Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Sephora x Mariah Carey Christmas ad, Ariana Grande Wicked stan drama + Acquired twins clothing brand

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MINI SCROLL: Sephora x Mariah Carey Christmas ad, Ariana Grande Wicked stan drama + Acquired twins clothing brand · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space.
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  Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
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  media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini scroll
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  everyone. All right, I have no updates for
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  you guys for the first time in a very long time.
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  So before I get into the stories for today, Please remember to
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  rate, review and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US.
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  We're trying to get to 1000 Spotify star ratings by the end
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  of the year. Actually, I do have one update
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  for you guys, high stakes. Their recent episode from Friday
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  Go subscribe, rate them because I'm so proud of them.
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  I'm so happy. This is like the win that we
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  need. All right, the first story that
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  I have for you guys is I'm going to break down the conversation
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  around Sephora's Christmas ad that's featuring Mariah Carey
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  and the backlash that they are receiving for this ad being
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  quote UN quote out of touch. So on November 1st, Mariah Carey
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  announced it was officially the holiday season with a new ad for
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  Sephora. And consumers are not loving the
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  ad, which has already surpassed over 100 million views on TikTok
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  shows the singer catching a mischievous elf, played by Billy
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  Eichner, sneaking off with a luxury beauty products from
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  Sephora. Bad news, Mariah Carey, the
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  elves are striking this year. Elf revenge for putting us
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  through holiday hell. Santa's help her quit.
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  I'm pawning all this so I can afford elf therapy.
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  Christmas, it's cancelled. So when he says I'm pawning all
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  of this, it's luxury makeup from Sephora.
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  And then Mariah Carey turns him into a snowman before making her
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  signature defrosting entrance, which is obviously a nod to her
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  viral holiday meme. Viewers were quick to draw
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  parallels between the Elfs strike storyline and what is
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  currently going on in the labor market around the world, and
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  have accused the ad of making fun of workers demanding fair
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  pay and better conditions. Creator Regina George Her video
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  has gone fairly viral for this criticism.
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  I don't. Know about you, but the American
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  people have been treated pretty badly this past year, so it
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  feels like there's a direct correlation to current times and
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  this dialogue. He's resorting to stealing so he
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  can afford healthcare. Marketing is an intentional
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  business. You want to build something that
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  resonates with the masses and the general public, something
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  that attracts all kinds of age groups, especially in a
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  commercial where it's Mariah Carey.
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  And the message that I received from those few lines is that he
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  works for an employer who lives in a gigantic mansion, who
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  doesn't pay a livable wage and also does not want to provide
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  healthcare. Does that sound familiar?
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  So the general sentiment from people who feel uneasy about the
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  ad is that it seems like Sephora is mocking the working class and
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  making fun of boycotting with the line about canceling
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  Christmas. A lot of people have also noted
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  that Sephora, or at least a lot of brands sold at Sephora, are
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  on the boycott list, so they believe this ad could be a
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  response to that. People feel like this ad is
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  mocking consumers, especially American consumers, while
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  simultaneously asking for our money.
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  And I want to note, too, there are, of course, people who feel
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  like it's not that deep. This is just a fun holiday ad.
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  You know, these criticisms are reaching.
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  There's of course, that camp as well.
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  But I'm here to specifically talk about why people have an
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  issue with the ad. So yeah, I feel like if they
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  released this ad 10 years ago, it would have popped the fuck
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  off. But ten years ago was a very
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  different time. I believe that Sephora thought
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  that by tapping into youth zeitgeist culture, it would land
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  maybe in the way that, like, satire lands.
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  Like, I do believe that this ad is in response to the boycott.
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  I agree with people there, and I believe it's in response to
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  everyone's economic stress and all of that.
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  But more than anything, I think that this is an effort from
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  Sephora to tap younger consumers by reflecting themselves back to
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  them almost in like a referential humor type of way.
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  Because even though obviously Mariah Carey is not Gen.
