When does a word become so ubiquitous it loses all meaning? Brian's sudden aversion to "culture" sparks a meandering exploration into the semiotics of commerce, just as Poppy's influencer vending machine saga becomes an unlikely metaphor for marketing's existential crisis. PLUS, we revisit a key moment from NRF 2025.

• [13:30] The Poppi fallout: After being slammed by fans around the globe for an influencer activation, Poppi juggles image repair.
• [23:00] Poppi vs. Olipop: Controversy doubles the audience.
• [29:00] Super Bowl LIX: This year’s game was an underwhelming canvas for Kendrick’s victory and Poppi’s brief downfall.
• [35:00] One of the most impactful ads this year was creator-made, by a Doritos fan.
• [46:00] Big creative is more accessible now than ever, as displayed by big brands like Liquid Death using small but mighty budgets.
• [51:00] On this week’s After Dark episode, we unpack Kanye West’s breakdown and public rage against Ye and Shopify.
• “If you want to get attention, start a war.” – Brian
• “In the last few years, the NFL has become more participatory.” – Brian

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Phillip and Brian look into tomorrow’s creator economy, shaped by the role of AI-driven agents in commerce and attention as currency. While rising generations invisibly develop instincts for algorithmic curation, Mr. Beast’s Feastables collect dust in your local Walgreens. PLUS: We bring you along to our NRF panel discussion alongside our friends from BigCommerce.

• Mr. Beast on Colin and Samir: His too many failed sidequests reveal a bigger picture about the viability of creator-led trends in the long term.
• The future of creator-driven consumer trends is agent-driven.
• Gen Alpha is a surveillance generation, and attention as currency is instinctual.
• Commerce is not just a transaction layer but an infrastructure that connects different facets of the digital world, and is the backbone for emerging tech trends.
• [00:07:40] “If the future of the attention economy is agentic…Do creators have some role to play in agent attention?” – Phillip
• [00:08:35] “The creator economy is a form of patronage.” – Phillip
• [00:11:35] “Gen Alpha is a surveillance generation…my children know instinctively that they’re constantly being surveilled. They give negative attention signals to things they don’t like.” – Phillip
• [00:21:10] “There’s going to continue to be bots in the world, and we are going to hate them.” – Brian
• [00:18:00] “The problem with running AI as effectively an API with a brain of its own is that it becomes completely impossible to diagnose when things go wrong. And that’s going to drive people crazy.” – Brian
• [00:22:00] “There's going to be entire categories that emerge just for creators to try to find alpha and arbitrage in the system.” – Phillip

• Mr. Beast, Walt Disney, and the Promise of Payoff
• @Anuatluru on X
• Kiri Masters on Agentic Shopping
• Insiders #184: Coexist: Avoiding Agentic Ghettos

• Check out Future Commerce on YouTube
• Check out Future Commerce+ for exclusive content and save on merch and print
• Subscribe to Insiders and The Senses to read more about what we are witnessing in the commerce world
• Listen to our other episodes of Future Commerce

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!