Culture Trend Reports, Super Bowl Ads, and Dove’s Reddit Reviews

Trends

Five Trends in Culture Every Marketing and Communications Team Should Have on Their Radar

Arcade, a Calgary-based creative agency, has released its 2026 trend report, an annual project they’ve been refining since 2017 to help marketers understand where culture is actually headed, not just what’s trending on the surface. Shared via the agency’s Substack, the report pulls insights from around the world to outline five behavioural shifts shaping how people create, consume, and connect. These range from a growing appetite for unscripted, collaborative content to a renewed interest in analog experiences, storytelling, and moments that feel more human.

Rather than chasing the next platform or format, Arcade focuses on the forces influencing how audiences react and engage, and why humour, romance, nostalgia, and play are resonating. They also touch on how creativity is becoming increasingly communal. Each trend is grounded in real examples already playing out across culture, making the report especially useful for teams planning content calendars, designing social creative, or working with creators.

Industry News

Super Bowl Ads That Stole the Show

The Super Bowl happened this weekend, and while everyone’s still buzzing about Bad Bunny’s halftime performance, the ads were nearly as talked about. Every year, brands work with big budgets, take big swings, and roll out even bigger ideas, using the game as a rare chance to connect with a global audience and flex some serious creative muscle. Whether you love the spectacle or roll your eyes at the spend, the best ads can be a great source of inspiration when it comes to storytelling, craft, and cultural relevance.

Levi’s Backstory stood out for its simplicity, blending iconic cultural moments with everyday life in a way that felt thoughtful, fun, and true to the brand. And the Skittles ad mentioned in the last Blue Brief did actually follow through with a bespoke performance for one lucky winner. Super Bowl ads are a great reminder of how bold, playful ideas can spark conversation and bring brand stories to life.

Dove Brought Reddit Reviews Into the Spotlight

Dove’s latest campaign proved the brand not only listens to its customers, but is willing to put their unfiltered opinions front and centre. The “Dove r/eal reviews” campaign pulled the first 50 Reddit reviews of its Intensive Repair 10-in-1 Serum Mask, good, bad, and everything in between, and featured them unedited (and with permission) across OOH, streaming, digital, and social. The creative leaned fully into Reddit’s visual identity, from Snoo-inspired avatars to the platform’s signature formatting and naming conventions, underscoring Reddit’s growing role in product discovery, especially as beauty content on the platform had continued to rise year over year.

Importantly, Dove didn’t post the campaign directly on Reddit, where brands can quickly lose control of the conversation. Instead, it borrowed the credibility and cultural cachet of the platform while maintaining a level of brand safety. The effort was a smart extension of Dove’s long-standing “Real Beauty” platform, and served as a reminder that today’s consumers valued transparency over polish. For marketers, it offered a great example of how to tap into online communities and authentic community engagement without forcing a conversation.