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Weekly Exhale
The death of REN skincare doesnât matter much at first glance. One influencerâs post-mortem was simple: âI donât use it. I donât recommend it. I kind of have no interest in it.â
But Iâve always had a soft spot for REN. It played a small and important role in my story. When I founded an advertising agency, every tiny detail had to be cooler and smarter than anything else around. When it came time to accessorise the washrooms, a friend recommended REN. They said it would speak to our environmental credentials. That was enough for me. I set up a standing order.
Like the agency, REN was acquired. The founders moved on. REN scaled to over a billion in revenue. So when I heard it was being shuttered, I felt a strange mix of nostalgia and schadenfreude.
Earlier this year, Unilever lifer Fernando Fernandezâknown as âthe haircare guyââtook the reins. He was clear: The big blue âUâ would double down on premium beauty. Despite this, REN was quietly put up for sale. No buyers came. It ended with just 120 words on the corporate site and a photo of a product range that had seen better days. They might as well have posted a branded headstone. RIP REN, aged 25. Cause of death: Disinterest.
Holding companies acquiring cool brands and draining them of cachet isnât a new story. Conglomerates overpay for the buzz of something new, only to find it collapses under the weight of mass distribution and margin goals. RENâs demise isnât shocking. Whatâs striking is how Unilever is struggling to pursue a strategy.
REN landed just as the world shifted to social-led discovery. Fernandezâs pledge to increase investment in social media is at least a decade late and several billion short. They also put a glow tonic in every beauty box and advent calendar, sampling it like a snack. Prestige is a careful balance between scale and scarcity. Between presence and perception.
Worst of all, REN got slathered in purpose mayonnaise.
Unilever once believed in doing better by doing good. But somewhere along the line, sandwich condiments started saving the world. And the idea lost credibility. REN, ironically, should have thrived. It was one of the first clean and conscious beauty brands. But Unileverâs focus was off. Ask someone what made REN sustainable, and theyâll mention the recyclable spring in the pump. But ask them about the ingredients and you'll get blank stares. âTheyâve gone so far down the sustainability route,â one influencer noted, âtheyâve done themselves a disservice on efficacy.â
So, aside from its cameo in my washrooms, REN is a marker. A casualty of a food company that doesnât want to be one. Which is a dereliction of duty. Consumer product companies are built on the promise that brands endure.
And behind every brand that dies are teams and agencies that gave it their best years. Who believed in it. Who fought to keep it relevant. And whose final chapter is closed in just 120 words.
My mum died on a Friday morning in late October, surrounded by people who loved her.
On the drive back from her home, my mind drifted to the conversation Iâd need to have with my seven-year-old son. I wasnât sure heâd understand what death meant.
Dazed by grief, I remembered that episode of Sesame Streetâthe one where Big Bird learns Mr. Hooper isnât coming back. The creators made a choice not to replace the actor. They wrote the truth into the show. Big Bird draws a picture for Mr. Hooper. And when he tries to hand it over, the adults gently explain: âHe died. Heâs not coming back. Thatâs what dying means.â
Sesame Street began as a radical experiment, part media, part teaching, part civil rights. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett wanted to close the education gap in a deeply unequal America. At one point, a study showed that for just five dollars a head, Sesame Street could provide meaningful early childhood intervention.
They did the work. Tested everything. Pacing. Music. Framing. Even the slow, meditative credits (âSunny dayâŠâ) were designed to ease kids out of the action. A little like my drive home from Mumâs that day.
So it stopped me in my tracks to learn that Sesame Street has a venture capital armâSesame Venturesâand that it just posted record-breaking returns.
Their first fund, launched with Collaborative Fund in 2016 (the year after Unilever acquired REN), has already returned 2.6x in actual cash, with a total portfolio value of 5.3x. A top-decile fund. Possibly top one per cent. At the time, no one thought it would go anywhere. It was described as strategic, which is VC-speak for things that lose money.
Yet Sesame Ventures has flipped the script. The money-making is real.
Theyâve backed learning toys, online schools, and even FDA-approved media to treat amblyopiaââlazy eye.â Half the fund belongs to Sesame Workshop, which means half the returns go back into research and education.
