Blackbook Weekly: 009
How campaigns with Eva Apio, FLO and the return of Samuel L. Jackson leaned into identity, community and cultural marketing this week.
Another week, another roster of brands either getting it spectacularly right or reminding us why culture can't be faked. This week had a lot to say, and we're here to break it all down.
The OVO Meal lands at the Golden Arches
Every era of McDonald’s celebrity collabs tells you something about where culture is. Travis Scott gave us chaos energy and sold-out Cactus Jack merch. And now Drake, one of the most commercially savvy artists alive, brings the OVO Meal to the menu 🍟.
Now… it is definitely just a cash grab, as most McDonald’s partnerships are. Never seen Drake eat a Big Mac or even reference it in a song, as he does everything else, even hotel rooms (Missoni Suite at the Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez, France).
But the bigger question is, what does the OVO Meal actually say about where Drake is in his cultural cycle? Post-Kendrick, he’s been in rebuilding mode. Partnering with McDonald’s is a move that prioritises mass reach over cool points, and that’s a calculated choice.
FLO poses for True Religion
“We came up tearing pics of our favourite R&B girl groups out of magazines... Now we’re the women on the pages.”
That quote from FLO’s campaign with True Religion is gold. And it works because it represents the perfect full-circle moment. It’s the specific, tactile nostalgia of growing up as a Black girl obsessed with R&B, with style, with women who looked like us being unapologetically themselves.
True Religion has been in a quiet brand renaissance for a while now. The denim label that was everywhere in the early 2000s has been reclaiming its cultural real estate, and partnering with FLO, the group that has been carrying the torch for classic R&B with a Gen Z edge, is a genuinely smart move. It speaks to the communities that kept True Religion alive in between its mainstream moments.
Amina Muaddi SS26
Amina Muaddi campaigns always feel like a reset, and Spring Summer 26 collection is no different. While luxury as a whole has been scrambling to rethink its relationship with accessibility, virality, and cultural relevance, Muaddi holds the line on her own terms. Her brand has always understood that the most powerful luxury lives in desire.
The shoe is the thing.
The craft is the thing.
SS26 is a collection for women who want to be noticed, not only by the click-clack of their heel, but by how gorgeous it looks adorned on their perfectly manicured feet.
Amina Muaddi campaigns always represent a beautiful reset. And that’s exactly what her SS26 collection feels like. Right now, we’ve seen luxury being forced to rethink its relationship with accessibility, virality and cultural relevance.
Muaddi continues to hold the line on her own terms.
Samuel L. Jackson returns to Adidas Originals
They brought him back. And honestly? Good.
Samuel L. Jackson for Adidas Originals isn’t a new idea, but it’s a good one that still works, because Jackson is one of those rare cultural figures who has never lost their cool. He’s been famous longer than some of his fans have been alive, and he still commands a room like it’s day one.
For Adidas Originals specifically, this makes sense. The Originals line is about heritage; it’s the part of Adidas that gets to live in its roots rather than chasing the next drop. Jackson embodies exactly that, timeless and uncompromising.
Blue Therapy comes to Netflix: Relationship TV gets a new address
If you’ve been on Black British social media in the last few years, you already know Blue Therapy. The confessional relationship show has been part of the ‘plantain’ conversation for a while now, real (maybe) couples, real(ish) conversations, real discomfort (true). And now it’s landing on Netflix.
This is a big deal, it’s a signal that Black British content is being taken seriously as a global export. The kind of intimate, community-rooted storytelling that Blue Therapy does has always had an audience; Netflix is just finally putting infrastructure behind it. And so many of us love watching toxic, chaotic relationships on our screens, so there’s no doubt this will do well.
For brands watching: the communities that have been watching Blue Therapy since the beginning are vocal and chronically online. Any brand partnership that comes out of this needs to understand the audience first, or risk looking like they showed up after all the work was done.
The British uniform, perfectly timed
Leave it to Burberry to find Eva Apio at exactly the right moment. The model has been one of the most talked-about faces in fashion for many seasons, and her appearance in Burberry’s social campaign feels less like a casting choice and more like an inevitability.
The timing is almost too perfect. It has, genuinely, been raining for over 40 days and 40 nights across the UK, and Burberry shows up with Eva, in the perfect British uniform.
Burberry exists beautifully, in context. And right now, the context is grey skies and great coats, which, for the record, is peak Britain. Eva delivers it with the kind of effortless beauty that makes you wonder why anyone ever fights the rain instead of just dressing for it.
That’s your Blackbook Weekly. See you next week. 🖤
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