Phillip and Brian dig into the cultural implications of AI’s new role—not just as a tool, but as a confidant, a co-pilot, and even a therapist. They also get into the Kraft Heinz x A1 viral moment, trade war disinformation on TikTok, and how AI-fueled consumer aesthetics are transforming luxury. Plus: A new HBR report shows “therapy and companionship” is now the top use case for GenAI. What does this mean for society and us as individuals?

• Kraft Heinz's real-time A1 ad proves responsive marketing now competes on cultural speed.
• “Therapy and companionship” is the top AI use case of 2025—raising serious questions about trust and emotional outsourcing.
• TikTok disinformation and fake Birkin bags signal a new era of aesthetic manipulation and consumer mimicry.
• Agentic AI use cases like coding and life management are accelerating due to new protocols like MCP.
• The interplay of commerce, identity, and AI isn’t theoretical—it’s already reshaping real-world buying behavior.

• Order LORE by Future Commerce
• Harvard Business Review’s 2025 GenAI Use Case Study
• Kraft Heinz x Mischief “For Educational Purposes Only” ad
• All-In Podcast tariff debate featuring David Sacks and Ezra Klein
• TikTok’s disinformation around luxury goods

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Andrew McLuhan—author, speaker, and steward of The McLuhan Institute—shares rich, mind-bending perspectives on the current state of culture, media, connection, and commerce. Drawing from a generations-deep intellectual legacy forged by media theorist and philosopher Marshall McLuhan, Andrew explores what it means to live in a world electrified by complete digital immersion.

• “I quickly discovered that it’s easy to overwhelm people with too much information. It’s almost the worst thing you can do, because you lose them, and it can be hard to get them back.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “It’s much easier to teach people one thing at a time than it is to teach them ten things at once.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “‘A poem can’t mean something that it doesn’t mean to you.’ Which is kind of deep, but it’s not the cop out that you think it is.” – Andrew McLuhan, quoting T.S. Eliot
• “Marshall McLuhan saw that through human history we’ve been influenced and steered by the structure and nature of our innovations more than by what we’ve done with them. A new medium is a new culture.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “We don’t like finding out how we’re being used.” – Andrew McLuhan
• “Commerce is a form of media. It is manipulating people in some way and people are being shaped by it.” – Phillip

• How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025 – Harvard Business Review
• Other Harvard Business Review pieces:
  • Personalization Done Right
  • The Consumer Psychology of Adopting AI
• Eric McLuhan’s Taking Up McLuhan’s Cause – re-released
• The McLuhan Institute

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Live from Optimove Connect, Brian sits down with Optimove CEO Pini Yakuel and Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist at Futurist.com, to unpack the philosophical and practical implications of 'positionless marketing'—a radical rethink of organizational roles in the AI era.

• Positionless is Power: The most innovative organizations won't be flatter—they'll be fluid. Roles dissolve; talent flows where it’s needed.
• AI Is the New Intern: It drafts, it preps, it gets you started—but the genius still has to come from you.
• Old Process ≠ New Potential: Layering AI on legacy workflows just speeds up your inefficiency.
• Control is a Creativity Killer: Let go of silos, turf wars, and micromanagement. The next gen of leaders will trust, not gatekeep.
• The Kids Are Alright—and in Charge: Within 10 years, new mindsets will lead. Curious, collaborative, and chaos-embracing.
• [00:04:48]: “Startups get stuff done because you're positionless. One day you're marketing, next day you're writing code. That’s how you beat the big guys—speed and fluidity.” – Pini Yakuel
• [00:08:03]: “We create the tools, and the tools create us.” – Nick Badminton
• [00:14:44]: “New tech + old process = expensive old process.” – Nick Badminton
• [00:11:50]: “Friction is what makes life life.” – Brian Lange

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