Internet culture is taking over the Super Bowl
📰 NoGood News | Vol. 86
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Before we jump into another round of the NoGood News, here's a quick TL;DR of what's below:
Internet culture is taking over the Super Bowl
Read about how TikTok trends are being used in TV commercials.
DeepSeek had all the AI giants turn their heads
The TV show Severance is trending for a reason
Find out how Severance used symmetry and color theory in their sets.
Ready to master AI search and LLM optimization?
Ready? Let's get into it.
🏈 Internet culture is taking over the Super Bowl
TikTok trends are being used in TV commercials
Is internet culture taking over the Superbowl?
Charli XCX and Martha Stewart appeared in a pre-superbowl ad with Uber Eats referencing TikTok trends.
They recreated the “we listen, we don’t judge” and the “this and yap” trend.
This ad paints a bigger picture of where the future of TV ads is heading.Internet culture is taking over the ad space.Ads used to influence culture — but now it's the other way around.
Thanks to social listening, TikTok-born trends are now being used to drive TV ad concepts.
Brands find out what’s popular, use that to make the ad, in hope that it’ll connect to viewers on a deeper level.
The only way for ads to feel relevant to their audience is to touch on what people already know.
Considering Gen Z is the main target audience for ads this year, references like the “this and yap” trend is what viewers are likely to gravitate to.
The influence of internet culture is just getting started — we predict that we're going to see a lot more impact from small screens to the big screens going forward.
How do you feel about using TikTok trends in TV commercials?
🐳 DeepSeek had all the AI giants turn their heads.
Laugh with us and learn about how DeepSeek stands out in a sea full of AI brands.
DeepSeek caused a huge commotion this past week but no one’s talking about this one subtle detail.
It’s all in their logo.
The blue whale stands out from a sea of AI logos that look almost void-like.
All AI companies have been caught up in competing with one another against speed and efficiency but has not asked the most important question:
How can we connect with our users?
DeepSeek feels more approachable with its friendly blue whale, resonating with users more than the distant stars and voids designed to appeal to investors.
It’s time for AI brands to focus on what sets them apart, rather than competing for first place.
📺 The TV show Severance is trending for a reason
Find out how Severance used symmetry and color theory in their sets.
There’s more to Severance than what meets the eye … 👀
The Apple TV+ show Severance is continuing to grow for its unique plot, but there’s two critical details that contribute to its popularity.
That’s their color palette and use of symmetry.
Their production has meticulously designed the sets in a way to separate warm and cool tones from the life of an “outie” and “innie.”
The lives inside and outside of Lumon Industries were emphasized by the use of red and blue colors.
The difference in colors set the tone for what the environment entails for each character.
We see Helly with red hair which noticeably makes her stand out from the rest of the team and hints at her intentions to understand her outie.
Characters like Mark S. live a messy, dysfunctional life outside but inside Lumon Industries, the severed floor is clean, orderly, and perfect.
This is where symmetry plays an important role — every shot of Severance is framed with the distinction of “split lives” in mind.
Scenes of houses, halls, and conference rooms are all framed perfectly symmetrical.
Severance takes its set design seriously — their design choices elevated the show in a way that only makes it more enjoyable for designers to appreciate.
What are your thoughts on Severance’s set design?
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🎙️ Q&A with an expert
A bi-weekly interview series with the best in the game
*Spoiler warning for Severance Season 2
Q: Severance is known for its meticulous symmetry and geometric framing. What does this level of order do to our subconscious understanding of Lumon’s environment?
A: Severance is using all means necessary to create a drastic divide between the lives of their employees inside and outside of Lumon’s severed floor. Where characters like Mark S. are living a messy and dysfunctional life outside, their lives inside Lumon’s severed floor is clean, orderly and perfect. Inside Lumon, Helly R. wakes up in the center of a conference table, where Mark, S. soon enters and sits directly across from her. The team works in an office with four desks aligned to face each other perfectly, in the center of the room. And when they walk the halls, it’s framed perfectly symmetrically. Although every shot of Severance is beautiful, meticulously framed and aligned, there are noticeable differences between the lives of innies and outies which further emphasize the split in life each character has.
Q: What’s one color or design choice in Severance that you think most viewers might not consciously notice but is crucial to the storytelling?
A: Purple is a color that has subtly been incorporated in Severance, packed with symbolism central to the plot of season 2. Before understanding purple, we need to understand the use of the two color that create purple: blue and red. In season 1, viewers notice the drastic differences between the life Mark S. lives on the inside and outside of Lumon’s severed floor emphasised by the use of red and blue colors. These colors are intentionally incorporated in the show to divide the outside world to the world of Lumon and the severed floor. In addition to Lumon’s brand color being blue, the entire set of the severed floor office is cold and sterile. Using the most contrasting color to blue, the outside world is one represented red. Inside Lumon, shades of red appear a few times: seen when Helly R. tries to escape to the outside world, triggering a security alert and transforming the lighting in the severed floor to red light.
In season 2, purple is used more frequently to show the combination of these two worlds, and the combination of innie and outie. In the first episode of season two, Mark S. is seen running through the halls of Lumon and passing a new purple office room. He’s in search of his wife from the outside world, who has been working on the severed floor at Lumon. The seats in the newly renovated break room are purple which all of the characters are sitting on when they share their stories of the outside world. Additionally, the lights that project the new animated “MDR Revolt” video are red and blue together, symbolizing this combination of red and blue, innie and outie. As season 2 continues, I’m expecting to see more purple, since the combination of inside and outside worlds seem to be getting closer and closer.
✍️ We wish we wrote this
A curated list of the past 2 weeks’ must-read articles:
An inside scoop of the DeepSeek drama
Nike’s new 24.7 collection is game-changing
Multitasking during the Super Bowl is to be expected
👀 Keeping up on the socials
Because we know you like to stay in the know:
Tips and tricks for Instagram’s new grid format
2025 marks the start of Gen Beta
We need to talk more about skeuomorphism
DeepSeek had every AI giant turning their heads
🔥 Trend Radar: Blow up or fall behind
The trending topics, sounds, and formats to key and eye on:
Medieval bunny carousel
Stomp and throw a tantrum about something
Fake news report template
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