Bloom Thinks: Brand Double Takes

In an attention economy how can brands make you look, make you stare?

One of the strongest pop culture memories of 2025 was Timothée Chalamet’s seemingly leaked zoom marketing meeting. Memorable because, what first seemed bizarre and unbelievable, quickly made sense as soon as you saw Marty Supreme. In the zoom call Chalamet was being more Marty that Timothée. It was a promo made to look like real life. And the way it blurred reality and fiction was very very 2025.

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Roll into 2026 and there’s a growing pre-release buzz about Ralph Fiennes’ dancing in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. He breaks the high tension of a gory zombie apocalypse film by spectacularly letting loose to both Duran Duran’s Rio and Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast.

Both these earn double takes from the audience. Seeing one of the world’s biggest actors seemingly being the world’s biggest a-hole is impossible to look away from. But when you get the payoff that it was all a conscious act it becomes impossible to forget. Because you’re being invited in on the joke.

It not easy to picture our greatest Shakespearian actor throwing shapes to yacht pop and hair metal (unless you saw A Bigger Splash). But once you see the film it all makes sense. This is an actor who inhabits a role like no other, with body as well as mind. The dancing takes the audience’s respect for his craft to another level.

Brands are using a similar double take approach to grab and hold our attention. It takes some nerve. But the pay off in equity and memory is huge.

Volvo recently went public with plans to celebrate its centenary by designing a typeface. The full story cleared any confusion. As cars digitise drivers’ eyes can be distracted by dashboard displays. The typeface is designed for faster reading and a calmer experience. Famous for being the seat belt pioneer, Volvo is doubling down on its reputation as the industry’s safety leader. What at first appeared random, made total sense at second place.

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In the FMCG world Dash water has just announced a dirty martini collab with Perello Olives, launched to hit Dry January. Sweet and savoury make awkward bedfellows. But Dash fans know the drinks are refreshingly unsweet. And they’re made with wonky fruit and veg. Dig deeper and the fog clears.

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The double take wins attention because our brains love a riddle; a little friction to grip onto. Once solved we get that winning included feeling. Our attention is earned and we feel bonded to the brand a little stronger.