5 Marketing Fails: Friend AI, OpenAI, AMC, McDonald's & H&M

The McDonald's CEO posted a video eating the Big Arch burger and couldn't bring himself to swallow it. Sam Altman publicly backed Anthropic's stance against the Department of War, then swooped in to take the same contract hours later. And Friend AI released an ad so bleak it made loneliness look like a feature. This week was rough for brands. Sonia Baschez and guest Nic Allum (founder/CEO of Cultureland, an LA-based cultural strategy consultancy) break down five marketing moments that went sideways, what went wrong in each case, and the lessons brands should actually take from them. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro + Friend AI necklace ad controversy 5:30 OpenAI vs Anthropic: the Department of War contract and 1.5M user exodus 18:00 AMC Theatres premium seating backlash and the future of cinemas 32:00 McDonald's CEO Big Arch burger video fail (vs. Burger King's response) 42:00 H&M "New York" campaign: multi-generational casting and what's missing 49:30 Key takeaways and lessons for marketers About the guest: Nic Allum is the founder and CEO of Cultureland, a cultural strategy consultancy based in Los Angeles that helps brands understand and connect with cultural moments. Subscribe to The Meme Team Podcast for weekly breakdowns of the marketing strategies creating breakout cultural moments. Connect with Nic Allum: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicallum | Substack: cultureland.substack.com Connect with Sonia Baschez: @SoniaBaschez everywhere | @MemeTeamPod on YouTube | @MemeTeamPodcast on Spotify and TikTok