SUNDAY SCARIES: Glimpses of Joy

Cynicism has always been the cheapest posture in marketing. These days, every LinkedIn piece is either, “Agencies are dying”, “AI is replacing everyone,” “Consumers hate brands,” or “Trust is gone.” In fact, many careers have been built saying things just like that with conviction. The negativity business is booming...

Most of it isn't true. Or it isn't all true. But the fearful story is louder than the actual one. So, this week, we focus on glimpses of proof that the positivity we need is right in front of us.

1. The Premature Agency Obituary

The consulting firm Madison and Wall published a forecast update three days ago that should automatically be served up as a comment on every Hot Take declaring that agencies are dead. Brian Wieser's one-liner that sums up the continuing discrepancy between holding cos and indies: “...people conflate public companies as being the industry.” The doom narrative is a story about WPP and Dentsu being told as if it's the only story in advertising.

Public holding companies grew 0.5% in 2025. But private independents like The Nuance Collective — two-thirds of the U.S. agency business — grew 2%. Wieser projects 2% annual growth through 2030.

Also noteworthy for joy, clients are not pulling budgets because of AI; they're asking agencies for more. In-housing, the boogeyman of the late 2010s, now accounts for only about 10% of total agency-related work after years of trying — and even succeeding. (Liquid Sunshine, Keurig Dr Pepper's in-house agency, closed in 2025 despite being named 2024 In-House Agency of the Year by the In-House Agency Forum.)

Takeaway: Ignore obituaries written by analysts covering five public stocks. The other 6,000 agencies are working.

(Sources: Ad Age, April 23, 2026; Madison and Wall Agency Forecast Update, April 2026)

2. Gratitude Goes Viral

One of the fastest-growing trends on TikTok this month is built on a Bieber song called “Everything Hallelujah.” (Bieber is having a cultural moment even I cannot deny, despite my personal feelings — between the laptop-and-old-YouTube-clips set Coachella Weekend 1 and pulling Billie Eilish out of the crowd Weekend 2). That positive press helped the audio go viral with a “thanks universe” vibe across the platform that is simply a gratitude meme.

The format is just a soft visual and a line of text:

The coffee was good. Hallelujah.
The dog let me sleep in. Hallelujah.
Sun hit the kitchen at the right angle. Hallelujah.

No sales pitch. No glow-up. No before-and-after. No transformation. Just pleasant recognition that the little things matter. TikTok's trend of the week is as simple as people's gratitude for getting half a decent night's sleep.

Takeaway: Ignore fifteen years of content telling you that you need something you don't have. Today the trend is being grateful for what you have.

(Sources: TikTok trend analysis April 2026; Justin Bieber, "Everything Hallelujah," SWAG II, 2025; Coachella 2026 Weekends 1 & 2 coverage)

3. Century 21 Bet on Joy — and Just Renewed Their Lease

In November 2024, Century 21 was watching every other real estate brand weaponize anxiety with mortgage rate calculators, AI valuation tools, and urgency-coded marketing while COMPASS* quietly took over their category. Their response was to plant a gold yard sign in the lawn and call it “The Joy of Home.” The campaign was about personal connections and a 2025 study showed it lifted purchase consideration by 80% among people who saw it. The brand held #1 in category awareness for the 27th year in a row.

But COMPASS kept coming and is now recognized as the largest real estate organization in the United States. So, on April 16, Century 21 launched “Joy of Home: Chapter 2” with a new :30 spot called “Color of Happiness.” Same emotional territory. Same gold yard sign. The whole spot is built around the color of the sign, on the theory that the gold itself is now shorthand for the brand. Ironically, COMPASS's original role as modern alternative has completely morphed into Evil Empire. And in the face of total dominance from that competitor, Century 21 created a sequel that's quieter and smiling more warmly than the original.

Takeaway: Ignore the instinct to relaunch. Maybe the better move is the simpler second chapter.

(Sources: Business Insider; Inman, "Century 21 Revisits 'The Joy of Home' In New Marketing Campaign," April 16, 2026; 2025 Century 21 Consumer Advertising Study. *Full disclosure, COMPASS Chairman Rob Reffkin is a classmate from high school.)

4. The Best AI Campaign of 2026 Is an Antidote to AI

Ad Age handed out its 2026 Creativity Awards last week. Best Use of AI went to The PSAi, from Columbia Journalism Review and TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. The campaign uses AI to teach people how to spot AI-generated misinformation. The numbers behind it: 34 million AI images created every day; 76% of people can't reliably tell which ones are real.

The piece itself is a music video animated from real viral AI fakes. It walks you through the visual tells. It's playful, generous, and assumes you're smart enough to learn.

That's the part worth noticing. While the industry conversation about AI is usually “what's it going to take from us,” Ad Age's top AI creative award went to a campaign about what we can do with it for each other.

Takeaway: Ignore the people obsessed with what AI takes. Focus on the people building what it gives.

(Sources: Ad Age 2026 Creativity Awards, "Best Use of AI: Columbia Journalism Review," April 2026; Columbia Journalism Review + TBWA\Chiat\Day NY, "The PSAi" campaign, thepsai.com)

This Week's Red Thread: "Pibble Nibbles"

Like most Sundays, my dog June is asleep on the end of the bed. She's an all white, 80lb 8 year old pittie mix, and when she's happy she does this thing called, “pibble nibbles,” or “corncobbing”, a rapid-fire flutter of tiny front-tooth bites, like she's eating a very tiny cob of corn made of you or the pillow.

Anyone who's lived with a bully breed knows exactly what this is. It's hilariously sweet. But people who haven't known a “pibble” and think pit bulls are dangerous will assume the worst. That, right there, is the thesis this week.

Pit bulls are statistically one of the most tolerant breeds in the country, per the American Temperament Society. They're afraid of everything that moves and they're more cuddly than any dog I've ever known. But when people see our pit bull coming, they still pull their kids closer or walk their dog the other way. All because they can't see the joy right in front of them.

But when I see June, I see a silly pibble with her nibbles. And that's how we can also see the glimpses in front of us.

Independent agencies are working hard. The jaded generation is grateful for good coffee. Century 21 is doubling down on feeling home. And the award for the best use of AI went to teaching us how to see through it.

It's all about where you focus.

Sometimes the fear is loud and the facts are quiet.

But there are always pibble nibbles.

— NB