Fyreside Newsletter - 3/9/26 Hey Reader, I am in mourning. One of my favorite video games of the year is being taken offline this week and will no longer be playable. The video game in question is called Highguard and you've probably never heard of it. That's because the absolute piss-poor marketing efforts of the developers killed this game. I plan on getting back to writing about propaganda in the next few weeks, but I'm taking this brief detour for a teachable moment. I believe you learn a...
12 days ago • 5 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 3/2/26 Hey Reader, Uh...quite a weekend for news headlines, huh? I worked at a haunted house. Not the "a Victorian child died in this bedroom and now haunts the darkened halls" kind of haunted house, but the "jump out, go boo" kind of haunted house. Here's a picture: boo. I still work in haunted houses. In fact, I'm leading a seminar about marketing for haunted house owners at the Ohio Haunters Convention in May. That's not what this week's newsletter is about, but...
19 days ago • 4 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 2/23/26 Hey Reader, Today I learned that "Big Man Syndrome" is a political science term. That's wild and not what this newsletter is about. I know the phrase from a completely different arena: basketball. That will be the "Big Man Syndrome" I relate to marketing today, so if you're familiar with the poli-sci term, forget about it for the next 5 minutes. This newsletter is about one of the first life lessons I learned from a hobby. I started playing basketball around the...
26 days ago • 5 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 2/16/26 Hey Reader, Happy President's Day, I guess? I'll be honest, this one has always baffled me. Don't get me wrong, I'll never complain about a day off, but a full government holiday for some dead dudes' birthdays? And I suppose the holiday is also to commemorate the office of POTUS, but, like, why? Running for president is a choice, no one is forcing you. Perhaps it's time we stop treating public office as a mythic accomplishment deserved of praise and celebration...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 2/2/26 Hey Reader, It's the Monday after The Big Game and the Patriots didn't win so, in general, I'm pretty content. Last year, I wrote a newsletter/blog about Super Bowl advertising and the impact of Kendrick Lamar's halftime show. You can read it here. I think it's a good read and it's still very relevant/applicable to this year's broadcast. Go read that if you want more Superb Owl content. Instead of writing about the competing halftime shows, the off-putting amount...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 2/2/26 Hey Reader, I hope you're doing well. Turns out I had covid last week, which explains why it was so difficult to piece a newsletter together. So whether you're dealing with snow, sickness, or just the general horrors of existence, I hope you have a good week. As noted last week, I'm going to start a content series all about propaganda. While I didn't make much progress last week (on account of the covid), this issue is still front of mind. I'm going to go out on a...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 1/26/26 Hey Reader, What a week it's been, huh? Unfortunately, I am sniffling my way through day 2 of sickness, so this newsletter isn't going to be as robust as I'd like it to be. That said, I want to clue you in on what's next for me. The response to last week's newsletter was insightful and helpful. After some reflection (and another baseless murder in the streets committed by masked federal agents), I've decided to launch a new content series about propaganda. What...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 1/19/26 Hey Reader, First off, happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I'll start this newsletter the same way I did a year ago by saying that I hope you have the day off and I hope it's inspiring you to think critically about the society in which we live and the ways we, as individuals, can change it. I'd like to share with you the lyrics of a song called Pretty Songs by this punk band I like called Bob Vylan. White folks love quoting Martin Luther'Cause he held hands and...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Fyreside Newsletter - 1/12/26 Hey Reader, This isn't the first time I've struggled to write a newsletter. Sometimes the state of the world makes it difficult to talk about marketing. Unfortunately, this likely won't be the last time I struggle to write a newsletter. C'est la vie. This difficulty is spurred by powerlessness. I wish I could save the world by teaching marketing tactics, but I can't. It is the same powerlessness I feel when a large company makes a decision I don't like. When...
2 months ago • 3 min read