Living in Sin - 015
I rate Kendrick's halftime show 6/10. (Does this make me uncultured??)
Hi y’all!
Now that the NFL season is over I pick back up two annual traditions: 1. a Friday Night Lights* rewatch and 2: recommitting to learning more about basketball.
Pride
After months of saying “I need to post more,” I’m finally committing to getting 7Deadly’s social media in focus—thanks to this semester’s MVP: my intern Jackilyn. If you’ve ever tried to run a business and keep up with social at the same time, you know it’s a full-time job. Consider this my official reintroduction to posting with intention (and frequency).
Sloth
This week’s long read is an NYT deep dive into Feed Me, the Substack by
which is basically a business/media gossip pipeline in disguise. It was one of the first newsletters I subscribed to on Substack, and I continue to be fascinated by how Emily has positioned herself as both an insider and an observer. In PR, being the person people go to for insight, scoops, or industry tea is the ultimate power move. Read here: NYT: Where the Dealmakers and Strivers Get Their Gossip.Greed
I cannot get enough of the woman on TikTok who has somehow taken over Pakistani media after what may or may not be a failed marriage.** Every day, I wake up, check my phone, and there’s another microphone in front of her. But why? Why is she being platformed beyond the obvious chaos and humor? There’s something about this that doesn’t sit right. In PR, you have to trust your instincts and I would not be making any content around this if I were a brand.
I can’t stop repeating, “Telling you my business is against my religion,” but I also can’t shake the feeling that we’re all riding high on this story right before it turns into a crash-and-burn cancellation.
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Gluttony
The streets are saying cottage cheese ice cream is about to have a moment, and while I’m all for protein-forward snacking, I need someone to explain to me how this became the latest trend ingredient. It’s giving diet culture in disguise. But also, if you’re a CPG brand with a tangential connection to this trend, now is the time to plant your flag and get some press coverage before it inevitably flames out by Q3.
Lust
I’m giving my personal MVP award to the Angel Soft Super Bowl ad. In a time where consumers are hyper-aware of when they’re being sold to, brands have to offer something more—a moment, a feeling, an experience. Angel Soft nailed this. It was funny, it was self-aware, and it didn’t feel forced.
Super Bowl ads aren’t really about hard sells or key messaging—they’re about brand awareness and locking in a cultural moment. And while a lot of brands threw money at A-listers or shock factor, Angel Soft delivered an ad that was actually memorable IMO.
Envy
The Dallas Mavericks are in a fascinating PR spot right now. After trading away Luka, they offered to refund season ticket holders—which is either a genius customer loyalty move or a PR scramble, depending on how you spin it. This is the perfect time for them to redefine their narrative. The fanbase is already emotional; lean into transparency, amplify new faces, and frame this as the dawn of something exciting (even if it’s a disaster in disguise). If I were in the Mavs’ PR office, I’d be rolling out behind-the-scenes content with the new players, player-led community initiatives, and hyper-targeted fan engagement efforts. No silence, all storytelling should be the playbook.
Wrath
As always I have no time for wrath, so instead, you get a recent camera roll gem: this is a pro-bucket hat newsletter. That is all.
okay bye, babes!
-M
* I do NOT get the Tim Riggins appeal. Does this make me uncultured too???
**In complete transparency the details of this are very, very muddy to me.