Children. Community. Cash.
Because they did the work. They made the hard calls. Even when it meant teaching kids how to cope with death, lessons that last long after the credits roll.
When I told my son that Nonna wasnât coming anymoreâthat thereâd be no more toy shop trips, no more big black carâhe didnât say anything. He took my hand and started gathering things. Toys sheâd given him. An Elmo. Some photos. Trinkets. Within twelve minutes, we had a pile in the middle of his room.
Big Bird drew a picture. My son built a shrine. Both were using physical objects to make sense of abstract emotions. And as I sat there with him, surrounded by stuff suddenly full of meaning, I realised the moment was healing me too.
Letâs face it, brands are there to keep us enchanted. To feed us sweet little lies. To tell us weâre going to look great. To let others know just how cool and smart we are. To overwhelm us and keep us chasing whatâs new.
But once in a while, youâre reminded: Being fashionably good doesnât come close to being unfashionably great.
The returns donât suddenly end.
Instead, you feel them deeply, sitting in silence, next to a pile of Elmo toys, quietly learning how to say goodbye.
Let's rise together with every issue. âĄ
Market Movements
UK economy defies gloomy warnings, 0.7% growth | The Guardian
GDP surge gives Reeves only brief respite | Financial Times
U.S. consumer economy showing signs of strain | New York Times
Brand Beat
Coca-Cola builds AI ad tool with Adobe | Fast Company
Airbnb is having a mid-life crisis | Wired
Max goes back to being HBO Max | New York Times
Nike drops in list of most valuable brands | Marketing Week
Alt take: 10 most valuable brands and 7 that are on the rise | Ad Age
The brandification of 'belonging' | Post-Culture
Premier Foods eyes M&A push as sales pass ÂŁ1bn | The Grocer
Rimowa unveils chapter with Jay Chou, Rosé and Lewis Hamilton | LBB
System1's ad of the week is Puma | System1
Labubu: The fluffball that's become a luxury item | Zauey
How one TikTok controversy changed the Met Gala | Coco Mocoe
Grindset for girls, new wave of female-hustle podcasts | Feed Me
8 brands spotted on the must test list | Thingtesting
Bella Hadid launches Orebella in the UK | Vogue Business
NSFW TikToks are drawing attention to U.S. national parks | Fast Company
Ben & Jerry's co-founder arrested for Gaza protest | The Guardian
Lessons from Renâs demise under Unilever | Industry.beauty
What went wrong at REN skincare? | Cosmetics Business
Starting Up
Elizabeth Holmes's partner has a blood-testing start-up | New York Times
Meet School Space, creating community hubs | Maddyness
Europe's startup scene sees an opening against Silicon Valley | Quartz
Posha, robotic-cooked meals, raises $8m led by Accel | LinkedIn
Granola, AI notetaking raises $43m at $250m | TechCrunch
Tech Tidbits
Trump lashes out over plans to ship iPhones from India | Financial Times
Meta delaying rollout of flagship model | Wall Street Journal
DEI fatigue, the AI boys club isnât going anywhere | Sifted
Even a16z VCs say no one knows what an AI agent is | TechCrunch
The EU thinks TikTok broke its ad rules | The Verge
The day Grok told everyone about 'white genocide' | The Atlantic
Venture Vibes
Top-decile returns for Sesame Street | Collab Fund
Dickâs Sports to buy Foot Locker for $2.3bn | Wall Street Journal
Google launches AI Futures Fund | TechCrunch
Sidemen YouTube collective launch VC firm | The Times
Gen-Z run VC firm triples fund size | Tech.eu
Can Bill Ackman create a new "Berkshire Hathaway"? | Financial Times
Design Driven
Brawny's paper towel mascot is hunkier than ever | Fast Company
VHS tape distorted nostalgia prompts reflection | It's Nice That
Women's Super League's new branding is meh | Creative Review
Happiness
TikTok rolls out meditation feature to get you off the app | TechCrunch
Curiosity as a survival skill to navigate change | Big Think
4 best parenting lessons for raising happy, successful kids | CNBC
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