Yeah, me neither. But Heated Rivalry has reached a new level of cultural domination. The Canadian hockey romance simply cannot be escaped. It's on my feed, in Vogue, in conversations with people who don't even like sports. OR romance. You’d have to put that down to good marketing… right? wrong. CBC barely marketed it at all. So how did a show with minimal advertising become the thing everyone's talking about? [Here’s how]

- Sophie Randell, Writer ♡

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TikTok’s updated U.S. privacy policy has sparked a wave of anxiety and misinformation (are we surprised in the slightest? No.). Users have been calling for boycotts after in-app prompts asked them to agree to terms tied to the newly American-majority joint venture structure. Critics pointed out the blunt wording around things like “immigration status”. But experts note that much of this language reflects California’s privacy law terminology. And they say it isn’t at all a new data grab.

So, what is new? TikTok may now collect precise GPS location (with permission) and explicitly logs AI interactions. It's also expanding its ad network footprint. The result is real user concern, but also a lot of confusion about what has actually changed versus what just looks scary on first read. You can find out what’s what here.

Meta is pausing access to its AI characters for teens across its platforms while it retools the experience with better safety and parental controls, the company said in a recent blog post. Users under 18 (or those flagged as such by age prediction tech) will be blocked from interacting with specialised AI personas.

However, access to Meta’s general AI assistant remains unaffected. This move follows mounting scrutiny over how chatbots react with younger users. This includes reports of inappropriate interactions. And it comes just before a high-profile trial in Los Angeles examining social platforms’ impacts on children. Clearly, this is part of a broader recalibration of how AI meets minors online.

As traditional reading rates dip, with less than half of Americans reporting they read even one book in a year, a trend called “bookstreaming” is gaining steam online. Influencers like Kai Cenat (of all people?) are broadcasting live reading sessions (complete with pauses, word look-ups and real learning moments). These creators are turning what used to be a solitary task into shared, social content.

Fans say this adds visibility to the learning process and even inspires viewers to pick up a book themselves, a far cry from silent solitude. It obvs won’t single-handedly solve the literacy crisis. But it’s a weirdly wholesome and culturally resonant response to dwindling attention spans. It may even nudge social norms around reading in a new direction. Maybe we aren’t so doomed after all?

-Sophie Randell, Writer

The last thing I properly binged was Emily in Paris, and that was only because I was injured and bed-bound and it just HAPPENED to have come out that week (don't judge me). But even I can't escape Heated Rivalry.

The Canadian romance series has everyone in an absolute chokehold. My feed is full of it. Vogue is publishing articles titled "Post Heated Rivalry - Should Fashion Hit the Ice?" and "39 Thoughts I Had While Watching Heated Rivalry" (that's a lot of thoughts).

Every season, there's One Show To Rule Them All. Last year it was White Lotus. This season - Heated Rivalry. But unlike most cultural juggernauts, this one didn't get there through massive ad campaigns or influencer partnerships or billboards in Times Square.

CBC ran what they called a "minimal marketing campaign." Basically, they spent almost nothing on traditional advertising. And yet, the show went from 30 million streaming minutes in its first week to 324 million by week four.

How? They let the content do the work. And more importantly, they trusted their audience to do it for them.

Heated Rivalry is based on a beloved romance novel by Rachel Reid. The book already had a passionate fan base before the show even existed. And those fans? They campaigned HARD for global distribution.

When CBC initially planned a Canada-only release, fans organised. It was like a freaking rally. They petitioned, made noise on social media. And damn did it work - HBO Max picked it up for international distribution.

This is marketing genius, honestly. Because you really can't buy that kind of authentic enthusiasm. Pre-existing fans became unpaid evangelists. And their genuine excitement was way more convincing than any ad campaign could have been.

Originally, Heated Rivalry was scheduled for February 2026. But CBC saw the early buzz and moved the release date FORWARD to late November 2025 to capitalise on holiday viewing season. Smart move.

That kind of organic viral moment is marketing gold. You literally cannot manufacture it.

Clips started circulating on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. Fashion magazines started writing about it. Even the NHL commissioner binged it (and apparently loved it, which is both hilarious and perfect). The show became unavoidable not because of billboards, but because people genuinely couldn't stop talking about it.

The Heated Rivalry playbook is basically: trust your product, mobilise your existing fans, time it right, and let organic buzz do the heavy lifting. Seems simple, right?

In an era where we're bombarded with ads for everything, sometimes the most effective marketing is actually... less marketing. When something is genuinely good and there's already a passionate audience ready to champion it, your job isn't to shout louder than everyone else.

It's to get out of the way and let the content speak.

You need a quality product. You need some level of built-in audience or cultural relevance. And you need to be strategic about timing and distribution.

But when those elements align? You get a show that dominates the cultural conversation without spending millions on ads. You get Vogue articles and perfect IMDB scores and everyone from your hairdresser to the NHL commissioner talking about it.

You get Heated Rivalry. The show that proved sometimes the best marketing strategy is to create something people genuinely can't shut up about, then step back and let them do the talking.

Mwah, 10/10, no notes from me.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Not exactly a big thing... but just one thing too much. That’s this sound.

The audio comes from White Chicks (2004) - the mall scene where they get asked for a credit card and ID and immediately combust. They freak out, they rage, and they're threatening to throw a BF (b*tch fit) even.

22 years later (feel old yet?) and TikTok has revived it as today's anthem of the day. And honestly? Valid. People are using the sound to dramatise moments where they thought things would be easy, seamless, chill… and then the universe said actually no.

My fav examples include when the café doesn’t take Apple Pay and when you thought your parents were gonna pay but they're asking you to.

Use the sound and throw up on-screen text describing the exact moment you realised this situation was not as simple as advertised.

A few ideas to get you started:

-abdel khalil, marketing & brand exec

😂Yap’s funniest home videos: I thought Halloween ended
❤How wholesome: A kind heart will always shine
😊Soooo satisfying: aloe vera galore
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Chicken Parmesan loaded potatoes!

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.