Weekly Roundup
Stories and campaigns we’re watching - Feb 28, 2026
The best part of wakin’ up…
Folgers is bringing back one of the most recognizable jingles in advertising, but with a twist. In a new 60-second spot, the brand remixes “The best part of wakin’ up is Folgers in your cup,” weaving it into a music-driven film that follows people through their morning routines. Each scene is paired with a different “wake up” anthem, spanning decades and genres, from Aretha Franklin and The Everly Brothers to Evanescence and Avicii, before landing on the classic Folgers line.
The timing isn’t random. Specialty coffee has hit a 14-year high, and TikTok has turned pour-overs and precision brewing into aesthetic rituals. For legacy brands like Folgers, that means competing not just on taste or price, but on cultural relevance. The campaign is running across national CTV, online video, Spotify, TikTok, Meta, and Pinterest, clearly designed to show up where younger audiences already spend time.
Instead of trying to out-cool specialty brands, Folgers is leaning into its own equity. The jingle is instantly recognizable, and rather than abandoning it, the brand reframes it for a new generation. It’s a reminder that evolution doesn’t always mean reinvention. Sometimes it means finding a modern way to reintroduce what already made you iconic.
Tune in on TikTok
one man’s e-waste is another man’s treasure
Telstra, Australia’s largest telecom provider, turned its sustainability commitment into something you can actually hear. The brand built a working synthesizer made entirely from reclaimed e-waste, old phones, modems, soundboards, even a vintage game controller, in partnership with Australian music group The Avalanches. The instrument will live in Telstra’s flagship Discovery Store in Melbourne for two months.
The backdrop is serious. Australians generate about 22 kilograms of e-waste per person each year, one of the highest rates in the world. Telstra has pledged that by 2030 it will reuse, recycle, repair, or donate one smart device for every two it sells. Instead of talking about that goal in a press release, the company built something physical that brings the issue to life.
From a marketing perspective, this is where it gets smart. The synth isn’t just an installation, it’s content fuel. It gives artists something to play, customers something to film, and creators something to remix. On platforms like TikTok and Reels, a strange, one-of-a-kind instrument made from discarded tech practically markets itself.
If you want social to work harder, give it something real to orbit around. When brands create tangible experiences tied to their values, the storytelling spreads more naturally, and audiences do some of the amplification for you.
Watch the full campaign here
And the winner is… paramount
Big twist in the streaming chess match: Netflix has officially backed out of its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. That leaves Paramount Skydance as the primary path forward if a deal gets done. For a moment, it looked like WBD’s massive library, HBO, DC, CNN, the whole portfolio, could fold into Netflix’s ecosystem. Now that scenario is off the table.
For Warner Bros., that matters. A Netflix deal would have meant plugging its IP into the largest global streaming machine overnight. Instead, a Paramount tie-up would create a different kind of media giant, one blending legacy networks, film studios, and streaming under a broader umbrella. The structure of who controls distribution, ad inventory, and content pipelines shifts depending on which buyer wins.
From a social and marketing lens, this is where it gets interesting. A Netflix-WBD merger would have concentrated enormous cultural gravity in one platform, giving Netflix even more leverage over release windows, talent, and promotional scale across social. Without that consolidation, attention stays more distributed. That means more platforms competing to drive conversation, more fragmented fandom communities, and potentially more partnership opportunities for brands looking to tap into IP moments across multiple ecosystems.
In short, when mega-mergers stall, social gets noisier, not quieter. And for marketers, fragmentation often means more room to play.
