This Week in Marketing: From AI Chaos to 6-Foot Q-Tips
Welcome to Chronically Online, your weekly roundup of the marketing moments making the internet double-take. This week, brands went big on bold ideas: AI-powered satire from Dollar Shave Club, giant Q-Tips in the wild, Hershey’s interactive nostalgia, P&G’s microdrama era, Oscar the Grouch’s comeback, and Mug’s Gen Z fragrance chaos. Let’s scroll.
🤖 Dollar Shave Club Roasts AI (With AI)
Dollar Shave Club’s first AI-generated ad leans into tech humor, using generative tools to build over-the-top visuals, like a razor-shaped skyscraper and a shaving gorilla. At the same time, the punchline makes fun of a tone-deaf CEO who’d rather replace humans with AI than drop the private jet. It’s irreverent, fast to produce, and meme-worthy by design.
🧼 Q-Tips Takes Marketing to New Heights
Q-Tips kicked off a bigger brand push with massive 5.75-foot cotton swab installations in New York’s Times Square and Los Angeles’ Grand Central Market, designed to turn heads and spark social buzz. The oversized icons signal a shift toward playful, attention-grabbing marketing that aims to make an everyday product unmissable on the feed.
🍫 Hershey Turns Nostalgia Into Interaction
Hershey reimagined its iconic holiday ad as an interactive online experience, letting users explore a 3D winter world built around classic brand moments, storytelling cues, and product highlights. The digital activation blends seasonal nostalgia with engagement mechanics, turning passive viewers into participants and extending the life and shareability of a beloved brand asset.
🎭 P&G Native Goes Micro-Drama Big
P&G’s Native brand is launching the first 50-part microdrama series tied to its products, tapping into the rising genre of bite-sized episodic storytelling. The move leans into narrative marketing that keeps audiences hooked week after week, blending brand messaging with character-driven plots built for serial engagement and social shareability.
🗑️ Glad Calls in Oscar the Grouch
Glad teamed up with Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch to revive its classic “Don’t Get Mad, Get Glad” campaign. The partnership leans into Oscar’s iconic grumpiness to spotlight garbage-day wins and everyday humour, bringing beloved character energy to utility advertising and sparking social buzz across nostalgic and family audiences alike.
🍺 Mug Root Beer Finds Its Scent Spot
PepsiCo’s Mug brand is leaning into Gen Z culture by launching Daddy’s Home cologne, a limited-edition fragrance sold on TikTok Shop bundled with mini cans. The campaign taps into Gen Z’s obsession with scent, social commerce, and dogs (including the brand’s bulldog mascot), turning quirky holiday merch into viral social fodder.
What’s Next Online? (H2)
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