When a viral moment explodes, the most tempting move is to recreate it. But according to Anthony Po, co-founder of creator-led media company Pufferfish, that instinct is exactly how brands invite the “ick factor.”
Po joined UTA’s Lauren Probyn Aouad on Adweek’s Adspeak, recorded live at Brandweek 2026, to unpack how creators are reshaping brand marketing and why authenticity remains harder to fake than many marketers assume.
Copy the feeling, not the format
A recurring theme in the conversation was the failure of copycat virality. Po pointed to the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest as an example of a format that worked only because it captured a particular cultural feeling. Brands that borrow the stunt without understanding that underlying pull, he argued, get ignored or actively rejected by digitally native audiences.
This rejection is what Po calls the “ick factor”: the moment an audience senses a brand is exploiting culture rather than participating in it. Lauren Probyn Aouad noted that something as small as a font choice can reveal whether a brand genuinely understands the platform it is posting on.
Earn attention before introducing the brand
Po’s team at Pufferfish operates on an “earn the view first” principle. Content has to entertain, educate or provide practical value before brand guidelines and messaging become relevant. Leading with corporate framing, he said, is a fast way to be scrolled past.
That does not mean every campaign should chase cultural buzz. The episode distinguished between direct-response work and brand-equity building. A conversion-focused ad may be straightforward and product-led, while a culturally resonant campaign builds long-term associations. Expecting one asset to deliver both, Po cautioned, often leads to disappointing results.
Test early cuts with real fans
Rather than relying only on traditional focus groups, Po recommended pre-launching content to engaged communities on platforms like Patreon and YouTube memberships. Those fans, he said, often catch weaknesses that internal teams miss, even when the feedback pushes against a creator’s own instincts.
Here are the practical takeaways marketers can use:
- Reverse-engineer the emotion behind a viral moment instead of copying its mechanics.
- Bring culturally immersed creators and talent into campaign development from the start.
- Define whether you are selling now or building equity before choosing a format and measurement framework.
- Let a small, engaged audience pressure-test content before a public launch.
Why this matters for marketing teams
For brands trying to reach digital-native audiences, the episode is a reminder that cultural fluency is now a core capability, not a nice-to-have. Duolingo and Wendy’s came up as examples of brand voices that reflect genuine platform literacy rather than a detached attempt to sound current.
The broader shift is clear: creators are not just distribution channels. They are often the clearest read on what an audience will accept, ignore or reject. Marketers who treat culture as a checklist risk the ick factor; those who hire it, test it and respect it are more likely to hold attention long enough for a message to land.
Source: Adweek
