Comment on Mattel apologizes for its ‘Wicked’ box, Target introduces ‘Hot Santa,’ and McDonald’s gets a Doodles NFT cup

Brands like Cann seltzer are using ‘gardening’ and emojis to get around content filters on TikTok and other social media platforms. Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture.

Musk, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy and a horde of terminally online bros, are X-branding the new Department Of Government Efficiency with AI-generated Doge memes. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are going full Dr. Frankenstein and Igor to create a new governmental monster called DOGE, the Department Of Government Efficiency. The double act argues that this incoming new bureaucracy will slash government agencies and spending to the bone in their effort to make America great again.

These are the branding stories we’re reading this week. This week in branding news, a Mattel packaging misprint went viral, Target introduced a new character named “Kris K.” (aka “Hot Santa”), and Pharrell Williams debuted cobranded holiday cups with McDonald’s. Here’s the news we’re keeping track of.

Like the Biden administration, Gaetz has been a regular critic of Big Tech, though his reasons are much different. President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he is selecting Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general sent shock waves through Washington, D. C.—and certain other parts of the country. The selection has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, who openly wondered whether Gaetz could be confirmed, even in a Republican-controlled Senate.

DirecTV’s purchase of EchoStar’s subscription television business could collapse unless bondholders agree to accept a discount within the next week. But even if they don’t, EchoStar reassured investors it has raised enough capital to meet upcoming debt payments, allowing it to avoid a bankruptcy filing. On Sept. 30, DirecTV announced it would pay $1 and assume $9.75 billion in Echostar debt to acquire the Dish Network.