This Week in Marketing: Cola Comebacks, Secret Santas, & Digital Storefronts
Welcome to Chronically Online, your weekly breakdown of the brand moves making the internet pause, scroll, and screenshot. This week, Columbia trolls flat-earthers, RC Cola makes a comeback, luxury goes AR on Snapchat, KISS fuels Facebook gifting, and brands everywhere lean into bolder, weirder storytelling. Let’s get into it.
🌍 Columbia Sends Flat-Earthers on an “Expedition Impossible”
Columbia is pushing its “bold, irreverent” new tone with a challenge: believers in a flat Earth are invited to hike out and photograph “the edge of the world.” The standoffish stunt campaign offers a treasure trove of gear and all brand assets to anyone who proves the planet isn’t round. It’s a cheeky way to spotlight Columbia’s rugged gear and relaunch its brand identity for 2026.
🛍️ BOSS & Lancôme Bring Luxury to Your Lens
Snapchat just dropped its holiday “Winter Village,” turning your phone screen into a high-end shopping spree. BOSS and Lancôme, along with other luxury brands, offer full virtual boutiques that you can explore in AR, complete with product browsing and checkout capabilities directly through the app. Holiday shopping, reinvented.
🥤 RC Cola Comes Back: With “Just a Damn Good Cola” Swagger
RC Cola is getting a comeback moment after 40 years, with Keurig Dr Pepper rolling out a national campaign leaning into nostalgia and no-frills cola vibes. The tagline: “Not a soft drink. Just a damn good cola.” They’re banking on old-school appeal and heritage packaging to stand out in a hyper-functional soda market.
🥪 Subway Shows Up With “Sub Club”
Subway has re-launched its Sub Club loyalty program after 20 years, with a “buy three footlongs, get the fourth free” offer. The new campaign leans into humor, with people dropping what they’re doing when they hear the news. From fabric-sale shoppers to random shoppers, it’s chaos first, sandwich second. Sub Club now also offers points that convert to Subway Cash, exclusive perks and birthday cookies for members.
🎸 Meta Gets KISS’ed
Facebook’s new “Secret Santa” ad follows a frantic gift hunt after our lead pulls his boss’s name. By scrolling her Facebook profile, he discovers she’s a KISS superfan, then dives into Facebook Marketplace to track down the perfect gift. The hunt positions Facebook as the ultimate holiday helper for meaningful, last-minute gifting.
☕️ Keurig Cuts the Coffee Complexity
Keurig just hit refresh with a new brand platform grounded in “post-pandemic realities.” The campaign leans into simpler, no-fuss coffee, pushing back against a coffee culture that has become “too complicated, too precious, too much.” Instead, Keurig leans into comfort, practicality, and no muss home brewing.
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