In this week’s Our Take: Swiftie fans are losing it over a strategic podcast appearance. Social Supper Clubs continue to pop-up as the new space to connect with people, Argos has gone Art House in a new social-series and Wedding Crashing is the new invite you don’t want to miss.
Supper Club Socials
Phones down, forks up. Across London, Dublin, and beyond, cooking and supper clubs are on the rise, proving that food is still the ultimate social glue. Cities that can feel lonely are now alive with book clubs, run clubs, walking groups, and game nights with supper clubs being the tastiest addition yet.
There’s a huge appetite for social clubs in big cities: spaces designed to help people meet others, but often leaving a gap in real community. Cooking and supper clubs naturally fill that void – food sparks conversation, shares culture, and fosters genuine connection. For Gen Z, these gatherings aren’t just fun, they’re essential. Belonging and shared purpose aren’t just feel-good, they’re vital for mental and physical wellbeing.
In Dublin, Way Back Labs has nailed it: bold flavours, sophisticated table wear, and a relaxed, come-as-you-are atmosphere where strangers arrive solo and leave swapping stories. It’s an antidote to urban loneliness, and brands like New Balance and Astrid & Miyu are already getting involved – these aren’t just dinners, they’re real-life cultural moments worth investing in. Food works as a medium of community because it’s universal, approachable, and deeply human. In an age of digital fatigue, sharing a plate can be more than comforting, it can be essential.
Argos Makes Air Fryers Art
Argos has gone full ART with its new Arghaüs mockumentary. Built for the spaces where audiences are most switched on, it unfolds across TikTok and Instagram with fictional gallerists, high-concept humour, and hyper-stylised visuals turning everyday products into works of art.
The series taps into the surging popularity of episodic social storytelling and “vertical dramas” – short-form narratives designed to be consumed, shared, and obsessed over in bite-sized chunks. It’s a smart cultural read: audiences have been binge-watching everything from micro-soaps to fake reality TV on TikTok, so Argos’s decision to create its own eccentric gallery world slots right into that consumption habit.
The creators and collaborators each bring their own tone, style, and audience to the Arghaüs universe. This mirrors the way start-ups lean on early brand partnerships to amplify their voice, building a following that feels organic and in-on-the-joke.
By anthropomorphising air fryers, coffee machines, and other household heroes, Argos reframes them as coveted cultural objects, the kind you’d proudly “collect” rather than just buy. It’s tongue-in-cheek but it works, tapping into the irony-rich meme economy and the current obsession with turning the mundane into the aesthetic.
Playful, platform-native, and dripping with cultural fluency, Arghaüs proves that even the most familiar retailers can feel as fresh as a start-up if they’re willing to experiment with form, format, and humour.
Showgirl Mode: Activated
Taylor Swift crashed the sports world on and, in true Swift fashion, she turned it into a pop culture earthquake. Appearing on New Heights, the NFL podcast hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, she made a full Broadway-style spectacle of revealing her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.
On air, Swift unveiled the cover art, full tracklist, and a release date, October 3, 2025, sending fans into immediate meltdown. The episode smashed records, pulling nearly 3 million views in three hours and close to 10 million in just 16, making it one of the most-watched podcast drops ever.
The move was pure marketing alchemy: a theatrical album reveal in the least likely arena, blending romance, sports, and pop stardom in one headline-grabbing moment. Swift didn’t just thrill her global fanbase, she conquered the NFL audience too, proving once again she’s playing 4D chess while the rest of the industry is still setting up the board.
Swift’s appearance also underscores her strategic blurring of personal and professional. Previously protective of her privacy, she’s now embracing the public-facing crossover with Kelce, and the payoff is undeniable. New Heights became a cultural flashpoint, winning visibility for both Swift and the Kelces, while the album announcement reached boundaries few artists ever touch.
From Wedding Crashers to Connection Seekers
Invitin, the Paris startup is letting you buy a ticket to a stranger’s wedding, sounds like the setup for a questionable rom-com, part Emily in Paris, part Wedding Crashers. But beneath the novelty, it’s riding two very real 2025 waves: the cost-of-living crunch (cheap night out, open bar included) and the loneliness epidemic (instant social circle, questionable dance moves guaranteed).
Showing up not just for cake but for real, unpredictable, slightly messy connection. And it fits neatly into Trend Hunter’s Algorithm Rebellion forecast: ditching overly curated, algorithm-approved experiences in favour of raw, sensory-rich ones. Weddings are chaos wrapped in chiffon, speeches that go on too long, uncles attempting breakdance, tears both happy and dramatic. In other words: life, not just content.
We’ve trained a generation to optimise moments for how they look online. Invitin opposes that, it’s about how the night feels in real life. For brands, that’s the lesson: stop creating only for the camera. Build experiences that live rent-free in people’s heads long after the confetti’s been swept up.
Because the next wave of cultural cachet won’t come from a perfectly framed photo, it’ll come from stories worth telling. The kind people retell over hungover brunch the next day, probably embellishing the details.
Metrics fade. Memories stick. And sometimes, the best ones come from a party you weren’t even invited to.