ChatLabs

Honestly, this week felt a little unreal. Getting reposted by JACQUEMUS (and even Simon himself) and having a video liked by Joe Jonas were definitely not on my 2025 bingo card. It was one of those rare weeks where everything aligned creatively, professionally, and personally. At ChatLabs we amassed over 2.5 million organic views in just a few days, with several posts performing consistently well across channels. Social really is unpredictable, and sometimes it surprises you in the best way.

Campaigns that restore my faith in marketing pt.3: JACQUEMUS To introduce his new bag named after his late mother Valérie, Jacquemus released a campaign he describes as “a reflection of her spirit.” And that’s exactly what it feels like. It’s a series of short, cinematic vignettes from his childhood: his mom coming home with groceries, getting ready for a night out, moving through everyday life. Each frame feels tender and alive. Everything is shot from a lower, first-person point of view, as if we’re seeing her through his eyes as a child. Because of that, you start to see yourself in it too. As the child, the mother, or both. It’s intimate and universal at the same time. What makes the campaign so special is that unmistakable Jacquemus blend of humor and poetry. Even when it’s emotional, there’s lightness. His mother feels radiant, spirited, and playfully human. A portrait of womanhood that refuses to simplify, both mature and mischievous, strong and free.

Of course the ChatGPT and Claude campaigns were made by humans. We’re living in a strange paradox. The more AI becomes part of our daily lives, the more aware we become of what it threatens to take away. Jobs. Original thought. The ability to tell what’s real. Every leap forward seems to come with a quiet sense of unease. That’s the growing trust gap leading AI companies now have to address. But you can’t fundamentally shift perception with performance metrics or model updates. You have to reshape it through emotion. Through culture. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing with the first major campaigns designed to anchor AI in the human experience. Together with Reid Litman, we looked at how brands like OpenAI and Anthropic are humanizing their technology to rebuild trust. By rejecting tech’s glossy futurism and leaning into nostalgia, they ground AI in warm imperfection and human presence, making adoption feel more natural to us all. It’s deliberate. And it’s smart. A built-in reassurance that AI is meant to augment, not replace, what’s human. Because in the end, they know that trust is imperative to sustain acceptance and adoption. Great work from both Mother and Isle of Any.

ZARA's "A Halloween Story" restored my faith in marketing. I’m honestly speechless. In a landscape where everything feels algorithmic and disposable, ZARA and Szilveszter Mako bring back a vulnerable theatricality and emotional tactility to fashion. A Hungarian-born artist who bridges Eastern European austerity and Italian artistic sensuality, Makó flirts with surrealism but never abandons discipline–staging entire tableaus where natural light, handcrafted props, and forgotten folklore merge into painterly, melancholic narratives. Each image unfolds inside a small cardboard box, lit by soft daylight, its walls painted with fading flowers. Models become dolls, scarecrows, puppets. Denim and flannel turn folkloric; paper noses and fabric whiskers replace glamour with craft. It’s uncanny, beautiful, and completely unafraid of silence. Makó’s world has always lived between reverence and ruin. He calls natural light his native language, reuses props until they break, and builds sets like miniature theatres. There’s something almost sacred in the way he treats imperfection. How he finds poetry in the handmade and meaning in what’s slightly off-centre. And that’s what makes this collaboration so powerful. Zara, a brand synonymous with speed and replication, let itself be slowed down. It surrendered its gloss to Makó’s world of texture, melancholy, and restraint. In a time when everything is digital, clean, and fast, there’s nothing more radical than visible craft. The most valuable thing mass brands can do right now is commission artists who ground them in tactility and emotional intimacy. Artists who lend them cultural authority and depth. Zara seems to understand that better than most. I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s haunting in the best way possible. A reminder that great art lingers. I would love to hear your thoughts. And please feel free to share any campaigns that have restored your faith in marketing too.

We had marketers at play REAL OR AI? In this edition we have: – Gwyneth Paltrow's candle that smells like her v*gina – The Rock's cheat day protein chips Thank you for playing Ndubuisi Uchea Ana Cristina Calapa Jason Boyce Joe Rey Matt Wolosz