This week on BRANDED Weekly, Ben Kaplan and Tom Cain dissect the marketing strategies hidden in world news, tech headlines, and viral campaigns.

Why did Iran give advance notice before launching missiles? Is Meta’s $100M talent grab a turning point in the AI arms race? Why did job site giants like CareerBuilder collapse? Plus, we debate scratch-and-sniff armpits as a marketing tool, the fall of PewDiePie, and the future of AI in law.

And yes, the Liver King might’ve tried to fight Joe Rogan.

In this episode of BRANDED, Ben Kaplan and Tom Cain dive into the biggest business and culture stories of the week, blending serious insight with sharp wit.

They discuss Meta's aggressive push to poach OpenAI talent with $100M offers, the Trump family launching a gold-plated smartphone and mobile network, and why Airbus is feeling confident while Boeing flounders.

Plus, they explore the impact of rising tariffs on Hasbro’s workforce and Elon Musk’s relentless AI spending spree.

As always, the show ties in viral holidays, major birthdays, and whether Tom would board a pilotless plane.

In this episode, Tom and Ben unpack the branding implications behind this week’s biggest business headlines.

They start with Apple’s latest developer conference and whether the company is still seen as an innovation leader or has shifted into incrementalism.

They also discuss a quirky new hold-music feature that Tom is excited about, and how Apple’s brand promise of “things just work” creates high stakes when launching new products.

They then shift to the protests in LA, examining how Trump’s political maneuvers reframe the Democratic brand—and whether brands should speak up or stay silent in politically charged moments. The conversation moves into the Musk–Trump fallout, including stock crashes, retaliation threats, and what it means for Tesla’s brand and Elon’s decision-making.Next, they dig into Mondelez's lawsuit against Aldi for Oreo copycats, highlighting how brand confusion can spark legal battles. From there, they analyze Warner Bros. Discovery’s decision to spin off streaming and cable units, the larger trend of strategic brand separation, and what it means for the media landscape.The episode closes with insights on global layoffs, the rise of the “AI economy,” how brands should handle internal messaging during cutbacks, and Alibaba’s new AI-driven virtual try-on feature—what it signals for fashion, e-commerce, and marketing creativity.