Did you know the American Music Awards were this week? We don't think anybody did.

• Google I/O: What the AI announcements mean for marketers

• Dyson's new vacuum (and how the Coanda effect works!)

• The AMAs nobody went to: Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish won, but didn't go. Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton performed... but didn't do it live. And people hated on Jennifer Lopez.

• Red Lobster's and Joey Fatone's $19.99 in 1999 moment. (Can you send us Cheddar Bay Biscuits?)

Follow us:

Sonia Baschez (@soniabaschez): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠

Amanda Natividad (@amandanat): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠, and Instagram

Sonia's consulting firm: bendgrowth.co

Amanda and her newsletter: amandanat.com

Meme Team: memeteampodcast.com

Bonus episode! You're welcome, teamsters.

• Is Tom Cruise the last movie star and... one of the best marketers? (Hear us out.)
• Duolingo purges its TikTok and Instagram and comes back... with a bizarre video. (Presumably to win us back after its AI-first disaster.)
• All-American Rejects playing in your backyard. (We wish.)

Follow us:

Sonia Baschez (@soniabaschez): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠

Amanda Natividad (@amandanat): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠

Sonia's consulting firm: bendgrowth.co

Amanda and her newsletter: amandanat.com

Meme Team: memeteampodcast.com

On the Meme Team podcast, we talk about the logic behind virality. Because marketing isn’t just logic — it’s culture… and this podcast decodes both.

• Sesame Street is now available on Netflix (but still on PBS!)
• Uber's route share announcement gets bungled (it's really not a bus!)
• HBO finally drops the "Max" (it's cleaner)
• Is everything going to become an AI chatbot?

Follow us:

Sonia Baschez (@soniabaschez): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠

Amanda Natividad (@amandanat): ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠

More about Sonia's consulting firm: https://www.bendgrowth.co/

More about Amanda and her newsletter:

https://amandanat.com/