Friday 2 October 2026: PR & Marketing Round-Up | From Eye-Patch Drama to Late-Night London
Welcome back to this week's PR & Marketing News Round-Up from Visible PR.
This week’s stories show brands using cultural conversation, transparency and a strong understanding of their distinctive assets to win attention. From a packaging pile-on that became social-first entertainment to BrewDog confronting its baggage head-on, the common thread is clear: brands cannot control every conversation, but they can control how usefully and creatively they participate in it.
Let’s jump in and read on for more…
The beauty packaging drama that became content
Fenty Skin, Glow Recipe, Huda Beauty and Korean beauty brand Wonder Bath all found themselves in the spotlight after launching near-identical “fresh slice” hydrogel eye-patch dispensers. Rather than descending into a public battle over who was first, the brands leaned into the internet’s reaction including Fenty Skin’s Spider-Man meme, which brought the four lookalike products together in one knowing joke. The shared packaging is reportedly linked to common supplier technology, although each brand maintains that its formula and positioning are different.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: This is a smart example of not treating a social-media pile-on as a crisis by default. The packaging may have looked interchangeable, but the brands that joined the joke demonstrated personality, confidence and cultural fluency. In crowded categories, product innovation is only part of the story; how a brand communicates, responds and builds community around that innovation matters just as much.
BrewDog says goodbye to “cunning stunts”
BrewDog has launched its first major campaign under Tilray Brands ownership, using the line “Under New Ownership” to signal a fresh start for the brewer. The multi-channel campaign spans large-format OOH, digital screens, print, social and in-store activity, with deliberately self-aware creative including “No More Cunning Stunts. Just Great Beer” and “A Little Less Allegation.”
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Reputational reset campaigns often fail because they try to erase the past. BrewDog’s approach is more effective because it acknowledges the elephant in the room, uses the brand’s established irreverence and then directs attention towards a tangible commercial next chapter: better beer, investment, people and places to experience the product. The key lesson is that a reset needs both an honest narrative and real proof points behind it.
The Laughing Cow turns a brand asset into a national conversation
The Laughing Cow has temporarily stopped laughing across selected packs, social channels, its website and wider activations, before revealing the cause: the trivial everyday disagreements that are “driving a wedge” between people. The brand unveiled the explanation through an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has launched the #SpreadTheLaugh challenge, asking consumers to share the small disagreements dividing them, from socks with sandals to dishwasher etiquette, to help bring the mascot’s smile back.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: This is a strong use of a recognisable brand asset. The campaign begins with a simple visual disruption of an iconic cow no longer laughing and turns it into an accessible participatory mechanic. Crucially, the platform is rooted in the product itself: a wedge is reframed as something to share rather than something that separates us. It is playful, emotionally relevant and built for easy social contribution without asking too much of consumers.
ASICS makes movement a conservation issue
Ahead of World Mental Health Day, ASICS has launched Human Nature, a nature-documentary-style campaign that frames human movement as something at risk of disappearing from modern life. The work is supported by research among 34,000 people across 31 countries, finding that respondents spend 86% of waking hours inactive and that 53% of adults do not meet recommended physical-activity guidelines. ASICS has also created a “Movement Conservation Status” to classify people as Endangered, At Risk or Active, while encouraging people to move for 15 minutes a day.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: ASICS has found an arresting and ownable way to make a familiar health message feel newly urgent. Recasting sedentary behaviour through the language of endangered species creates a strong creative device, while the 15-minute call to action keeps the campaign practical rather than preachy. The combination of emotive film, proprietary research and a manageable behavioural ask gives the story real breadth across earned, social and retail channels.
KOKO celebrates club culture after dark
As part of its 125th anniversary, KOKO Electronic has unveiled its AW26 season with a tongue-in-cheek campaign centred on a fictional late-night kebab shop. The film celebrates London’s post-club culture and follows music fans across the eras, alongside a beleaguered shop owner. The venue also seeded intrigue with cryptic menu-style flyposters across London, featuring a mystery phone number that gradually revealed clues about the forthcoming line-up.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: This is a great example of place-led storytelling. Rather than simply announcing artists, KOKO is selling the feeling surrounding a night out: the chaos, humour and shared rituals of London club culture. The kebab-shop concept gives the campaign a recognisable cultural shorthand, while the flyposting mechanic creates a physical-to-digital trail that rewards curiosity and makes the programme reveal feel like an event in its own right.
Final Thoughts
Across these stories, the common thread is brands using disruption, humour and cultural recognition to create moments that travel. Whether it is turning a packaging pile-on into a self-aware social exchange, using a missing laugh to spark a conversation about everyday disagreements, or celebrating London’s post-club kebab-shop ritual, the strongest work begins with something audiences already recognise and gives them a fresh reason to engage with it.
What stands out is the balance between attention-grabbing creativity and a clear strategic role. BrewDog uses its campaign to signal a genuine change of direction, ASICS turns an important movement message into an urgent cultural prompt, and KOKO transforms a programme announcement into a vivid expression of its place in London nightlife. In a crowded landscape, the brands winning attention are not simply making noise, they are showing personality, acknowledging the conversation around them and creating ideas people want to share.
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