Welcome timid-April. This month is blowing by. Let’s hop into what Lacoste, Netflix, and Meta are up to before we end up in May.

Lacoste and Netflix Team Up for Co-Branded Apparel

The fashion brand Lacoste has joined forces with Netflix for a media tie-in. They’ve launched a new collection inspired by shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Witcher, and more, all sporting the Lacoste crocodile. Ads showing the featured properties and the crocodile are supporting the launch.

"We think products can be a powerful medium for storytelling and partnering with Lacoste presents a unique opportunity to blend the worlds of fashion and entertainment," said VP of Consumer Products at Netflix, Josh Simon. "This collection is a compelling and creative way for fans to express their love for our stories and characters."

Like Netflix’s Simon alluded to, fandoms are a big consumer base. Lacoste is cashing in on this. And hype regarding a show only benefits Netflix by bringing in new viewers or old ones returning to re-binge.

Meta Enters the Generative AI Race with an Ads Tool

Taking a page out of the rest of big tech’s playbook, Meta has entered the generative AI space. But not only is Meta leaning into the metaverse with VR world-creation prompts, it’s also developing a generative AI ads tool. This development has created more of a stir, considering the metaverse is far from off the ground.

Specifically, Meta is working on AI-powered chat for WhatsApp and Messenger plus filters for Instagram. This makes sense, since Meta had already released Advantage+ ads suite, including AI ad enhancement, in February of this year. The company has also filed a patent for a tool with the ability to “predict the virality of video clips.”

Meta’s foray into the generative AI space could prove beneficial for marketers, but it still faces the hurdle of its Reels failure—the company actually loses money on Reels, and this detracts from Meta’s revenue growth. Will generative AI prove profitable for Meta? We’ll see.

Around the Web

• Digital ad growth is hitting a “bottleneck.”

• And is hate speech on the rise in this new iteration of Twitter?

• Lizzo and Dove tackle toxic “body transformation” posts.

• Warner Bros. Discovery, a combination of Discovery+ and HBOMax content, rebrands its streaming service as “Max.”

• Lemon8 is relying on content creators to spur growth.

Just Can’t Get Enough

Skepticism. The public is pushing back against disinformation—and they’re becoming distrustful of mainstream media outlets in general.

• 50% of the U.S. population believes national news organizations intend to mislead.

• Meanwhile, Elon Musk and Twitter mislabeled NPR as “state-affiliated media,” not helping anyone’s skepticism.

• This led to NPR quitting Twitter—the first major media outlet to do so.

Have you experimented with Meta’s Advantage+ ads suite yet? Will you be ordering Lacoste clothes in bulk? Reply and let us know!

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