The Best One Yet ⌚ “Clooney Dupe” — Swatch’s $50K watch drama. BuzzFeed’s fire sale. Inflation’s paycheck situation. +UFO ETFs
18 snips
May 13, 2026 A wild watch collaboration pits $50 Swatch against $50,000 Audemars, shaking up luxury rules. Inflation finally outpaced wages, with strange global shortages and Diet Coke cans explaining part of it. BuzzFeed’s rapid rise and surprising sale get a retrospective. And yes, there is now an ETF for UFO-related investments.
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Luxury Brand Preempts Dupes With Cheap Collab
- Audemars Piguet partnered with Swatch to preempt knockoffs by selling an accessible $500 Royal Pop version.
- AP pursued trademark protection for its octagonal design, got denied, so it monetized the design via a low-cost collab instead.
Use Accessible Products To Teach Brand Recognition
- Use limited-access collaborations to educate consumers about an aspirational brand's identity.
- Audemars Piguet's CEO called the Swatch drop 'education' to boost name recognition, not just revenue.
You Can't Trademark Geometry So Brands Must Adapt
- Trademark offices denied AP's application to own an octagonal watch face because you can't trademark basic geometry.
- Facing inevitable copies, AP chose to 'pre-dupe' by releasing its own affordable version with Swatch.