# Brands All the Way Down

By [Sunday Bunch](https://paragraph.com/@bunch) · 2024-05-12

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/317761c78c955a0e4ec3131de07ad87d.png)

_Thank you for subscribing to Sunday Bunch._

First things first, **Happy Mother’s Day** 👩‍👦🎉

To all the mothers reading on this lovely Sunday (especially my own mom, and my incredibly patient wife), thank you for reading _this_ on your special day.

For discussion today:

*   An Apple ad that gave people all sorts of feelings
    
*   Three streamers are forming a polycule
    
*   A choo-choo from Vegas to LA
    
*   The rise of metaconsumerist cinema
    
*   The greatest bread slicing innovation since sliced bread
    

_All that and more, here we go…_

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/f3e77ce6e5bf5621200f0fe7c5ff8bd5.png)

### Capitalism

🍏 **Apple** [made an ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down). People [had opinions](https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/05/09/adland-hates-apple-s-new-ipad-ad-has-the-criticism-gone-too-far?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)! Then Apple [said ‘our bad.’](https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/apple-apologizes-ipad-ad-crush-backlash-1235997969/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) And the LinkedIn thinkposts just kept coming. To be honest, I’m more upset with them getting [rid of stickers](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/apples-plastic-free-packaging-means-pack-in-logo-stickers-are-going-away/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

🤖 **OpenAI** is planning to [fire shots at Google](https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-plans-announce-google-search-competitor-monday-sources-say-2024-05-09/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) the day before the I/O conference kicks off, while also [pondering the porn business](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/09/openai-considers-allowing-users-to-create-ai-generated-pornography?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

**📺 Disney+**, **Hulu**, and **Max** are [preparing a streaming bundle](https://deadline.com/2024/05/disney-plus-hulu-max-bundle-streaming-milestone-1235909265/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down), in the ongoing arms race to compete with **Netflix** by reconstituting themselves as more expensive cable.

🛍️ Private equity bros are [shopping for **Nordstrom**](https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/retail/buyout-firm-sycamore-vies-to-take-nordstrom-private/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

### Consumerism

🤑 All I can think of when I read this article about [**Mr Beast** and **Logan Paul** and Wall Street](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/mrbeast-logan-paul-wall-street-influencers-1235893535/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) is how poorly those [FaZe Clan takes](https://zoescaman.substack.com/p/faze-clan-fandom-and-the-new-brand?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) aged. _We’re back, baby!_

☕️ Decaf is being [rebranded as ‘kid coffee’.](https://kiidcoffee.com/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)

🌶️ And it’s time to [stock up on **Huy Fong**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/05/08/sriracha-shortage-climate-change-drought-mexico/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) again.

### Optimism

♻️ [**Protein Evolution**](https://www.protein-evolution.com/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) is using AI to create a unique enzyme that recycles polyester textiles to [remove oil and plastic waste](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVnPjegzVj0&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

🧬 **Google**’s DeepMind research group released [AlphaFold 3](https://blog.google/technology/ai/google-deepmind-isomorphic-alphafold-3-ai-model/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down), its latest scientific AI model capable of predicting the structure of large molecular structures such as proteins, RNA, DNA _and_ modeling the chemical interactions in those molecules (which effectively control cell functioning).

### Futurism

🚄 **Brightline West** [nailed the first spike](https://apnews.com/article/high-speed-train-vegas-los-angeles-brightline-595913ff2fa3d9001fb89bfab4e6c4d2?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) in the track that will carry its bullet trains to-and-from Las Vegas to LA. [Next up, Texas](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-24/brightline-founder-eyes-private-rail-expansion-to-texas-seattle?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)?

🏡 Nine out of ten of the top places for young people buying their first homes are now [cities with major universities](https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/4641394-from-renters-to-owners-young-adults-are-purchasing-homes-in-these-us-cities/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)[3](#b-46d99f3e-1b59-426f-9790-6354e183230f). _Whatever, I did it first._

### Tourism

**🎟️ Taylor Swift** fans are [scoring tickets, _plus_ airfare and hotels](https://www.fastcompany.com/91121002/taylor-swift-fans-jump-tour-tourism-trend-score-cheaper-tickets-abroad?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) in Europe for less than a seat at one of her U.S. shows.

✨ **Meow Wolf** is [coming to Los Angeles](https://meowwolf.com/blob/los-angeles?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) promising “cinematic grandeur, mysterious Easter Eggs, the forgotten side of Hollywood, \[and\] glamorous glitz” that will “pulsate under an overarching cosmic Meow Wolf Universe.”

Been saying it for years: if there is one thing LA needs more of, it’s pulsation. 👏 you beautiful creative geniuses.

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/4ab9bcff1c704c4c656777967442e348.png)

#### Branded cinema

While we’re cutting back on “comic book movies” how are y’all feeling about the current output of [crazy true story movies about brands](https://www.threads.net/@themeanderingmoviepodcast/post/C6tIr43MmhC?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)?

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/84b2aca6a7d2e2d365d5caf9feb9591b.png)

_Air_ was fun (it’s about Jordans and it has an A-list cast). The others were watchable (I even found some good in _Unfrosted_). But we need to go ahead and raise the bar on which brands and products deserve the origin story treatment.