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  ZI feel like the iconicness of Mariah Carey is actually very
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  Gen. Z in terms of like pop culture
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  and the holiday season. She has had quite the
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  Renaissance just in the last few years.
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  And TikTok has played a big role in that.
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  And I think the elf being like, I'm going to go on strike.
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  I need therapy. Like, I really do think that
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  that was them being like, Oh my God, this will resonate with
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  Gen. Z.
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  They love therapy. They'll think this is so funny.
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  This is so them. I think they thought that this
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  would get clipped like all over TikTok that people would use
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  this as sounds like the Venn diagram of young people who care
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  about luxury makeup and young people who care about pop
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  culture is probably more a circle than anything.
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  But I think that this ad aside from being super tone deaf and I
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  completely agree with a lot of the criticisms.
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  It is very dated. It gives me like, hello fellow
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  kids. Like that's what this gives me.
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  That being said, there are also a lot of people who believe that
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  it was intentionally a counter marketing campaign, almost like
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  the American Eagle campaign where they put out an ad where
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  they knew it would be a bit edgy and it wouldn't land with
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  everyone. And they were OK with that.
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  Like they were making it clear who they want their audience to
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  be. And I don't know if I totally
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  agree with that because we know that makeup is typically
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  recession proof because when people can't afford other
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  luxuries, they will buy like, a nice lipstick.
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  Because in theory, in the scheme of things, it's cheaper to spend
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  $30 on a lipstick than to buy a new pair of jeans or to go on a
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  holiday or whatever, like all all the other luxuries that
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  you're having to cut from your life.
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  So yeah, I don't know if I think that they were trying to isolate
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  consumers because makeup tends to actually boom and find like,
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  new consumers amid economic hardship.
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  So I don't know if I totally believe that.
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  It feels more like a Sephora releasing an ad that says like
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  this Christmas, basically fuck your problems, buy expensive
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  makeup like we know you will anyways.
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  And this was intentional knowing that people still do buy
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  expensive makeup in dire times. I've also seen a lot of people
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  say that this is going to backfire from Mariah Carey
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  because they feel like her iconicness around the holidays
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  and like all I want for Christmas is you that has now
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  been tainted because of this ad. I think the reality is like
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  right now, we just live in a time where like you just have to
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  be a bit more careful. Like, brands have to be a bit
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  more considered. They can play with their
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  marketing and be a bit edgier. I mean, you can still be edgy
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  and playful in ways that don't offend people, don't get me
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  wrong. But you know, I think we are
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  living through a very specific moment in time and they need to
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  be incredibly like hyper aware of that.
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  Even though it might not feel fair, even though you know it,
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  it might like stifle their creativity or like whatever the
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  argument could be at the end of the day, like you have to
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  respond to the times. You have to meet your consumers
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  where they're at. And time and time again,
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  consumers are saying, this is where we're at.
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  Please meet us here. Don't go further than this.
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  And brands constantly keep pushing the envelope and going
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  further and just basically being like, fuck you guys.
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  And that's kind of how it feels. The next story that I have for
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  you guys, this might sound like a random one, but I promise
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  there is a greater meaning around stand them culture that
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  I'm going to touch on. So Ariana Grande had a delayed
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  flight which led her to miss the Wicked premiere in Brazil
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  earlier this week. So this is for the Wicked for
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  good, which is the second installment of the Wicked
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  series. So Ariana, Cynthia and other
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  cast members were expected to be in attendance.
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  And while Cynthia made it, Ariana was forced to skip the
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  event. In the lead up to the event,
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  Ariana posted on her Instagram story saying that she wasn't
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  going to make the premiere due to issues with her flight.
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  She said Brazil. I can't believe this is
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  happening and I am beyond devastated to be sending this
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  message. A few hours ago my team and I
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  had to deplane our flight as they had to do maintenance on
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  the plane due to a safety issue and it will not be taking off
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  until 11 AM tomorrow which means I will not be making it in time
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  for the Wicked for good Sao Paulo premiere.
