Things of note for the week ending Friday, December 12th 2025.

#407

INTRO

Hello and welcome what may or may not be the last Five things on Friday of the year.

If it is, I hope you like it. If it isn’t, then maybe I’ll give it another go before the 2026.

I offer no guarantee either way x.

Thank you to the good number of you who indulged my birthday silliness last edition and it was lovely just to do something a bit throwaway - just for once 😅

So we here are: we continue. Life continue. The years are longer, the hair a soupçon of salt and pepper-er, and the crow’s feet deeper.

More laughter lines though so what more can one ask for?

The days that followed were gorgeous: dinner with friends and family on the Friday, WICKED on Saturday and WICKED FOR GOOD on Sunday. And I loved every hungover moment of it.

Today as I write this intro to you it is FRIDAY DECEMBER 12TH.

Yesterday, the thing that I have been working on most of this year finally went live and that’s right, for the first time ever - LEGO Ninjago is live in LEGO Fortnite Odyssey.

I was the brand and creative strategist for the marketing + comms for this launch (a brief I first got wind of waaaaay back in January), and, working across a huge team spanning different companies, depts, teams, cities and countries, this thing is now LIVE and OUT in the world.

There’s a linkedin post that does the big thank yous but, as a rough overview of some of the stuff that’s happened recently, specifically:

• First major hint was dragons appearing in the sky in-game.

• We then replicated that IRL, with this fun Big Ben / Fake OOH piece.

• Then came the gameplay reveal.

• Followed by the biggest news: LEGO Ninjago characters would become human and playable in Battle Royale. This has never been done before and honesty, it’s the thing I’ve been most excited about.

• And then everything went live in-game on Dec 11th 🥹

Pepper that with live-streams, pick-a-brick, influencer boxes (for both the Ninjago and LEGO Fortnite community), and a whole bunch of other stuff still in the oven and, well, you kind of get to understanding what’s kept me so busy this year (mostly).

There’s a ton of extra detail over on the official Fortnite news website - along with details on Twitch drops, enemies, biomes, Fortnite Item Shop, LEGO pass aaaand a hint about what’s coming in Part 2 (yes, this is ONLY part 1).

Man I’m so happy to see this in the world.

Nothing makes me happier than pointing at something and going ‘I did the strat for that’ - well, scratch another one up my friends: I did the strat for that.

Final thing on this before we move on: a personal highlight was being able to work with my ex-colleague Jack Davis at Keywords again in on the Big Ben / Dragon film.

He brought in his team at ICHI Worldwide and while it’s always nice making an intro between great people and teams, it’s always something special when everyone steps up and actually delivers above and beyond. Well done mate.

Right.

That’s the love-in over.

(Can you hear the decompression in my voice? Oish. I’ve got one more working day left than I’m breaking up for Christmas).

How are you going? Mad mental, running + working through it or slowly but surely winding down for the year?

Wherever you’re at, I hope you are healthy (I haven’t been) and well (ish) and enjoying the Christmas vibes (eventually) - we might actually get a tree up today...

But first, shall we crack on with the things?

Come on then :)

—

TO THE THINGS!

THING 1. HIP REPLACEMENT

So this is nice.

Ben and Kyle - two east coast strategists - have a new(ish) podcast: Hip Replacement.

The premise:

Officially the pitch is a ‘generation forum’ to talk about ‘what the kids are up to’ - as realised by Ben Dietz after he had a double hip replacement (geddit?!) and he wanted to make sure he had a way to stay in touch with the generational trends across Gens X, Y, and Z (and A and B)… Something underlined by this pod doubling up as part of series producer Campbell Dietz’s (Ben’s son) studies in cinema and television.

My peer, my pal, my colleague Mara Dettman went on there the other week and it was a great listen.

Mara (being Mara) then recommended me as a next guest - which was as it turned out a handy coincidence because Ben was also a subscriber to FToF (Hi Ben).