Meanwhile down in gen pop, we have a whole pipeline of post-Barbie toys and nostalgic products queued up for big budget, big screen treatments, including _Hot Wheels_, _Uno_, _Monopoly_, and _Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots_.

Maybe this is just who we are now, the fully-realized metaconsumer?

We want to work all day, buy stuff, then watch dramatic tales of how that stuff came into existence. Or dive deeper into the rich universes co-created by brand marketing and studio development executives.

Is it too late to go back to the costumed superheroes?

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/be9e8e91f8963faf7ee3765ca4e23fb9.jpg)

CROCS: THE MOVIE - Coming Summer 2026

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**Give me fewer real brand stories, give me more fake ones!** 

This [Fictional Brands Archive](https://fictionalbrandsarchive.com/index.php?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)–developed as part of a Master's thesis in Communication Design at Politecnico di Milano, titled _Fictional Brand Design_–is a good place to start for inspiration.

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#### Putting a face on technology

> When ATMs became popular in the 1970s, some banks felt it necessary to get their customers comfortable taking cash out of a machine. First National Bank of Atlanta gave its ATMs a face, a voice, and a name: [Tillie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillie_the_All-Time_Teller?ref=zachseward.com&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

Zach Seward, [AI is not like you and me](https://www.zachseward.com/ai-is-not-a-person/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/edf17e53fce2514ff95ef8527313ba46.jpg)

I take back what I said, I would watch a movie about Tillie’s creation.

The technology was licensed to other financial institutions, like American State Bank in Texas, which [celebrated her birthday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LMFx5VAg0&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) like she was a member of the team (and apparently taught her to blow out candles):

_Cut to 2024…_

> China might be able to bulk produce robots disguised as humans soon? We are still stuck on GPT-5
> 
> [— Prashant | AI (@Prashant\_1722)  
> 5:05 AM • May 8, 2024](https://twitter.com/i/status/1788072731495276648?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)

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#### Run for the hills

A humble outdoor clothing brand that [doesn’t sell online](https://melanzana.com/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down), only in their one Leadville, Colorado location; by extremely hard-to-get appointment only. **This is** [**the story of Melanzana**](https://www.acl.news/p/what-is-happening-in-leadville?publication_id=46452&post_id=143787698&isFreemail=false&r=oq3q&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)**.**

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/4fce7526ccb89c1b6a1985ec334367ab.jpg)

[Photo Credit: Michael Williams/ACL](https://www.acl.news/p/what-is-happening-in-leadville?publication_id=46452&post_id=143787698&isFreemail=false&r=oq3q&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/21fe2683aeb260a53b9a5d8d27123e4f.png)

##### THE DUFF CUT

This week, one brave sandwich artisan [changed the way we think](https://www.tiktok.com/@adamkester_/video/7365672261648469290?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) about slicing meat and bread, igniting [the most](https://twitter.com/ryancduff/status/1787514220055024057?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) 🔥 [takes](https://twitter.com/ryancduff/status/1787514220055024057?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) we’ve seen since the [Great Hot Dog Debate](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/11/its-not-a-sandwich/414352/?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/7baa6177a6cb2a1d0eaa02039f7eb2f4.jpg)

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##### SKIP SERVED COLD

_Ten years later, this quote from Skip Bayless has aged like the finest of unpasteurized milks:_

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/4225a8f3e569cf5e60a4fcd994ff3e76.jpg)

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##### PLEASE TELL ME HIS NEIGHBOR WAS SKIP BAYLESS

Man who kept his boat besides his house was ordered from the city to put up a fence to hide the boat from view.

_So he built the fence and hired someone to paint it:_

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ab0fbf196b4dd0af90dc3f3be2d16cc8.jpg)

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/bc7697d2693d736b55ce5bd78df5c99a.jpg)

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_I have to give a few quick shout-outs:_

🙏 Thank you to **Steve Caputo**, **Jason Nichols**, [**Billy Chuck**](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2k4QYd3K8pxIDMvJNeIgJs?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down), and [**Ronny MacD**](https://bobs.net?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down) for their contributions to this week’s edition.

✊ To my fellow Kyles, this is the year [we break the record](https://www.cityofkyle.com/communications/2024-gathering-kyles?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down).

I appreciate you joining me for Sunday Bunch. Hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day and a great week. I will see you next weekend.

Thanks,  
[Kyle](https://kylebunch.com?utm_source=sundaybunch&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brands-all-the-way-down)

_P.S. This whole thing is still a bit of an experiment, so if you have any suggestions you can reply to this message,_ [_email me directly_](mailto:bunch@sundaybunch.email)_, or simply fill out the comment card down below._

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**NOTES**

1  That train has sailed.

2  You know how far behind us Americans are w/r/t to trains? There are like 8 different types of train emoji and I had to look at their descriptions to make sure I was using the right one.

3  Are they moving there, or just never leaving post-college?

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*Originally published on [Sunday Bunch](https://paragraph.com/@bunch/brands-all-the-way-down)*