Welcome to Chronically Online, your weekly scroll through what’s trending in marketing, media, and pop culture. From Starbucks’ heartwarming holiday art to Apple’s billion-dollar AI upgrade, brands are making bold moves and buzzworthy headlines. Grab your coffee, open your apps, and let’s catch up on everything lighting up the feed this week.
💫 A Latte Love Story: Starbucks Gets Drawn Together
Starbucks is reclaiming its cozy coffeehouse vibe with a new animated holiday campaign called Drawn Together. The spot follows two hand-drawn characters on Starbucks cups who brave snowy streets to reconnect, set to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. It’s a heart-warming reminder of what made Starbucks feel special in the first place.
🕹️ Gatorade Goes Upside Down “No Ordinary Thirst Quencher” (Again)
Gatorade is dusting off its ’80s tagline “No Ordinary Thirst Quencher” and flipping it into a tie-in with Netflix’s Stranger Things. The campaign features retro Citrus Cooler flavour drops, vintage packaging, and an eerie nostalgia that fuses sports energy with supernatural storytelling.
🔧 Lowe’s Builds A Social-First Holiday Playbook
Lowe’s is ushering in a new wave of shoppers as Gen Alpha gains influence, launching holiday ads designed for mobile scrolling, shoppable QR codes, and a creator network anchored by MrBeast. The campaign signals its push to double down on younger audiences who look, shop, and share differently.
🎅 Coca-Cola Doubles Down on AI Holiday Cheer
Coke is blending nostalgia with next-gen tech in its “Refresh Your Holidays” campaign. Alongside a new festive spot, the brand re-imagined its iconic “Holidays Are Coming” ad with generative AI, turning classic Santa scenes into dazzling digital art. It’s holiday magic, rebooted for the algorithm era.
🏈 Best Buy’s “Game On Gifting” Playbook
Best Buy’s holographic spokesperson, “Gram,” stars in three holiday spots — Freeze, Cookie, and Cozy, that blend tech gifts with festive chaos. Between 200+ creator collabs and NFL game-day ads, Best Buy is proving holiday shopping can be just as entertaining as the main event.
🤖 Siri, Meet Gemini
Apple is nearing a deal with Google to spend roughly $1 billion annually to license a custom version of Google’s 1.2 trillion-parameter Gemini model for its next-gen Siri assistant. The update will give Siri the long-overdue upgrade it deserves — smarter, faster, and finally ready to compete in the AI era.
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