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we finally get ourselves together for an episode of Hip Replacement!

Some show notes!

We kicked off talking (a lot) about Charlie XCX and her recent Substack article about being the realities of being a popstar. Truth be told that was going to be it's own thing this week but instead it's going int he show notes for this episode…

From there we passed by China's crackdown on influencer content, Cutorone telling inexperience content creators to sit down, aaaaand of course WICKED.

Also covered:
- Kyle's search for truth
- Ben's excellent pro hosiery
- James' attempted (successful?) escape from 'white guy strategy twitter' (I’ve touched on this before).

Would love for you to
a) listen and b) tell me what you think.

Also consider giving the guys a rating on your favourite podcasts apps.

Thanks BEN AND KYLE. What lovely, lovely people. Congenial, even.

Go listen x

THING 2. MOST CONTAGIOUS 2025

aka: MoCo Choco Loco 25.

My notebook says:

“As I write this to you now, this glimpse back through a window time shows you I’m stuck on a train. It’s Tuesday. I’m on my way to Most Contagious down on London’s South Bank and… my train isn’t moving. I’m so pleased I left early.

It looks like it’ll be good day and, all being well, I’ll write some of the bits of as a Thing below. I guess we’ll find out in a bit, eh?”

Snap back to now and here some highlights from the frankly mostly fantastic MoCo25.

1. THE QUEUE…
   ..to get in. It was rubbish. I’m fortunate enough to know people that worked on Most Contagious and they are a) sorry and b) annoyed. I’m sure it’ll be fixed next time.

2. THE ENTERTAINMENT + HUMOUR.
   Above all else, MoCo25 was FUN and ENTERTAINING. Across 18+ different speakers, I laughed a lot, I was surprised, and I was genuinely taken by how much effort had gone into making people laugh and feel entertained. This team is serious about how it makes its audience feel and it shows.

3. THE CONTENT WAS GREAT.
   The hit ratio of ‘banger of a talk’ to ‘just above average’ was superb. It was a really well curated effort - congrats to all involved.

Here are some things worth googling:

• Nike x Air Afrique

• Vaseline: Verified Hacks

• Doing an event? Book Rohan Tambyrajah.

• Asad Dhunna, same.

• The Ordinary (the period fable)

• AXA ‘three words’

One piece of non-queue-based feedback?

It was observed (and remarked upon by several in the break) that only the speakers from Contagious used noticeably generative ai images for their slides. For a conference about creative excellence + impact, when so much of the agenda was about the incoming AI-apocalypse… this felt like a mis-step.

Some crappy Gen-AI slides aside, a huge well done and congrats to the MoCo25 team.

Honestly, one of the better/best events I’ve been to this year and I’ll say it again: the hit ratio of GREAT to AVERAGE was extremely high. See you next year.

THING 3. THIS WEEK IN… INTERESTING STUFF THAT HAS HAPPENED IN GAMES

I forgot, another thing I worked on that was announced between now and the last time we spoke was this new LEGO Ocarina of Time set. This is just the teaser but… stay tuned (I did the strat for that).

TO THE NEWS»

Like my favourite Countdown maths round strategy: one big one and then lots of little ones.

The big one: GEN AI and gaming.

If you’ve got/had your nose anywhere near the world of gaming over the past month or so then the absolute surprise juggernaut that has been ARC RAIDERS would’ve been hard to miss.

Now, Arc Raiders is an excellent game. It manages to get the right amount of balance of PvPvE and uses long-standing in-game elements such as ‘prox’ (proximity-based in-game chat, meaning you can talk to strangers if they’re nearby) to such a profound effect, it’s become a main part of how the entire game works.

However, one of the things AR has come under fire for is its use of generative AI.

Now, when it comes to AI and video games, there is literally only ONE resource that I trust and that’d Dr Tommy Thompson - he who literally has a doctorate in AI and Games. I wanted to wait until he had a pov on this - and lo and behold he did.

