Side Salad: Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight
July 10, 2026
Good morning from Dieline’s editor-in-chief, Bill McCool. Here’s your daily side serving of design news, short musings, brand stuff, and forgotten ephemera.
Professional athletes should not send personal messages to “VIP” customers with sports gambling addictions who have lost over a million dollars. Boy howdy, this is a bad look, and I already have to put up with Bryce Harper and his raw milk and extracorporeal blood oxygenation and ozonation.
Instead of shilling for Draft Kings, perhaps Bryce Harper could instead promote this totally sick Ken Burns Baseball Hat.
100% yes to institutional and/or IRL salespeople. Bring back brick-and-mortar knowledge. Googling has rotted our brains and turned us all into armchair experts.
Sister Mary redesigned Labatt’s US packaging, and it’s pretty goshdarn Canadian (complimentary). I’d buy that for a Loonie!
Speaking of Labatt, their Stubbies from the 70s are absolutely gorg. Also, just change the goddamn name to Labatt’s already:
Fine, fine. Yes to chili crunch, always. But can it Pizza Crunch?
Brand-fueled microdramas give me the ick, as the kids say. You are not telling “richer, more emotional stories,” nor are you really building “brand love.” These are just overlong, silly commercials that very much feel like commercials and add nothing of value to a brand. Please be serious. The Crocs piece embedded in the article feels a lot like a David Wain project without the punchline.
The November Hemp-pocalypse is almost upon us, and Cann is releasing a THC-free drink.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to opt out of Meta/Instagram’s Muse Image. Also, it’s completely absurd that you even have to jump through these hoops, ToS be damned.
I have neither the range nor the dramatic flair to pull off “Total Eclipse of the Heart“ at a karaoke bar, but that has never once stopped me from singing the Bonnie Tyler-fronted / Jim Steinman-penned classic (Meatloaf could never) at 1am. RIP to a real one.
Once upon a time there was light in my life but now there’s only love in the dark.
-Bill