Marketing Is Pop Culture Now
It’s almost inevitable. Brands aren’t just selling products anymore; they’re selling personalities, memes, mascots, and moods. From Wendy’s Twitter clapbacks to Duolingo’s chaotic green owl, marketing has become entertainment in its own right.
So, of course, a TV network thought: “What if the act of branding itself was the entertainment?”
That’s the hook of On Brand. Contestants compete to dream up campaigns for major companies, while Fallon nods along as the host and Bozoma Saint John, actual marketing royalty, adds some real-world credibility. It’s Shark Tank with hashtags instead of patents.
Everyone’s a “Marketing Executive”
Here’s where the show hits a nerve for me. Watching it reminded me of a bigger cultural phenomenon: the rise of the self-proclaimed “marketing executives.”
You’ve seen them. Twenty-one years old, one successful Instagram account, a Canva subscription, and suddenly their LinkedIn headline reads “CMO.” I admire the hustle. Some of these kids are genuinely sharp, but let’s not pretend that running a TikTok meme page automatically qualifies you to run a global brand.
That’s why On Brand sometimes feels less like a competition and more like a LinkedIn reality show. Buzzwords fly, “strategy decks” are treated like masterpieces, and everyone is a thought leader in their own mind. Meanwhile, those of us who’ve been in the trenches know that marketing is about as glamorous as reheating cold coffee in a fluorescent-lit office at 11 p.m.
Jimmy Fallon, the Accidental CEO
Here’s the funny part: Jimmy Fallon has nothing to do with marketing. He’s there because he has a hosting deal. I know he's the creator and executive producer, and He’s a familiar face, sure, but if you swapped him with literally anyone else, the show wouldn’t change.
Honestly, I’d rather see someone who has actually built a brand. Drew Barrymore, who turned her name into a lifestyle empire? Perfect. One of the Shark Tank moguls? Even better. A CEO who’s had to defend a campaign budget in a boardroom? Now that’s good TV.
Instead, we get Fallon nodding along, while Bozoma Saint John carries the credibility on her shoulders.
The Fun (and the Fluff)
To be fair, the show has its charms. It’s light, it’s buzzy, and it’s oddly satisfying to watch people pitch ideas, even if you know the real process is way messier. In real life, no campaign goes from brainstorm to billboard in a neat 48-minute arc. There are revisions, budget fights, late-night panic emails, and endless rounds of “Can we make the logo bigger?”
Reality TV can’t show all that, of course, so instead it delivers the fun version, the highlight reel of marketing. And honestly? Sometimes that’s all I want at the end of a long day.
Why It Bothers Me (and Why I’ll Still Watch)
Here’s the paradox: as a marketer, the show makes me roll my eyes. It trivializes the complexity of what we do and risks convincing a whole new generation that they’re just one brainstorm away from becoming a genius brand strategist.
But as a pop culture fan? I can’t look away. It’s my guilty pleasure, the same way Shark Tank is both my business masterclass and my comfort watch. I love the chaos, I love the drama, and I love muttering “that would never work” at my TV like a grumpy ad exec in pajamas.
Because marketing really is pop culture now. It’s the campaigns, the mascots, the TikToks, and the memes we talk about around the dinner table. And if it takes Jimmy Fallon nodding through a fake agency pitch to prove that point, so be it.
The Real Scare This Halloween
Will On Brand make everyone think they’re a marketing genius? Probably. Will most of them actually be any good? Absolutely not.
But I’ll keep watching anyway. Because nothing is scarier this Halloween than a bad marketing pitch, except maybe Jimmy Fallon pretending he runs an ad agency.