This is an excellent read on this topic. And even if you’re NOT a gamer I’d still recommend it to you due to the well-informed thinking that sits behind it.

Gaming News Bites

• Rest in Peace, the great Rebecca Heineman

• Skate Story is coming. I can't wait. Update: I have waited, it came out this week and it is EXCELLENT.

• COD7 is under siege. Fighting a battle on two (arguably three) fronts - from Battlefield 6 and Arc Raiders - before you even get to any community unrest re: the use of Gen Ai. It's a tricky time for this franchise and the sales/player numbers reflect that. My unasked for advice is to rest Call of Duty for 2026. Give it some space to be missed. There’s plenty on the roadmap for Microsoft next year. Let Gears of War do the shooty-shooty talking for next year. Halo too. Then get into a bi-annual rhythm that actually lets teams COOK. We'll see if they do. Maybe someone at Microsoft is listening…

• I do not need the Analogue 3D I do not need the Analogue 3D I do not need the Analogue 3D…

• Cloud gaming on PlayStation Portal feels like a significant and positive step forward.

• Oh oh oh, Destiny 2. Related: I think Renegades is actually alright. I’ve played it and not hated it (well, the content at least - the updated Portal-based interface is horrible)

And finally… a few people have asked me:
'Will you be getting a Steam Cube (aka Steam Machine)?' 'Probably not' is the reply (we've got the three main consoles in the house, some in duplicate).

'But do you think it'll be a serious contender?'
'If it's marketed well, then yeah - it could be'

Marketed. Not advertised. Marketed. So all four Ps, yeah?

How good is the product, how well is it going to be positioned, where will it be ranged, found, or placed, and ultimately how well will it be promoted.

All of these things matter.

Valve doesn't have to throw money at this thing. It's already a rich and successful company several times over. If it wanted to compete with the Nintendos and PlayStations of the world one would imagine they would need to invest in myriad other areas to go with it.

One thing to keep in mind is that Steam's last machine, the Steam Deck (released Feb 22), has sold 6-8mm units to date. The PS5 is currently at 84m units (as of Sept 25) and will probably do 8m in H2 this year, it not moreso. The Nintendo Switch 2 (released June 25) has sold 10-12m units.

Now look, 8m units is a completely fine and respectable number but please eye carefully any analyst or expert who believes cites the Steam Cube as the next big thing in PC computing or home gaming.

Show me the marketing, then we’ll talk.

THING 4. PLEASE DONT POST PHOTOS OF YOUR CHILDREN ON SOCIAL MEDIA

tl;dr: read this.

I have rarely, if ever, posted any photos of the kids online.

When the eldest was born, his mother and I - at that time at least - lived a lot of our lives online and that was our choice. We agreed that for our child to be online we’d want it to be their choice, not ours.

And now, here we are a decade and a half later, and those images are being used/have been used to train generative ai. Without consent.

Many years ago, when I was a features writer for Mobile Industry Review, I wrote 'Think of the children' - a 2008 article that talked about parents over-sharing their children online and what that might mean for the future.

I had no idea we’d end up where we are but indeed: here we are. I guess since when I knew my firstborn was coming, I’ve never done it. Now don’t get me wrong, personal choices are exactly that - personal. We have always ticked the NO box on the school forms that say 'can we include photos and videos of your children on our social media'. Every time.

And now photos are being used for what? Everything from tracking/hacking to training generative AI - and worse.

Someone said something recently to me in a whatsapp group chat that cut me to the core, they said something like:

‘Forgive me, I suffer from ‘post social/cultural revolution mistrust in tech platforms’ disorder.’ - and I was like ‘OH MY GOD I HAVE THAT’

Having spent years at the coalface of lying social media and tech platform owners, I now have a natural distrust of any and everything they do.

