Ketchup 001: The Beginning

Plus, Satan Shoes, Peeps, 711 PJs, Pablo Rochat "Meme God"

Heya! 

I am pretty stoked you are reading this! First, thank you for subscribing to KETCHUP, my monthly newsletter about advertising, branding, typography, design, copy, and creative whatevers. This email is supposed to catch you up on my musings from the past month.

FAIR WARNING, my brain sits on Kanye West’s spectrum and the contents of this newsletter are a mix of genius and bizarre. 

This email will come out on the first of every month, if you dig it please forward it to your friends, and blah blah blah let’s get you to the good stuff: 

Ketchup - April 1, 2021

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• Call it Covid by W+K – A relaunch that cuts deep, this story by creatives Mimi Munoz, Titania Tran, and Jamon Sin about being Asian in American in 2021 needs to be watched, rewatched, shared, reshared, and most importantly listened to. 

• MSCHF x Lil Nas X – “Satan Shoes,” a collab straight from Nike’s nightmares, dropped and sold out in under 60 seconds. The Part II of “Jesus Shoes” sold six hundred and sixty-sixty (666) pairs at a hellish $1K price tag and 1 drop of human blood. Nike is now suing MSCHF.

• Hiring Chain by Small – Tears of joy come with this beautiful ad about the barriers of Down syndrome and the positive chain reactions of inclusive hires. It’s a can’t miss with STING’s sweet sweet voice.

• Pepsi x Peeps – Sadly they didn’t call it “Peepsie,” this colorful brand mashup brings marshmallow flavors to soda ahead of Easter celebrations. While a playful idea this product is more of a PR thing than a real thing as you can only win it through Pepsi’s social media sweepstake. 

• See Toys Everywhere by W+K – This damn cute ad reminds adults to ignite their imagination and get silly with the garden hose. This campaign is timeless.  

• Dove Flips Beauty Standards by Ogilvy – An oldie but a goodie, this campaign calls out retouching with a photoshop parlor trick. Very clever and very creepy. 

• Nike is streaming on HBO – Commercials are out and branded entertainment is in. To take a page out of Apple’s playbook beloved brands are partnering with Hollywood execs to bring their stories to the big screen. Watch out for upcoming feature-length films by Patagonia, Procter & Gamble, and Ford Motors. 

Knife

• 711 calls big spoon – to celebrate their new all-day breakfast menu in Sweden 711 has released limited-edition comfy and actually stylish PJs. 

• Rothy’s wants its shoes back – “Circularity” is top of our threads (internet & fabric) and this shoe brand is making headlines with its brand promise to close the loop by 2023. 

• Sporkful has new noods – Dan Pashman has jumped from your AirPods to your kitchen counter with his new pasta line that “kills it in the sauceability, forkability, and toothsinkability.” 

• SoleSavy is slacking you – Brands are creating safe spaces for women with streetwear channels. 

• NFTs are... – HYPEBEAST rounded up the top headlines so I don’t have to. 

• @faelpt’s type is iconic – Rafael Serra is my new favorite designer with his remixed vintage feels. 

Spoon

• Pablo Rochat dines with D&AD – 10 bad ideas a day

• Brian Collins’s 101 Design Rules – Push yourself to not be boring

• @grqphiclounge teaches grunge design – Trending on Instagram

• 6 part creative course by D&AD & WPP – Storytelling & big ideas

• Guillaume Huin (McDonald's) & John "JP" Petty, III (W+K) – Speak social genius 

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& that’s the sauce!