Claude Cash
Like water rolling downhill, marketing can be channeled but not prevented.
That’s our introduction to the browser extension Kickbacks, which serves ads during wait times while Claude Code processes a prompt.
The benefit (obviously not the ads themselves) comes via a revenue share.
“The target is $1 per agent per hour,” according to Andrew McCalip, who by trade is head of research and development at the space manufacturing company Varda Space Industries. The company and the user split that 50-50, with payouts through Stripe. And already he says that a “quarter million dollars of ad spend by the end of the week is now in sight.”
The next step, he says, is to create a user log-in “to share enough signal that we can 10x their earned revenue.”
Obvious potential pitfalls are everywhere.
Any user payout system that can be automated will be used for fraud. Already, Kickbacks’ homepage acknowledges a “bot army is attacking us.”
And the whole thing “may go way off the rails for a bit,” as McCalip puts it.
“But I think I already won the important part,” he adds. “People are now asking why users were never getting paid in the first place.”
It’s In The Game (Ads, That Is)
Video game publisher EA is coming for its share of sports ad bucks right now.
EA has long developed tentpole sports game franchises, including Madden NFL and EA Sports FC, which the company introduced in 2023 after losing its FIFA licensing rights.
Now, EA is launching a dedicated ad platform, EA Advertising, first announced on Monday.
EA Advertising will sell ad experiences that are visually similar to real-life sports sponsorships, such as in-game billboards, arena placements and branded uniforms. EA will also sell more standard display banners that pop up during gameplay.
EA isn’t just monetizing its sports franchises, though. The game studio’s new pitch to advertisers also features its life simulator series The Sims.
EA’s move is just the latest by video game companies to offset skyrocketing prices for new game production and consoles with advertising revenue.
But gamers aren’t exactly thrilled about ads packed into games they’ve paid full price for – even if the experience is true of real in-person sports. Or, as gaming news outlet IGN puts it, “EA wants your sports games to be as ad-ridden as real sports.”
Super-Size Brands
Nothing gold can stay in partnership marketing.
And that includes the Golden Arches.
McDonald’s was an early flagship partner for both Coca-Cola and Heinz Ketchup. That is, until Heinz got the shove in 2013. (Kraft Heinz was impudent enough to name a former Burger King CEO as its CEO, prompting McDonald’s to begin making its own ketchup. No joke. Heinz still tries to piggyback on its long association with McDonald’s, too.)
Now, even the 70-year-long Coca-Cola relationship is on the rocks, The Wall Street Journal reports. It was Coke execs, by the way, who first devised the “value meal” of a burger, fries and drink.
But McDonald’s wants to expand into new energy drink lines and other exotic beverage options, pushing Coke out of its comfort zone.
As in, literally: “This is a little uncomfortable for us,” said Josh Gurley, Coke’s head of transformation and strategic growth, while presenting new concoctions at the National Restaurant Industry trade show in Chicago last month. Coke normally wouldn’t reveal drinks so early in the testing phase.
Older brand marriages have fizzled. Case in point: the end of the 125-year run of Tiffany’s ads in the primo New York Times print spot (top-right of page 3).
But Wait! There’s More!
Inside Peacock’s big bet on vertical video and mobile content. [Hollywood Reporter]
The many different ways stadiums attempted to hide corporate branding while hosting FIFA World Cup games – from taping over logos on condiments to (barely) covering stadium names with sheets. [The Athletic]
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says “there’s more monetization of Xbox games happening on YouTube than at Microsoft” as Xbox explores new ways to monetize with ads. [NYT Hard Fork]
The UK is going ahead with its proposed social media ban for under-16 users, with plans for Parliament to vote on the law before Christmas and for the law to go into effect next year. [CNN]
As AI reshapes search, TikTok turns discovery into a performance pitch. [Digiday]
Can open-source beat OpenAI? [rest of world]
You’re Hired!
Dan Robbins joins Substack as GM of brand partnerships. [LinkedIn]
