SNL’s $50M night, The RealReal’s gossip play & a tax twist

It’s MONDAY ☀️

The White Lotus isn’t just back—it’s a full-blown marketing moment. Brands like Away, Abercrombie, and Supergoop are rolling out themed collections, while Nest New York is dropping a resort-inspired candle to bring the show’s luxe vacation vibes home. Even Coffee Mate is in on it with Thai iced coffee and piña colada creamers. Forget waiting for the next Barbie—brands are making their own pop culture moments.

Now, onto this week’s edition...

This weekend, brands like Allstate, Maybelline, Capital One, and T-Mobile are stepping into the spotlight ahead of Saturday Night Live’s 50th-anniversary special. From Maybelline’s “Last Looks Lounge” to VW’s red-carpet arrivals, companies are seizing the moment to align with the legendary show’s cultural cachet.

NBCUniversal has turned SNL50 into a season-long brand integration play, featuring custom content with current and former cast members. Capital One tapped Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer for a podcast-style ad, while Volkswagen revived The Californians to promote its electric bus.

The results? A sold-out ad inventory, record-setting revenue, and a 51% higher likelihood that audiences will search for brands featured in SNL compared to other late-night programming. With the milestone season running through May, the show’s cultural influence—and marketing power—shows no signs of fading.

All of us felt the squeeze last year, with rising acquisition costs and frequent platform changes. What became clear? Brands can’t rely on the same channels alone to deliver results.

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Trump’s back-and-forth on trade policy has left fashion and beauty brands scrambling. The sudden reversal of plans to end the de minimis tax loophole—allowing duty-free imports under $800—has stalled decisions on pricing, supply chains, and fulfillment strategies.

For Canadian brands selling to U.S. customers, the stakes are high. Sheertex, which relies on de minimis for nearly half its revenue, laid off 40% of its employees after the initial executive order. Now, with no clear timeline, founder Katherine Homuth says the delay "creates more uncertainty, making it harder to plan around these costs."

The unpredictability extends beyond tariffs. Brands like ThirdLove, which operates warehouses in both the U.S. and Canada, are stuck deciding where to consolidate operations. “If it takes a year or two for de minimis to go away, you’ve given up a lot of duty savings,” said Andreas Andrea, ThirdLove’s senior director of operations.

Some brands are already feeling the financial squeeze. Canadian seltzer brand Balloon previously profited $18 per order—tariffs would slash that to just $8. “I was considering lowering shipping costs or absorbing more of the cost myself,” said founder Juliana Casale. “But there’s not much left to sink into that.”

With no clear path forward, brands are stuck in limbo—forced to make high-stakes decisions with shifting goalposts.

Luxury resale platform The RealReal is making an unconventional marketing move—launching a Gossip Girl-style Substack newsletter, penned by an anonymous “RealGirl.” The goal? Deepening engagement with its die-hard shoppers through candid takes on fashion, resale hacks, and behind-the-scenes insights.

Rather than a typical promotional email blast, the newsletter is positioned as an editorial play—part trend analysis, part insider critique. “The RealGirl can say everything we can’t—praise us, roast us, analyze us,” said The RealReal’s chief creative officer, Kristen Naiman.

The strategy taps into Substack’s growing fashion community while sidestepping the increasingly volatile social media landscape. With TikTok’s future uncertain, brands are searching for new spaces to engage audiences authentically.

Marketing expert Lia Haberman sees The RealReal’s Substack as a potential first-mover advantage. “Everyone’s been watching to see which brands will tap into Substack’s community,” she said. “This is about being in the zeitgeist—showing a different side beyond ads and promotions.”

The challenge? Avoiding the trap of treating it like traditional email marketing. “Substack readers expect high-quality content, not just promos,” Haberman warned. Whether The RealReal’s experiment sparks a wave of branded Substacks or remains an outlier depends on whether brands are willing to invest in real storytelling—not just another sales channel.