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Last year, when Ram Trucks parent company Stellantis announced it would discontinue the automakers popular Hemi V-8 engine for its Ram 1500 full-size pickup truck beginning this summer, its fans were upsetto say the least. When Ram made the decision to discontinue production of the iconic Hemi V-8, the internet erupted, and lifelong loyalists voiced their outrage across social media, says Lindsay Fifelski, head of Ram brand advertising. We knew we couldnt market our way around this moment; we had to meet it head-on. In the interim 12 months since the announcement, then-CEO Carlos Tavares stepped down from Stellantis. Then last week, the company announced the corporate version of Never mind!and the Hemi was back before it even left. [Photo: Stellantis] To double down on their message, Ram Trucks created a new commercial starring its CEO Tim Kuniskisand in it he admits the company made a mistake. Sales were down by more than 18% year over year in 2024, but Kuniskis told CNBC that he expects Hemi to represent 25% to 40% of the Ram 1500 pickup trucks sales this year. Created with the ad agency Argonaut, the new spot was shot entirely with practical effects. It features Kuniskis himself behind the wheel of the truck, doing doughnuts, drifting, and taking a few hot laps on a NASCAR track. One of Kuniskiss first lines in the ad is: We own it. We got it wrong. And were fixing it. Its a simple, textbook brand apology, creatively combined with the kind of pep talk aimed to get brand fans hyped for whats next. The Ram apology ad is part of a growingand refreshingtrend of brands increasingly having the cajones to own their mistakes and be upfront about it. Last year, I outlined the five types of brand apologies. Both Bumble and Apple were examples of what I categorized as “The Genuine Apology.” This week, Ram Trucks joined the club. [Photo: Stellantis] Make it right While a clear, unequivocal apology often feels like the most logical response to a mistake or to genuine brand fan anger, its not what brands are intuitively built to do. Deflect, distract, and avoid are too often on the menu. Argonaut founder and chief creative officer Hunter Hindman knew the right answer here; he just had to convince his client. We all knew the best solution would be to put Tim in the hot seat, front and center, Hindman says. No corporate gloss. No hiding behind brand spin. Just a man, a machine, and a promise to make it right. And to Tims credit, he didnt blink. Kuniskis says it wasnt a tough decision to admit the mistake. The brand knew almost instantly after last years announcement that it had a problem. A 2022 study from Forrester found that 41% of consumers would return to a brand that concedes to making a mistake and apologizes for it. Our customers told us loud and clear howand I’ll say this lightly ‘displeased’ they were with our decision to get rid of the Hemi V-8, he says. You only had to go on to social media to see how they were feeling. Betrayed. We know that truck buyers are very loyal to their brand, and once you lose them, you have to fight tooth and nail to get them back. It was almost immediately clear that we had to right the wrong.”
Category:
E-Commerce
How do you take a mall food court brand and future-proof it for a world with fewer malls? For Auntie Anne’s, the answer is modernizing the stores they already have with a new concept designed for the way people snack now. Auntie Anne’s said Monday it would remodel 150 stores this year with a new store concept and a modernized visual identity designed to sell more of its pretzels, drinks, and snacks to millennial and Gen Z consumers at a time of changing habits. With consumers interested in mobile ordering, grab-and-go food, and novel experiences, the updated Auntie Anne’s store concept has a dedicated mobile order pickup area and an open view into the kitchen with a “Now Rolling” sign to draw attention to employees rolling pretzels by hand. [Photo: Auntie Anne’s] “Consumer expectations have shifted, especially around digital convenience, off-premise access, and visual appeal,” Mike Freeman, president of brands at Auntie Anne’s holding company GoTo Foods, tells Fast Company in an email. The redesigned stores were made to meet those expectations. “It reflects how guests want to engage today with speed, transparency, and a space that feels fresh and energetic,” Freeman says. A new blue and yellow “twist” mural pattern gives the store a more modern and colorful look, and an updated Auntie Anne’s logo is simpler and does without the old halo element of the outgoing logo. [Photo: Auntie Anne’s] Founded in the height of the shopping mall era in 1988, today Auntie Anne’s has more than 2,000 locations in shopping malls, outlets, airports, universities, Walmarts, travel plazas, military bases, and food trucks. Its owner, GoTo Foods, operates or franchises more than 6,900 restaurants and cafés for brands including Cinnabon, Jamba, and Schlotzsky’s. Malls and airports are “core to Auntie Anne’s heritage and continue to play a key role in the brand’s footprint,” Freeman says, but expansion is also key. The brand plans for growth that includes street side and co-branded locations, and it’s open to partnerships and cross-branded collabs with Oreo and Hidden Valley Ranch. The rebrand is about selling a nostalgic snack in a more contemporary way. Revitalizing a food court favorite that’s outlived many of the shopping malls it once occupied is no small feat, and updating the store’s look and feel could go a long way in keeping it relevant.
Category:
E-Commerce
Say what you will about our workforce’s newest employees, but for the NFL’s incoming class of 2025, rookies today are arriving to the league with a strong recall of the intricacies of their team logos and are surprisingly adept at painting. The NFL released the latest edition of “Rookies Paint,” the league’s annual video showing rookies painting team logos from memory. Most of the attempts over the years are painfully and humorously amateurish, and the funny tradition has evolved into merch. This year, though, a number of rookies showed remarkable skill under pressure. Given the short five-minute time frame they have to complete it, it’s impressive how many managed to get close to their new team’s logo. rookies drawing their team logos from memory will never get old pic.twitter.com/keZSzKXeJu— NFL (@NFL) June 8, 2025 Los Angeles Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson nailed his team’s logo. Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren and New York Giants running back Cam Skattlebo were on the right track. Kaleb Johnson, a Pittsburgh Steelers running back, got the gist of his team’s Steelmark, despite an issue with sizing and placing the right colors in the wrong order of the three hypocycloids, the red, yellow, and blue shapes that represent the elements that make steel. “I see it every year and I’m always like, ‘oh, I would nail that,’ and now that I’m here I can already tell not not nailing it,” said Issac Teslaa, a Detroit Lions wide receiver who actually did a decent job with the basics of his team’s lion mark. “I think I did better than I was expecting to do,” he said at the end. Since the series has run for multiple years, today’s rookies might come to the task better prepared, but that still doesn’t mean everyone nailed it. Even though he was wearing pants with the Jacksonville Jaguars logo stamped on them, rookie Travis Hunter could not recreate the logo himself. Others were challenged with translating the picture in their head onto the paper in one quick attempt. Two Cleveland Browns rookies took different perspectives for their team’s logos, with running back Quinshon Judkins painting a front-facing view while quarterback Dillion Gabriel did a side profile that captured the real logo’s perspective, if not the exact right tilt. Remembering the details of logos is hard, even for logos we see every day because our brain doesn’t classify it as necessary information it needs to recall. The same goes for pro football players, though this new fun tradition may now mean rookies pay at least a little extra attention to the logo on the jersey they get on draft day.
Category:
E-Commerce
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