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- INSIGHTS: 🔎 The Fridge Has Ads, Olia launches on Wefunder, and a Taste Test
INSIGHTS: 🔎 The Fridge Has Ads, Olia launches on Wefunder, and a Taste Test
From human to AI and the threads between, glimpse into brand strategy, tech, and opportunity in the marketing scene. This is your window seat from 30,000 feet.
culture pilot
September 24, 2025
Is that an Ad on your Fridge?
We see you Samsung.
BRAND SIGNAL
Remember that time we were excited about talking refrigerators back in June?
Well, Samsung just confirmed those smart refrigerators will soon display ads. Turns out the next step for those large-screen displays is going pretty much as predicted: Monetization.
Now What?
For Brands, this means new opportunities to meet people in their home with highly targeted, interest-based advertising. But it’s still an early pilot program.
For Samsung, it comes at a high risk of feeling intrusive instead of helpful.
For Consumers, we have the option to turn off the internet on our new luxury fridge, which we just bought for its internet capabilities.
Just think… We can spend $2-3k on a fridge and sip on our orange juice while getting served ads for a competing brand’s orange juice. Let the backlash begin.
FROM THE FIELD
This month, we helped launch the splash page for Olia, whose Wefunder campaign is now live. It’s a big milestone for this San Antonio–based CPG company with ambitious growth plans.
In collaboration with founder and chef Chris Cook, longtime CPG exec and COO Mark Bair, and our phenomenally talented friends at CMA and Genius Dreams, Olia is opening the door for community support to fuel its next chapter.
When their raise hits its mark, Olia will be set to accelerate expansion and awareness, delivering their first four flavors to a much wider audience.
GO TIME
The Taste Test
If you pour a glass of orange juice and get an ad with it, the whole thing feels off. Or some might say… Sour.
It’s the same with work. When a task feels more like marketing than meaning, or if it feels like you’re just aiming to please, it’s worth asking:
Is your energy better spent trying a new direction that feels more inspiring?
And maybe more importantly:
Is staying the course just lazy?
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