If you listen reeeeeally carefully, you might just be able to hear the sound of sleigh bells ringing. Or is it just another Christmas ad? Truthfully, we're not sure, but the festive season is within touching distance and we're all-in for another year of Whamageddon and the rest of the seasonal chaos that December on the internet brings.
Jump on board as we shimmy our way through the latest news, trends and formats to grace our algorithms this cosy szn ✨
What’s Gone Viral? 🔥
Just want the headlines? Here’s a peek at some of the bigger viral convos before we dive into trends and the more… unhinged.
2025’s words of the year just dropped
If you had 'rage bait' or 'parasocial' on your bingo card for Word of the Year, congrats, you're chronically online!
The Oxford and Cambridge English dictionaries have officially named them as the words that have shaped 2025, proving again that discourse on social channels helps form our culture on a far wider scale. Who else thinks there’s something deliciously satisfying about seeing historic institutions recognise our niche online vocab? We love to see it.
Christmas advert season is SO on
The most wonderful ads of the year are back and we're already deep in the festive trenches.
Coca Cola's AI antics threatened to dampen creative spirits, but brands like Dogs Trust, Lidl and San Pellegrino stepped in with the perfect fix of cosy, human warmth to get us feeling seasonal.
Catch some of this year's favourites here!
The Utah 2034 Winter Olympics logo has been revealed
While we're still trying to wrap our heads around the fact it's almost 2026, the Utah Winter Olympics planning committee have been busy creating the logo for the 2034 Winter Games. Sentiment has been mixed since the design was revealed last week, with opinions ranging from 'so edgy' to 'could be from The Flintstones'.
Pleasing everyone will never be easy when your design choices need a decade of staying power, but we can't wait to see how the fractal-inspired font holds up to scrutiny over the years.
Trending Format Alert 🚨
Our trend alert this week is a format that's been catching our eyes for some time - and not always for the right reasons…
The 'apology letter' has been picked up by brands from Boots to Mario Badescu, designed to look like a serious statement but actually intended to deliver news of a sale, new product launch or other marketing message.
What started as a creative new way to stop the scroll has quickly got tiring - if you've flicked through IG Stories or Reels, we're sure you'll get it! Audiences do too, with comment sections and creators alike voicing their thoughts on the 'ick' of the trend. While we love a new format as much as the next scroller, our interest lies more in how brands are adapting it.
And here's the opportunity 🔔 With so many clickbait-coded formats doing the rounds this season (fake internal messages, accidental sales, you name it), consumers can smell trickery a mile off, which is why it's so important for brands to put their own spin on a trend.
Brand Champion 🏆
We first became familiar with their heroics last month when Ireland beat Portugal in the football World Cup qualifiers, and we haven't been able to take our eyes off Dublin Airport's social channels ever since.
After a series of celebratory meme posts (with CR7 catching some strays) and an unofficial name change to 'Troy Parrott International Airport', Dublin Airport’s IG and TikTok channels have kept us entertained with passenger and staff-centric storytelling.
We LOVE their lo-fi approach, capturing the average traveller on their journey and turning their stories into social-ready snippets designed to spark conversation. We've long advocated for real-time news and topical moments as part of a content strategy, and Dublin Airport proved how leveraging huge sporting moments of high interest to their audience can pay off.
In short, here's our takeaway for brands:
Observing from the outside? ❌
Reacting as part of the community? ✅
More Industry News 🗞️
Looking for a specific industry or topic? Say no more. Here’s a selection of a few bonus newsworthy moments and trends.
Travel & Hospitality ✈️
Here's eight places not to travel in 2026, according to the Fodor's 'No List' of destinations impacted by overtourism
What do our airport fashion choices tell us about how we travel nowadays?
Today is Travel Tuesday! Here's some of the best deals available across the internet
Food & Drink 🍹
Plant-curious? You're not alone. Most diners at Britain's first plant-based Michelin star restaurant are non vegans
Gingerbread labubus and Louvre heists: Culture shone through in Stockholm's annual Christmas gingerbread house competition
America's Best Bagel has officially been crowned! Brb while we book a trip to Dallas...
Tech & Sport ⚽️
Birmingham City FC released images of their planned new stadium and we broke a leg running to the comment section
Asia could play host to a Premier League Summer Series next year
Estée Lauder and Google somehow taught AI to sell perfume to users who haven't even smelt it
Music & Entertainment 🎤
Stranger Things is back for its final season! Here's all you need to know before watching
TikTok is trying hard to get Kate Winslet's 2001 hit 'What If' to the top of the charts in time for Christmas
Rolling Stone has released its list of the top 250 songs of the century so far
Trending Format Alert 🚨
We don't know where this has come from or what to do with it, but the Horses in the Stable TikTok trend is now 90% of our brains.
The matching dance is just our kind of easy, and if anyone needs us, we'll be figuring out ways to work this into our social content planning for the rest of this year. Playful, simple and super brand-friendly? It's an easy internet culture win in our book ✅
Here marks the end of today's cultural shenanigans! Go forth and spread trends this festive season, we'll be right here rooting for you (or at the end of an email if you need a helping hand) 💚
Stay beautiful, kids!
The Culture Lab team 🎄