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  My team and Universal have tried every single thing possible to
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  fix this. We've searched every other
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  flight, overnight, early morning, connecting flights,
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  commercial and also private options and absolutely nothing
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  was available or possible that would get us there in time.
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  Even in attempting a private option, there is a permit
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  necessary in order to fly from here that takes time to attain.
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  I'm so heartbroken that I'm unable to be there with you all.
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  We sincerely tried everything we could and I apologize from the
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  bottom of my heart. So yes, of course fans are going
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  to be upset that she's not going to be able to make it.
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  However, Ariana also started receiving threats and a backlash
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  from Stan's which is obviously so inappropriate.
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  Some of whom were mad that she could no longer attend,
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  especially because it may have been kind of like, I guess their
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  only chance to see her given how small slash short her upcoming
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  Eternal Sunshine tour is. She then went on to share
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  another story after receiving this backlash, offering more
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  context about the situation. Quote, please don't wish danger
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  on us. We did everything we could and I
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  promise, assume no one is more upset than I am.
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  I promise. And then she explains kind of
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  her scheduling and how this all happened.
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  The fact that people would think that Ariana Grande, who is the
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  star, I mean, she's one of the biggest stars in the world, but
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  she is like the star of this movie in addition to being a
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  giant star herself. And Wicked would be 1 of
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  Universal's biggest blockbusters coming out.
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  For us to assume that Universal and Ariana Grande's team
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  together wouldn't have been literally going to the ends of
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  the Earth, sparing no expense to get her there if they could is
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  wild. Like of course they did, of
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  course they tried everything. I just think it's such a wild
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  assumption. This is like a prime example of
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  peak standom entitlement. It's so toxic.
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  She does not owe you an explanation of her schedule to
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  show you why she could not make a work obligation.
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  This is work for her at the end of the day as well.
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  The fact that she had to over explain herself at all, it's so
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  disappointing. OK, and the last story that I
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  have for you guys, this is a bit of a short one, but the 20
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  something girlies on TikTok have been doing some sleuthing and
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  they believe that the acquired twins are about to launch a
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  clothing brand called Fifi. So the acquired twins, quote UN
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  quote, are Bridget and Danielle. They are New York City Tik
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  Tokers and this whole like speculation around their
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  clothing brand started because Bridget, she used to go by
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  acquired Style, which is why everyone calls them the acquired
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  twins because acquired style was a much bigger account than
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  Danielle, her twins. But earlier this week, Bridget
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  changed her name on socials to her real name.
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  So she changed it from acquired Style to Bridget.
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  And this got everyone talking and wondering like, why did she
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  do this? I wonder if there's a reason
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  behind it. And then one Internet sleuth,
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  Sam Deless, thinks she figured it out.
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  And she made a video that's going pretty viral.
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  And I. Think she did it because the
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  twins are starting a clothing brand.
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  Here's my proof. I tried to pause and set the
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  right time because it looks like she's wearing pants that say
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  Fifi on the butt, which would be their brand.
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  So I went and looked that up in the US Trademark Office and that
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  was filed as a trademark at the end of July and it's filed for
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  apparel and online retail services.
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  So then I just to double check I went and looked for the brand
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  and they both follow this page that says coming.
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  Soon, so there are now some screenshots floating around on
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  TikTok that people have taken from their videos where it looks
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  like they're possibly wearing this clothing brand and it looks
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  very 2000s inspired, which is fun.
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  Like I think they're still going to be elements of Y2K that pop
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  up in trending pieces. But the actual kind of
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  renaissance, like the nostalgia of it.
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  I feel like we've kind of passed it a little bit, but we'll see.
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  These girls are super influential, so I'm interested
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  to see if they're able to sell at a clothing line.
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  Anyways guys, that's it for many scrolls today, a bit of a
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  shorter 1 today, but I will have an episode for you guys
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  tomorrow, a Friday mini scroll. So as always, Please remember to
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  rate, review, and subscribe. I love you guys and I will talk
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  to you tomorrow. Bye.