Billie Razors’ retro board game and Beanie Babies nostalgia sweep summer

Welcome to the continued summer of nostalgia. The brands aren’t letting your ties to yesteryear products fade when they’re ripe for monetization…again.

Billie Continues to Build Its Feminist Brand

The subscription shaving brand circumventing the Pink Tax just released a feminist board game. Billie’s No Worries If Not: The Board Game bears the tagline: “Based on real-life setbacks and the pitfalls of daily life, it’s a game about ‘The Game’ women hate playing: people-pleasing, overthinking, multitasking, over-apologizing, etc. Sounds…fun, right?” The board game, in the style of The Game of Life, also provides a nice dose of nostalgia, even if it’s ironic.

Beanie Babies Movie to Come

Speaking of toy nostalgia, Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks are starring in The Beanie Bubble, a film about the craze for Beanie Babies as collector’s items in the ’90s. We’ll see if the film spurs a release of new products like Barbie has—Mattel just released Kate McKinnon's Weird Barbie for purchase.

Snoop Dogg and Cher Launch Ice Cream Brands

Snoop Dogg plans to release a new line of ice creams called Dr. Bombay while Cher has already debuted her own brand of gelato, Cherlato, in collaboration with New Zealand ice cream company Giapo. Cher kicked off her release with an ice cream truck serving scoops of Breakfast at Cher’s coffee ice cream in Los Angeles. We’ll see what Snoop Dogg does for his launch. Stay tuned.

Subaru Leans Into Accessibility—in All Senses

Subaru’s new creative spot centers around efforts to make the outdoors accessible for all. The ad for the new Subaru Forester Wilderness stars Keivonn Woodard, the 10-year-old Deaf actor from The Last of Us, and highlights Subaru’s partnership with the National Park Foundation.

Around the Web

• Paramount Global’s ad revenue at its TV networks “sunk 10%” in the second quarter.

• Ad tech vendors are fighting an uphill battle as publishers become more selective and skeptical.

• Gap has tapped the Mattel executive responsible for the Barbie revival as its new CEO.

• Max reported lower Q2 2023 streaming losses but its advertising business suffered.

• Now, TikTokers can watch a full episode of Peacock’s Killing It on the platform—another blow to linear TV.

Just Can’t Get Enough

Rat Girl Summer. We’re here to scurry and snack.

• Coined by TikTok user lolaokola, Rat Girl Summer is the new Hot Girl Summer.

• It has four rules: going outside, eating and enjoying eating, “killing the cringe,” and no overthinking.

• And The Washington Post covered the offline kickoff party.

Are you feeling retro-esque feminist board games and Beanie Babies-craze comedy? Or are you more excited for celebrity-helmed ice cream brands? Will you be spending your Rat Girl Summer outdoors with Subaru and snacks? Reply and let us know!

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll see you Thursday!