Keep scrolling for how Reformation is collaborating with viral creators in a sneaky yet genius way.
Snoop Dogg resigns from FaZe Clan amid organisation’s financial struggles
Snoop Dogg has resigned from his position on FaZe Clan‘s board of directors just one year after joining the esports organisation.
As per a new SEC filing on April 4th, FaZe Clan revealed that the celebrity rapper notified the company of his resignation “effective immediately” on March 29th.
The filing also states that Snoop’s resignation was not over “any disagreement with the company or any of its subsidiaries.”
Snoop Dogg was recruited to join the organisation’s board of directors just over one year ago as part of FaZe’s strategy to generate publicity as the company geared up to go public.
As part of the deal, FaZe was allegedly allowed to include Snoop’s social media numbers in the FaZe Clan network while Snoop was awarded $1.9 million in stock. His son and his wife were also given $250K in FaZe stock each.
After debuting on the NASDAQ in July 2022, FaZe’s share price plummeted below $1 in under six months— largely because of several loopholes the organisation used to go public quickly. (You can hear all about that here.)
FaZe released its 2022 Q4 financial results at the end of March 2023, reporting a $70 million loss.
Though Snoop’s resignation may seem like another nail in the coffin for FaZe Clan’s future, it may end up being positive for the organisation as it navigates these financial losses given the artist’s steep pay.
Read the full story via Centennial Beauty.
The internet can’t stop engaging with the Barbie movie
The trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie dropped this week and though we still have no idea what the film is actually about, its promotional material has sparked a wave of memes, TikTok theories, and (best of all) angry tweets from men.
The trailer’s release confirmed that Barbie will be the film of the year— overtaking Trump’s arraignment as the top trending topic in the U.S. on Twitter and sparking mass discourse online.
Almost immediately, internet users began organically engaging with the film’s promotional material, inserting themselves and other pop culture icons into the Barbie poster with their own names and tag lines.
Several videos exposing Easter eggs throughout the Barbie trailer have also gone viral on TikTok.
Television and film commentary creator Hope Sloop provided an analysis of the trailer that has been watched more than 3.4 million times in just 24 hours.
In her video, Hope Sloop suggests the film may explore Barbie’s desire to escape from Barbieland and enter the real world.
Her comment section is filled with the theory that Kate McKinnon’s character escaped Barbieland long ago and that her eccentric look— one leg bent up in the air, chopped, messy hair, and colourful drawings all over her face— indicates she’s been found by a child who likes to destroy their Barbie dolls.
Despite the internet’s excitement, however, social media is also rife with men who are butt hurt over the representation of Ken.
While the film depicts Barbies with all different careers, Ken is depicted as “just Ken”. This is unsurprising to those who grew up with Barbie— Ken has always (happily) been Barbie’s trophy husband. Men on the internet however, are apparently, not aware of the Barbie lore.
Find information about the Barbie movie via Variety.
Twitch to roll out new sponsorship model where the platform takes a cut
Twitch announced that it would soon be testing sponsored streams and many of the platform’s big streamers are not happy about it.
On April 4th, the Amazon-owned service revealed it would soon be acting as the middleman for sponsorship deals as it tests “new experiences to connect streamers and brands by making sponsored streams work better for our community.”
These “new experiences” boil down to allowing sponsors to pay via gifted subscriptions on Twitch rather than a sponsor paying the streamer direct.
It’s important to note that Twitch already takes a cut from streamer subscriptions.
Several streamers have voiced their concerns over this new system, given this will likely take a large chunk of sponsorship money away from streamers.
Some believe this will further push streamers to join Twitch’s rival Kick.
Read the full story via Dexerto.
Reformation is having creators recreate their viral videos wearing the brand’s clothing
A new investigation by Rachel Karten for the Link in Bio Substack has exposed a sneaky yet brilliant marketing tactic by the sustainable clothing brand Reformation.
Karten says she first stumbled onto this discovery when she saw a video on Reformation’s Instagram page that looked familiar.
After doing some digging, Karten found the original video posted to the creator’s personal account back in January with over 1.3 million views.
“The only difference between the two videos? In the second video the creator is wearing Reformation’s Bailey Knit Top,” she writes.
She soon discovered this was not a one-off post for Reformation. Rather, the brand has “lots of relatable sketches, interesting stunts, and generally funny videos all featuring a creator you might vaguely recognize from recently going viral.”
Karten suggests this might be the start of brands working with creators in more organic and creative ways.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more brands working with creators in this way. Creators shouldn’t be thought of solely as “distribution” for sponsored content or ads. For brands who want to add more personality, humor, and realness to their accounts—viewing creators as extensions of your social team can be an effective solve.”
Read the full story via Link in Bio.
Lemon8 & how TikTok’s success created mass panic over new apps
This week's infinite scroll podcast explores the recent buzz around ByteDance's new app, Lemon8. We cover what the app does, why it's being talked about so much, and share our opinions on why you shouldn't feel the pressure to download it. We then look at how TikTok's unprecedented success has altered the tech industry’s expectations of growth and success while fostering a culture among users of panic downloading new apps out of fear of missing out on the Next Big Thing.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.