📭 Culture cracking!
Hello hello hello beautiful people,
Let’s start with an annoying truth.
For anyone running a brand, every cultural moment comes with an unspoken pressure: to “use” the moment.
You know what I’m talking about.
Festival? Cricket match? Olympics?
How do we make it about us 🙃
Here’s the thing about cultural moments:
👉🏻 They create opportunities you can’t plan for.
No matter how much money you throw at ads, you just can’t manufacture genuine virality.
You can’t force people to care.
But when it happens organically, it’s pure magic!
The 2026 Winter Olympics gave us two perfect exhibits of this.
Let’s get into ittt.
#1: The great stoat shortage of 2026
Did you know that the Olympics has a little tradition. Every medalist gets a gift alongside their medal.
Some years it’s handmade knit flowers.
Some years it’s sculptures.
This year, it’s two plushies: Tina and Milo 👇🏻
They’re a pair of scarf-wearing, super adorable sibling stoats.
Yes, stoats.
They’re like weasels, but cuter?
I had to google it :P
Anyway, Tina & Milo are the official mascots for this year’s Winter Games.
➡️ Tina rocks the Olympic side of things
➡️ Milo, born without one paw, represents the Paralympics
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Or slightly bananas.
Depending on your appetite for plush-based domination. 😛
Tina and Milo have unleashed a plushie phenomenon around the world, particularly in Milan.
And I say phenomenon with journalistic responsibility. :P
People are absolutely losing it over these things.
👉🏻 They are waiting up to two hours in line at the Olympic megastore in Milan
👉🏻 Even that doesn’t guarantee you’ll actually get one
👉🏻 Forget t-shirts, cups. The stoats are the only collectible everyone wants
👉🏻 It keeps getting restocked and keeps selling out!
There are 2 million+ people visiting for the Olympics.
Since the plushie demand is far more than supply, fans pivoted.
The scramble became about getting a photo with the official stoats.
Proof of proximity.
Evidence they were in the presence of The Stoats.
To think that i didn’t even know “stoat” was a thing until this happened 😭
If you think this is bizarre – you’re right.
But also? Not really.
Olympic mascot plushies have a long and proud history of derailing otherwise rational adults.
(Anyone recall 2022’s mascot? The fluffy panda?)
Plus in a world of labubus and mirumis (also a thing), it only makes sense that this plushie has got everyone hooked.
Surprise!
Before I tell you story #2, here’s some more fun mini stories that I think you’ll enjoy :)
#2: “Wait, my lipstick!”
A really delightful moment happened at the figure skating medal ceremony.
Alysa Liu won Gold.
Right before stepping onto the podium, she turned around and said:
“Wait, my lipstick!”
Which lipstick did she pull out?
Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty.
She touched up.
Stepped on the podium.
Took her photos.
Also unknowingly gave Rare Beauty a massive boost of organic media attention!
Headlines immediately started asking: Was this staged?
Spoiler: It wasn’t.
Selena herself acknowledged it, saying “she’s just like me fr.” 😂
Now, look: Rihanna once pulled out Fenty Beauty at the Super Bowl with millions watching.
That was strategic. Calculated. Brilliant.
But this story is another reminder that nothing creates brand love like an honest, human moment!
The Mommys are back!
If you work in marketing, here’s everything you need to know to win that shiny trophy 💪
Screenshot your favourite bit of today’s chitthi and share it on IG! Or Linkedin! Don’t forget to tag us. So we can like it share it love it get all our validation from it thank you very much in advance ❤️
Quiz Time!
Which CEO once famously said that their biggest competitor was sleep?
- The Mommys 2026 is here! If you work at a brand or agency, this is for you :)
- If this e-mail was forwarded to you and you liked what you read, you can subscribe to ‘The Chitthi’ by clicking here. It’s free, and we send only one mail per week.
- The quiz answer - Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix! While said as a joke, it was bang on. This was back in 2017 when streaming wars weren’t as intense as today. PS. recommend a show to me?
See you next week,
Sid