Missing Brand Music Video Ads

According to a May 27, 2026 report in Marketing Brew by Katie Hicks titled Why so many brands are releasing music videos, ” it seems brand-created music videos are making a comeback as marketers are increasingly feeling pressure to create organic, original content to break through on social, particularly with younger audiences.” This was news to me because I use the internet correctly, so I only learn about what the brands are up to on social media second-hand. In addition to avoiding advertising, I have also generally avoided the latest and greatest trends in music. But I read on. Would any of these brand music videos be “relevant” to me? * “‘Bringin’ back the Flamin’ Pickle, Cheetos really wanna let the world know,’ Chad Kroeger, lead singer for the band Nickelback, sings in Cheetos’ four-minute-long music video released in March.” I don’t know who Chad Kroeger is. I think I have heard of Nickelback before. But the only nickelbacks I have ever been familiar with played football. * “The song ‘Pickle’s Back’ is a play on the band’s 2001 song ‘How You Remind Me’ and features rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who helps promote the return of Cheetos’s Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle flavor.” I have heard of this “Megan Thee Stallion” character. Why does she call herself a stallion though? A stallion is an uncastrated male horse. I get the idea with Sylvester Stallone or whatever. But I don’t think she’s a male sports and action movie star. * “Hollister’s latest music video with Gigi Perez…” Never heard of Gigi Perez. * “Last year, [The Gap] saw just that in a big way when its KATSEYE x Kelis music video encouraged thousands of UGC dance videos.” Are KATSEYE and Kelis people? * “Hawaiian Tropic’s latest ad campaign and first music video features influencer Alix Earle dancing and lip-syncing to the 1990 song ‘I Touch Myself’ by Divinyls.” I never heard of an Alex Earle. They’re saying he or she is an influencer. But what does he or she influence? I don’t think I know “I Touch Myself” but this song sounds a little questionable. What is Divinyls? Is Divinyls new or is that from 1990? * “KFC took a slightly different approach in terms of replicability with its latest music video for an original song, ‘Finger Lickin’ Machine,’ which, at one point, shows a dancing Colonel Sanders walking up the side of a building.” I know Colonel Sanders. I thought they canceled him. Glad to hear he’s still doing well. After reviewing the article, I determined that even if I were consuming advertising content on social media, this content would not be relevant to me, not least because I have little-to-no idea who these people are (except for Colonel Sanders). If you too would prefer to only learn about the influencer content being created by brands for viral consumption second-hand, see my Feeds and Read-It-Later for Online Reading essay and install uBlock Origin (or uBlock Origin Lite if you use a Chromium-based browser that is not Brave or Safari). You can reply to this article from your own site by sending a Webmention.