Things may look bleak for the ad industry as AI slop takes over. But yesterday my son found a quarter on the ground, read the word liberty and immediately sang the liberty mutual jingle so I think we’ll be ok.

God, It's Brutal Out Here: lindseyadler.substack.com/p/god-its-br...

Just turned 46 and my goal for the next year of my life is to figure out why I felt the need to finish that Miranda July book.

💅

Never read the comments… until the boomer rock historian logs on

Professional journalism is working three days to get Tom Cruise’s rep to say “no comment” about the guy who deepfakes his face on TikTok.

The future is already here and it’s one robot congratulating another robot for playing sia’s “unstoppable” on endless loop in every supermarket and pharmacy.

Did the producers of america’s funniest home videos realize they’d given birth to user generated content?

doing what you have to do to live that new york city middle class lifestyle every day

AI may not take over the PR industry after all.

best subway ad of the year. not even close. now where’s the QR code??

Fitter, happier, more productive, no apparent distress

I was ready to let go and trust my algorithmic masters until Spotify categorized mazzy star as shoegaze YET AGAIN. Everyone has a line and this is mine.

I must now retract any and all criticism of modern technology and apologize to the AI ego strokers. ChatGPT is indeed the most important evolutionary development since man discovered fire.

My son appreciates the day after the super bowl.

Is it possible that we got through a whole Super Bowl without Kevin Hart in a commercial

Things I learned from the ads this year: -celebrities still love randomly showing up together in strange places -AI is taking over the world but it also kind of sucks -there’s no escaping tom brady or snoop dogg, who happen to hate each other

My 10-month-old right before nap time

As the news cycle gets crazier every day, it’s time yet again to ask the year’s most important questions -is it a Super Bowl ad or a SB-themed ad -is it a national buy or a regional buy -in which markets will it run -will it air in-game -is earned media your key KPI And still the world turns.

New on WSJ: if the Trump tariffs go into effect, they’d be a big hit to… the ad industry. China-based brands like Temu—which is the #2 Meta advertiser—would have to find new biz models. Industries like auto that rely on imports would cut their spend to counter big losses. t.co/VaZatCa8xc

Want to live inside a marketing campaign? Now you can! “Branded residences” have evolved from $33 million Upper East Side penthouses to $2400 studios in the hills of New Jersey that come pre-furnished with foldout beds and a fleet of EVs in the basement. the brand doesn’t even earn licensing fees

My kid has a secret dairy and every entry reads, “I didn’t like it today when the people annoyed me.” Clearly I’ve prepared him for adulthood.

deepseek can’t be a serious AI player until they make an uncanny valley ad that everyone hates on LinkedIn.

I wrote about the early years of my career and the experience of watching your expectations die: open.substack.com/pub/lindseya...

The best band name competition is over, we are no longer accepting entries.

What a century this year has been.

Scoop: Meta’s community notes won’t apply to paid ads… as buyers expected But organic content, including brand accounts and creator posts that are sponsored but not boosted, will be subject to notes. So the only way brands and creators can avoid the risk is to pay for everything. t.co/dsVuYQ1uaN

Have you been struggling with your infant’s sleep regression for weeks? Try this one weird trick www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aVH...

A Bronx Tale is not a good movie and someone needs to be brave enough to say it.

This is my son’s favorite ad so I must be doing something right www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BUD...

I can't believe it but here's a rule-following flock of Canada geese. Crossing in the crosswalk, with the lights.

Retailers do not understand that December 27 is the absolute hard stop last possible day to blast Christmas playlists.

Sunday morning engagement bait.. These were my favorite albums of 24, split into pop/rock and ambient/classical with corresponding playlists. open.spotify.com/playlist/0K5...

Spotify has been gradually replacing artists like Brian Eno on its super-popular chill mixes with cheaper, fake artists from production houses that sell “the kind of stock material often used in the background of advertisements, TV programs, and assorted video content.” harpers.org/archive/2025...

You say advertising doesn’t work but i still remember all the lyrics 40 years later. m.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTB...

Was just looking for a picture of someone kneeling and this is the utter dog shit Google offers now.

I talked about retail media and the Kroger-Albertsons split on last night’s @wsj.com podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Real life inspired by fiction inspired by real life. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/b...

🚨Huge agency world news: Omnicom Group is in advanced talks to acquire Interpublic Group, a deal that would create the world’s largest advertising company www.wsj.com/articles/adv...

Just remembering the best ever use of music in a brand Christmas campaign. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMJS...

Willem Dafoe speaking truth in this interview with @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social www.vulture.com/article/will...

If you teach a basic data analysis class, Spotify Wrapped is a fun way to show your students you can create billions in PR value with what amounts to a filter, a group by, a count and a sort.

Hard to overstate how incredible it is to spend time alone with your infant, watching her try to communicate and understanding the weight of the responsibility you now hold for this human that you helped create. For a very brief moment, at least, everything else falls away.

I am leaving my corporate media job and hoping to write stories about a broader variety of topics that are meaningful to me. It’s time, I want to explore another side of my creative ability.

On future profitability, @jay.bsky.team says “subscriptions are the first step.” In our book, @rmac.bsky.social and I reported that Twitter’s former CEO Parag Agrawal thought there was a way for advertising to play a role on Bluesky

Breaking: FTC is announcing cases today against two data brokers that are accused of selling people's sensitive data without user consent, including to the US government. Details incoming, but the companies are Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla, according to a statement on the agency's website.

Everything is an ad platform. Especially unprofitable businesses with lots of very generous investors. www.ft.com/content/9350...

It’s time

Direct marketers have already begun using trump tariff fears as a sales tactic: “The very same items you are seeing now will be double the price once the tariffs kick in.” “we can say for certain this may be the last ‘sale’ you may see.” www.wsj.com/business/ret...