SUNDAY SCARIES: Irony

This week explores the definition of IRONY.

1. Netflix + Warner Bros — The Streamer Steals the Video Store

Netflix spent more than a decade erasing all memories of “the video store” we grew up loving. Last week, the streaming behemoth surprised nepo-titan David Ellison by outbidding him (and his father's wallet) for Warner Brothers, and the entire library that once made Blockbuster Video feel invincible. The dizzying degree of this kind of full-circle moment can be framed in dozens of ways, but maybe the most simple is just: digital killed physical, and digital now needs the physical catalog to keep its own lights on.

The Irony: The company that ended our need for the video store just bought all the movies from Blockbuster to stay relevant.

(Sources: FT; Bloomberg; Ad Age)

2. Svedka's AI Super Bowl Ad — Robots Steal the Super Bowl Brief

Svedka gained fame as being “Swedish distilled” vodka. It is now owned by Sazerac, the same Louisiana-based conglomerate behind Fireball and Southern Comfort. As a brand, it has always felt like an adolescent version of the future, and now that it's making its first-ever Super Bowl commercial, it decided the safest move was to hand the job to AI, as well as reviving their old Fembot mascot (because apparently the objectification of women is what the robots would prefer).

The Irony: The ad industry was already terrified about AI replacing creativity; but the American-owned fake-Swedish futuristic vodka having the robots make their Super Bowl spot that's starring their famous spokesrobot might just be the advertising equivalent of "jumping the shark".

(Sources: WSJ; Ad Age)

3. Haven / Suno AI Music Ripped + Spotify Wrapped = Forgetting the Musicians

A catchy track called “I Run” went viral on TikTok for weeks… until fans learned the vocals weren't from the artist they thought; they were stitched together by a producer duo named “Haven” using Suno to sound just close enough to Jorja Smith to cause confusion and land them in hot water. The anger from “fans” claimed to be due to Smith's copyright infringement, but since those same fans had been listening for weeks without paying any artists, their hypocrisy seemed much louder.

As a cherry on top, Spotify Wrapped arrived and immediately took over every timeline, as if the economics underneath weren't forcing artists to settle for $0.003 per stream and only earn $3,000–$5,000 per one million streams.

The Irony: The music industry is morally and financially bankrupted by streaming, but we ignore that part while we're cheering for everyone's Top 5 emo songs by artists living below the poverty line.

(Sources: Dentsu; Reddit; Spotify; TikTok; my brother)

4. Pantone Picks White — The Most Controversial Choice

Pantone's 2026 Color of the Year is basically white (“Cloud Dancer”). A theoretically neutral color that instantly became a non-neutral choice. Some in the design community saw a color trend meant to represent a reset. The other side, one that could be seen as more in tune with global discourse, saw the timing as oblivious and disenfranchising. In the end, the intent didn't matter. The result was just another amplification of the fragile frustration that is boiling over.

The Irony: What is scientifically the "absence of color" vividly revealed just how exasperated we all are. But our official TNC opinion is that it was stupid.

(Sources: Pantone; Vanity Fair; Dr. Marcus Collins/LinkedIn; The Nuance Collective)

This Week's Red Thread: Irony

The etymology of “irony” goes back to an early Greek word that loosely translates to “simulated ignorance.” And ignorance that results in the situations above is precisely what makes them so ironic.

Despite the bravado, Netflix buying Warner Bros wasn't a confident industry move… it was the future needing the past to stay ahead.

Svedka isn't using AI because it's visionary… it was the easiest way for them to make mediocre advertising.

AI music and streaming aren't ruining the music industry because of technology… it's ruined by fickle fans who are angry they got tricked but still happy to give their money to Spotify.

Pantone didn't pick “Cloud Dancer” to make a controversial statement… but by ignoring the parallel rise of white nationalism the world made one for them.

For one last kick in the shins, there's Target, the irony bullseye, throwing $5 billion at store remodels during its twelfth straight month of declining sales. Traffic is down. Transactions are down. Prices are cut. Designers were even dispatched to rodeos and ski resorts for inspiration. Every fix except the right one: going back to being a retail brand consumers actually agree with.

The earnings call says the problem is consumers being “uncertain”. But culture doesn't get confused; the consumer isn't uncertain — the institution is.

Irony is what resides in the gap between intention and outcome, and this week was a panoramic photo of the Grand Canyon of gaps.

Whether the institutional ignorance was willful or foolish, the consistent element remains the power of the people. If we want the institutions to change, let's just force them to.

(No, I'm not being a luddite and telling you to take all your CDs out of storage.)

But our money, attention, and action makes everything else happen. So choose the things that you choose wisely.

We all have more power than we realize.

— NB