to return to growth this quarter and forecasts fourth-quarter organic growth of 4.5% to 5%.
Sadoun said Sapient helped win two major accounts this year without a traditional pitch, which he did not name. Publicis recently won PepsiCo's global media business the same way. Omnicom's acquisition of Interpublic Group reduced the competitive field by a quarter, leaving three major global networks, and the PepsiCo win has strained Publicis's relationship with Coca-Cola, per Ad Age as cited by Marketing Dive. Sadoun said: 'We are strengthening our teams, doubling down on data and technology and extending our identity-first model.'
The plain read of 'two-speed boat' is that AI work is winning accounts while the consulting arm that sells it is still shrinking. Clients buy the promise before the services line catches up. If you run an agency, notice how Publicis wins: no pitch, because the relationship and the data foundation did the selling. AI fluency is table stakes. Being the partner already trusted with the data is the moat.
Omnicom is the other half of the three-network field Publicis is now competing against.
Omnicom (OMC): the network on the other side of the Publicis story
Today's Publicis report notes that Omnicom's acquisition of Interpublic Group cut the field of major global agency networks to three. Omnicom is the largest piece of that consolidation, so Publicis's growth and AI commentary is a read on the competitive set it now leads.
OMC closed at $78.49 on Oct. 13, up 1.84%. The figures below come from StockAnalysis.com's page, last checked Oct. 22, with the price snapshot from the Oct. 21 close, so they describe the current setup and not the edition date. Consensus on that page is Buy across 13 analysts. The trailing P/E of 52.14 is high next to a forward P/E of 7.51, which tells you earnings are in flux after the merger.
A 3.98% yield and a forward P/E of 7.51 make Omnicom look cheap, and the 52.14 trailing P/E says the earnings picture is messy while the merger works through. The question for us is whether Omnicom can keep clients as Publicis wins accounts without pitches. Watch retention and organic growth in the next report. It is a watch item, not a call.
⚠️ Not investment advice. Verify independently before any decision.
The standing list, straight from Kelly.
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FX/Hulu. Ryan Murphy. 40M+ hours watched.
FX / HuluThe Pitt
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MaxYouTube
Everything about Claude Cowork.
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