So, the Louvre Jewel Heist Wasn't an Ad After All?

Plus: Donald Trump's an ad critic and more media trends

Music biopics jump the shark, anime goes gangbusters and the NBA comes in hot. Meantime, we may have reached peak Ethan Hawke, in a good way, but we’re nowhere near peak Shohei. Go Dodgers! Put down the Halloween candy (that’s supposed to be for the kids anyway—grab a fluffy soda sugar fix instead) and check out the latest trends across the pop cultureverse.

Does anyone know where someone (not me) could pawn a massive raw diamond? (Again, not me.)

— Now You See Me (@NYSMmovie) October 23, 2025

That’s Probably an Ad?

Since everything is advertising, it wasn’t just conspiracy theorists who swore the Louvre jewel heist was a tease for the upcoming action-thriller Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Lionsgate leaned into the online conjecture with a few winking social posts. Joining the fray, a German truck-lift company turned their product’s use in the daring Paris caper into a cheeky brand endorsement. Both were pitch perfect weigh-ins to a robbery that broke the internet and launched a million quips. Descriptions of the bold, broad-daylight ripoff included, “the cardigan of crimes, dashing, polite, borderline literary.” As the moves prove once again, blurred lines are the order of the day, i.e., Kevin James posed as a high school art teacher on TikTok—promo for his new comedy Solo Mio?—and Wes Anderson disguised a Montblanc ad airing during the World Series as a sneak peek into his next twee flick. As long as they’re heavy on the entertainment value, preferably with a smarty pants vibe, keep ’em coming.

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Face to Face

Not since the early post-quarantine days have there been so many brand-backed messages aimed at bringing people together, with some taking a swipe at modern technology as a divisive force. Heineken recently trolled the AI wearable companion Friend, saying “The best way to make a friend is over a beer.” And Four Walls whiskey launches “This is Your Brain on Friends,” complete with a “pledge to hang” that encourages IRL meetups. Incentives include Uber vouchers, early intel on brand pop-ups and $250 grants to get the party started. Others are also latching onto the connectivity theme, from Nivea’s latest “We Are Not Alone” ads to White Claw’s Gen Z-targeted “Grab Life by the Claw.” Consumers, doing their part to chip away at the loneliness epidemic with actual human experiences, are seeking out phone-free bars and restaurants and reviving in-person watch parties. Community in, cocooning out.

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Ad Critic in Chief

What are Americans chatting about over the (physical and metaphorical) water cooler right now? Commercials! And it’s not even Super Bowl season. The surprise phenom stems in large part from POTUS, whose inner ad critic pontificates on everything from Sydney Sweeney’s genes-jeans campaign to this week’s unspecified “fake ads” touting his poor polling numbers. An ongoing diatribe started after Ontario’s regional government used a vintage Ronald Reagan anti-tariff speech to poke the bear. It worked. The 60-second spot, shown during the World Series over the weekend, reignited the taxes debate and sent Trump into a Truth Social meltdown. Policy changes ensued. That’s an ad industry flex no one saw coming. And while this may not create an entirely safe space for public commentary, at least momentarily, it’s a shared one.

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