The latest stunt to break the internet wasn’t one that happened digitally. On July 1, Russian artists and couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus trespassed and climbed the Empire State Building to display a flag on top. The flag read the quote “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace”, often attributed to singer Jimi Hendrix but dated to UK Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.
After displaying the flag, Beerkus went down on one knee and proposed before the couple got arrested.
Their story, from the climb to their descent, has been the subject of discussions, news reports, and memes ever since the stunt began. And within this has also come a marketing opportunity.
Brands, with the help of AI, have begun to replace the quote on the flag with cheeky one-liners that prompt viewers to engage with their brand. This looks like sale banners or witty lines that prompt a call to action, and it clearly reveals the shift in how we approach and consume culture.
Previously, marketing, even if it was for a social media post, involved teams, combing through trends, and several days and drafts before revealing it to the public. Now with AI, anyone with their finger on the pulse can quickly take a viral moment and make it their own. While the flag hasn’t been the first instance of this happening, it shows the obvious shift.
Fashion came with similar beats. Ultra-fast fashion sites like SHEIN and Temu allowed for clothing to be produced at a faster rate, speeding the process of a season and turning it into a microtrend. Similarly with marketing, AI allows for brands to advertise at a faster pace. It also levels the playing field for local brands and those with smaller budgets, although it does raise the question of the environmental price that occurs with these sped-up processes.
After all, the couple’s stunt went viral not only because of its scale, but because they climbed the tower during a heatwave, as such heatwaves are becoming more common as a result of climate change.
