Saints and Sinners of 2025

01 / cultural relevance‍

saints: right on time

In response to the egg crisis of 2025, The Ordinary - known for their no frills affordable skincare - stocked bodega shelves with our favorite food staple for $10 less than anywhere else in NYC.

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At a time when everyone and their mother is on Ozempic, Nestle launched Vital Pursuit - frozen meals formulated for GLP1 needs. It’s design still brings the indulgence even if you’re only able to stomach a bite.

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sinners: missed the boat

Good idea but didn’t the world lose our sourdough obsession in like, March 2021 when their Covid-crazed starter died after you forgot to feed it (or was that just me?)

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By the time Jarritos launched their NFT’s in summer 2025, the world had already realized how lame and BS they are.

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02 / Brand extensions

saints: simple reframes from the heart

Everyone hopped on the pickle juice bandwagon, but Claussen was the only one that really earned it.

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David’s attention-getting randomness moving from bars to fish brilliantly sets themselves up to own any/everything protein. The world is their oyster (or cod or whatever they do next)‍

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sinners: identity crises

The beauty of Waffle House is it’s UN-bougieness... so its entry into ready-to-drink with cold brew feels off...

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Sometimes it’s water, sometimes it’s cannabis-infused seltzer - it’s not beer, but what ARE they??

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03 / naming

saints: flipping taboos

For anyone whose said ‘that Preparation H is for my eye bags!,’ Norms makes hemorrhoids the tiniest bit fun.

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Men never want to talk about health issues, amirite? But even when it comes to a sensitive topic like fertility, they’ll be pumped to be part of the Swimclub.

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sinners: making good sound bad

Born from an overly complex acronym ("Shield People Optimally Outdoors Guard Everyone"), Spooge’s wordplay takes the mind to a dirtier place than sun protection... 💦😩

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Sometimes a name can lead with the problem... but in this case, it sounds like this functional drink will make you feel like shit.

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04 / targeting

saints: inviting the olds in

Lipton Hard Iced Tea’s ‘Don’t Retire the Party’ campaign encourages cross-generational crews. We want to party with Larry the Retired Rizzler too.

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Dove’s ‘Made with TMI’ line is designed for menopausal skin shifts, and just as importantly, to prepare women for the changes menopause brings to their skin.

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sinners: cashing in on the youths

Rini managed to take the tween Sephora boom to a new low. Why a toddler needs a skincare regimen remains entirely unclear.

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67 Water is serving full Steve Buscemi meme energy. “SIX-SEVEN, Y’ALL.”

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05 / new brands

saints: freshly familiar

Loisa feels like it’s straight from Abuelita’s kitchen, but cool enough for yours.

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Learning from skincare packaging made for shelfies, Cocolab succeeds where others have failed and FINALLY gives us oral care that’s cute enough to show off.

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‍sinners: blatant ripoffs

It’s like Coolside saw what Vacation did and were just like, “yeah let’s do that!”

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When Gen Z Water did it a few years ago, it was a self-aware parody.  But Fhirst just co-opted the Gen Z Y2K aesthetic without adding any point of view.

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06 / collabs

saints: thoughtful mash-ups

"Once you pop, you can’t stop” gets a Hot Ones upgrade — shifting from snackable addiction to a spice-fuelled endurance test, daring you to keep going like the celebs.

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So often these buzzy collabs sound like they’d be actually disgusting together... but Campbells Chunky soup with Pabst vibes on every level.

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sinners: over extending confusion

Let me get this straight... Erewhon only serves the most absolutely elite CA zip codes... but every midwest yoga mom should be wearing their Lululemon merch?

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Future marketing students will study Liquid Death’s offbeat tactics, but this random assortment is what spaghetti on a wall looks like.

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07/ innovations

saints: smart twists on classics

One Trick Pony took the pain out of natural peanut butter with upside-down jars with no stirring required - what else will they have up their sleeves?

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Johnny Pops just blew our minds with their new freeze dried ice pops that never melt. A huge move out of the freezer aisle and beyond summertime treats that somehow makes total sense.

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sinners: adding stuff we don’t need to things we love

Dr. Glitter touts themselves as “the world’s first glitter supplements,” but In a world with way too many fun supplement options already, the sparkle isn’t shining.

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Bangers’ caffeine-infused energy chips seem antithetical - after binging a bag, lounging on the couch seems like a better option.

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08 / re-brands

saints: bold moves

We’re kinda in love with Cracker Barrel’s refreshed pack system - dialing up the taste appeal to 11 with a retro vibe in all the right ways.

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When every other BFY candy copied their original breakthrough style, Gigantic leaned into making good feel a little bad, with cigarette-inspired cartons, provoking you to ‘have a little thrill’ in every bite.

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sinners: apologetically new

Yes, we’re saying Cracker Barrel is both a saint and a sinner. We’re not MAD that you went back on good work just because some bots called you out...we’re just disappointed.

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Vuum is one of like a billion functional drinks, whose original sleek metallic aesthetic actually popped... but their  redesign puts claims over brand (when they didn’t have all that much equity to begin with!!).

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09 / AI

saints: in the context of reality

There’s a time, place and use for AI, but Heineken knows nothing can replace drinking an actual bottle of beer with actual people - an incredibly timely response to someone else on this page 👀

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Sheba cat food created an AI platform to find cats related to Egyptian kings - creating real-life engagement, content, and affirmation that cats are jerks who think they rule your home.

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sinners: trying to take over humans

Even after paying $1.8m for the friend.com domain, the world (or at least NYC subway riders) still quickly spotted the difference between a human and a creepy necklace.

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AIGin is, you guessed it, a gin created with AI. But we’ve all been pretty happy with the human-made version for like... centuries now.

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10 / Activation

saints: makes you want to engage

Deodorant brand billie leans into their odor-blocking prowess and elevated scents with street-level scratch & sniff billboards that got everyone passing by to sniff the pits.

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For condiment purists, nothing is worse than being forced to put off-brand ketchup on the fries you just got.  With the Heinz Verified platform, you can make sure the restaurant serves the good stuff before you order.

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sinners: immediate disengage

To celebrate Cerave’s 25th birthday, they created pop-ups that... tell you about their 25 year history, which is the equivalent of throwing yourself a surprise party and making everyone share one thing they like about you.

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Ecover leaned into the insight that is the struggle and joy of dishwasher Tetris... by making you play regular tetris with a stock image of a dishwasher behind it. They could have at LEAST made the pieces dish shaped!

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Let’s hail our saints and repent for our sins as we move into 2025...

And let us know who else is on your saint or sinner list!

halo@sistermary.nyc

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