“Of course, hun.” Julie winks at me as we make our way back to our desks.
“Bring me up to speed on where we’re at with the Brewed campaign,” Pietro says, looking at Tony from his position at the top of the table in the board room.
The glow of the TV screen behind Pietro gives him an all-powerful aura. Across from me, Tony twiddles nervously with his pen. Sara had smartly chosen to sit beside me, the first time she’s done so in months. Her right leg bounces up and down under the table while Julie sits opposite Pietro, taking notes.
“I got an email last night from Emma at Creative Artists Agency,” Tony says, stuttering slightly. “And due to a tour sponsorship issue that Sabrina Carpenter has with McDonald’s for her North American tour dates, Emma said Sabrina has to pull out of the campaign.”
“What?” Pietro’s tone is stiff and surly.
Tony’s face turns a shade of white that’s unusual even for him.
“Apparently McDonalds wanted to pull their entire sponsorship for her tour, citing a conflict of interest given their aggressive push of their caffeine range in Q4…”
“And what did you go back to Emma with?” Pietro interjects. His voice is clipped, filled with a dark rage. He pulls himself up in his chair and rests his elbows on the wooden table.
“Well…erm.” Tony’s stutter worsens as he flicks back a few pages in his notebook. “Emma suggested some alternatives to replace Sabrina, but none felt like the right alignment for Brewed.”
My eyes meet Julia’s as she takes a sip of her coffee. Her eyebrows are almost up at her hairline as the drama unfolds.
I’d always thought Sabrina Carpenter was a poor, lazy pick to advertise Brewed’s new line of drinks for their Christmas campaign. Her demographic skews 63.2 percent female, and her audience is primarily made up of teenage girls, which doesn’t align with Brewed’s key demographic of twenty-two to sixty-year-old urban and suburban middle-to-upper class workers.
If the campaign were about utilizing a song as a soundtrack for the advertising campaign, rather than including the person’s talent in all the campaign materials, then it would have made sense to use Sabrina. Her songEspressois one of the biggest songs of the decade. But she isn’t recognizable to your average Joe walking down the street. Plus, I could have seen the issue coming up with her McDonald’s sponsorship a mile away. But as my therapist says to me,Not my circus. Not my monkeys. Not my peanuts.
I’d had a whole raft of talent proposals to put forward before Pietro took me off the account. My favorite was bringing in Taylor Swift and creating the taglineLook What You Made Me Brew, a flip on one of Taylor’s song titles, which would have delighted my sister to no end. Another idea I’d had was bringing in Mariah Carey and her now infamousIt’s Timevideos to kick off the start of Christmas season. Mariah could have smashed up the pumpkin-spice lattes to reveal the Christmas line of Brewed’s beverages.
Both singers have much wider artist recognition with Brewed’s target audience and have longer careers than Sabrina Carpenter. But I’d be damned before I shared my ideas with Tony.
Instead, I’ve nodded politely in meetings, agreeing with each idea Tony has had over the last two months. Biding my time. Waiting for him to falter.
“The shoot is just over a week away, and you’re telling me wedon’t have a backup plan?” Pietro’s nostrils flare as he balls his fists.
Tony rapidly flicks through his notebook, landing on a page before looking back up at Pietro.
“Sara’s been working with me all morning to find solutions, and we’ve already landed on three replacements we think Brewed would be more than happy with.”
“Go on.” Pietro’s ice-cold tone is short and curt.
“The first is Adele. Everyone in the US knows her name. Using the opening line of her songHellowould be perfect to introduce a new line of Brewed drinks. I’ve emailed her agent at William Morris Endeavor to gauge interest.” Tony’s pupils are now dilated as he looks at Pietro for any hint of approval.
Pietro’s gaze drifts briefly to me and we share a knowing look. Neither of us say what we know to be true. Adele doesn’t do brand deals.
Tony continues as Pietro’s silence becomes deafening.
“The second is Glen Powell. He’s been everywhere ever since the filmsAnyone But YouandTwisterspushed him into heartthrob status. His comedic charm could be perfect for Brewed. I’ve left a message with Joey Stanton at CAA to get back to me.”
“Is that all you’ve got?” Fear spreads across Tony’s face as Pietro yawns.
Tony reaches up to rub the back of his neck as I doodle a picture of a sunset on my notepad. I’m getting bored with Tony’s lack of originality.
“We’ve already heard back from the final option I identified. Alexander Morgan.”
My heart drops to my feet as the pen simultaneously falls from my hand. Everyone’s gaze drifts from Tony over to me before they look back at him.
What the actual fuck!
No way.
It takes everything within me to fight off my emotions. Toprevent my body from lurching forward and wringing Tony’s neck for the mere suggestion. I pick up the pen and grab one of the stress balls on the desk, squeezing it as Tony continues.
