This week we graded viral marketing: Travis Kelce’s perfectly timed AE collab, Nike’s new Caitlin Clark mark, Serena × Ro backlash, MSNBC’s rename, a Cracker Barrel boomerang rebrand, and even a White House play to fix government design.
Travis Kelce × American Eagle: The $260M Moment
What Happened: American Eagle unveiled a Travis Kelce collection the day after his engagement hit the feeds. Whether that timing was engineered or lucky, the drop rode the biggest pop-culture wave of the week and flooded AE’s distribution with free attention.
The Fathers Take:
Stack moments. When culture is already looking in one direction, ship something that lets them talk about you.
Buy option-value in contracts. The ability to launch when the iron’s hot is worth more than a clever line sheet.
Star > SKU. The campaign felt sophisticated while the product looked mid. That’s fine because distribution beats design here.
Grade: A-
Quick Grades: Viral Hits & Misses
Caitlin Clark logo (Nike)
What Happened: Nike unveiled their new logo for super star Caitlin Clark
The Fathers Take: The logo is solid and all but what they do with it will be the bigger tell. Hopefully they finally get creative and don’t just launch a standard set of basics with the logo cheaply stamped on.
Grade: B+
Serena × Ro
What Happened: Ro tapped Serena Williams for a new campaign, but backlash hit when people learned her husband Alexis Ohanian is an investor.
The Fathers Take: One tasteful line acknowledging the spouse investment would’ve defused most of the backlash.
Grade: D+
MSNBC → MS NOW
What Happened: MSNBC was sold in part of a bigger deal and forced to rebrand.
The Fathers Take: Uninspiring but practical—keeping 3/5 letters preserves recognition.
Grade: C+
Cracker Barrel (re)rebrand
What Happened: Cracker Barrel rebranded then reverted back to it’s old logo just days later after backlash.
The Fathers Take: They should’ve taken the money spent on the rebrand and spent it on better food. The logo isn’t driving anyone there.
Grade: D
Final Sermon
At the end of the day, great marketing comes down to timing, honesty, and focus. The best campaigns meet the moment, acknowledge the context, and keep the main thing the main thing.
If you want to watch us break these down in detail check out the pod below:
Blessings,
The Brandfathers