Meme Team: Viral Marketing & Pop Culture
Meme Team is the podcast where we discuss viral pop culture moments in movies, TV, music, sports, and politics.
Host Sonia Baschez breaks down real campaigns, brand decisions, and creative marketing strategies behind the moments everyone's talking about. Part funny marketing stories, part marketing big picture strategy, each episode unpacks why something worked, why it failed, or why it spread.
Topics include trending marketing moves, AI marketing campaigns, cause marketing campaigns, brand storytelling, and the culture-commerce overlap that shapes what we consume. If you want impactful marketing thinking, not just tactics, this is the show.
New episodes every week.
Recent Episodes
30
Aug. 13, 2026
Untitled
Zuckerberg published a 6,500-word manifesto calling for open, democratized AI the same week Meta was defending itself in six active monopoly lawsuits. Bumble scrapped the women-message-first rule, which was literally the brand. Obama launched a book podcast on an audio platform and somehow it's one of the smarter marketing moves of the year. Jonathan K. Lowe joined me to talk through all of it, plus the FAA quietly solving a hiring crisis by recruiting video gamers. Timestamps 0:00 Zuckerberg'
29
Aug. 10, 2026
Fans deserve better: Disney, Vinyl, Flock, BTS
Spider-Man Brand New Day just hit $1 billion, and Disney's CEO is already publicly attaching Avengers Doomsday to that momentum. That's a bold bet with a lot riding on it. Sonia Baschez and journalist Shannon Miller look at the gap between brands that genuinely show up for fans and brands that just extract from them, from Disney's new TikTok creator deal to vinyl labels charging $40 for incomplete pressings to Flock Safety's police camera cover-up. Timestamps 00:00 Disney, Josh DeMaro, and the
28
July 30, 2026
The IMAX CEO Is Fumbling the Biggest Opportunity in Hollywood Right Now
Zendaya's press tour for The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is generating more coverage than either studio's marketing budget combined. Christopher Nolan crossed $650M without a traditional campaign, the IMAX CEO is sitting on the biggest missed opportunity in entertainment, and Marvel Doomsday is locked into a same-day release against Dune 3, which is a position nobody should want to be in. This week Sonia Baschez is joined by Christina Garnett for her seventh appearance on the show. T
27
July 16, 2026
Authenticity Wins: Jennifer Lawrence, Christopher Nolan, Apple & Letterboxd
Sonia sits down with Brianna Miller, to break down Jennifer Lawrence saying she hates doing press, Christopher Nolan's take on Gen Z rejecting AI slop, Apple quietly dominating the Emmy nominations, and why Netflix, Paramount, and Sony are all trying to buy Letterboxd. The big thesis: authenticity isn't optional anymore, and the brands that engineer trust without manufacturing it are winning the cultural moment. Jennifer Lawrence told Viola Davis on Variety's Actors on Actors that her biggest hi
26
July 9, 2026
When Brands Should Participate: Taylor Swift's Wedding, Trump's FIFA Call & TikTok's AI Soap Operas
Sonia sits down with Jess Zafarris, author, etymologist, TikTok creator, and editor at large at Ragan and PR Daily, to break down Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding brand activation, FIFA's controversial red card reversal for the US Men's National Team, and TikTok's new AI generated mini drama feature. The big thesis: speed isn't enough anymore, and brands that chase every cultural moment without discernment end up looking desperate instead of relevant. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got ma
25
July 2, 2026
What Partnerships Signal: Meta + Kylie and A24 + Google Deepmind
Sonia sits down with Lia Napolitano, founder of Our Mutual Friend and former Apple and Oculus designer, to break down Meta's Kylie Jenner glasses partnership, Google DeepMind's $75 million investment in A24, Universal's decision to exclude influencers from The Odyssey screenings, and why a $25,000 golf cart designed by former Apple and Audi designers is selling out. The big thesis: partnerships reveal who you serve and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there. Meta ended their Ray-Ban part
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