My original thought was about personal choice - and consent. One that still holds true (has my child consented to Being Online™️? No? OK then, no photos online). But since then, everything has evolved to so much worse… and yeah, the link above tells you everything about why you should just not post about your kids online.

At all x

…

THING 5. ADVICE FOR A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

I have, sadly, had some friends go through some close-family losses of late. Parents lost, hearts broken, lives changed. There’s a whole other thing about

Above all else, the soul-crushing reality of ‘death admin’ that appears - normally to the adult children who are left behind is a mixbag of the unknown, the idiots, and the compassionate.

It might be too late for some of you and yet, even if it’s considered bad luck to buy a black tie, I would consider saving this Thread just in case you ever need it.

Three relate things:

1. There’s never a bad time to re-listen to How Is Today?

2. Stephen Colbert + Anderson Cooper. Always. And Forever.

3. Conan, Arnett, and Bateman - on Conan's Dad’s death is an incredible, beautiful thing.

BONUS SECTION

A bonus bonus section that separates the AI BS from the rest of the newsletter x

ENJOY (OR DON’T).

• AI workers tell their families to stay away from it.

• Here is Chat GPT being reported on by CNN, about the former’s role in a death by suicide. Please, tell me again how you can’t live without ChatGPT now.

• No wonder Altman’s on the PR drive (on Fallon, of course).

BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.

ENJOY.

• ‘Meta buried ‘casual’ evidence of social media harm’ - reports Reuters.

• Baby’s first ZELDA work.

• All the trends.Via.

• Roblox CEO said what? Rafael here with the analysis.

• ‘Wise guys on Mars’ is possibly my favourite thing of the week. No further comments at this time.

• One for the old OREO fam/fans among you.

• Omnicom celebrated its purchase of IPG by losing 4000 staff. The live reddit of this happening in real time is some proper grim reading. 'Happy holidays' eh lads

• Meanwhile, 'Shutup and make the founder richer' is certainly A READ.

• Losing Udo Kier is unfair.

• Now you know the answer to ‘why should I leave the bottom coat button open?’. Because.

• The best kind of trolling.

• Creativity needs criticism. I don't always agree with Nick Asbury (and disagreeing is healthy y’all) however this is an excellent pov on why we need critical thinking on creativity.

• (More) reasons to stop posting on Substack.

• ‘Linkedin liked me better than a man’

• If in doubt, get your 4k re-release of the 1990 TMNT movie out.

• Hey, remember The Metaverse?

• No but actually, do you?

• It’s not like anyone told you at the time the whole thing was BS, so it coming to an end should be a complete surprise right?

• We lost Tom Stoppard as well. A little over a hundred editions ago, I pointed you to this excellent piece about Tom Stoppard's deft sweep and tidy of the script for Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. It was a superb read then, it's an essential read now.

• Half of kids want in-game currency for Christmas.

• I missed Heidi Klum's halloween.

• Wingsuits that GAIN ALTITUDE (from Redbull, who else?)

• ‘You Britons go to the pub, we go to the swimming pool!’

• VOGUE GEN Z + BEAUTY

And finally, at the top I talked about Charlie XCX’s post on being a popstar. Since then she’s written again about ‘the death of cool’, you can read the whole piece at the link but above all else, I want to leave you with this:

“This show taught me that coolness is something I value, because without it everything sort of feels random and nondescript. The second you apply a ‘something for everyone’ approach to art in an attempt to deliberately appeal to more people that, in my opinion, is the moment that coolness dies. That is the death of cool.”

Emphasis mine.

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

Holy mother of god, we made it.

I started writing this thing on TUESDAY and now, at the time of sign off it’s 23:03 on Sunday December 14th and my goodness me we are DONE.

There may be another one over the Christmas period - if I so choose - but if not, have a bloody good rest, yeah?

My last LEGO working day is Monday (tomorrow). I’ve got one brief to sign off and a LEGO Fortnite Ninjago tour to do for about a hundred people (delivered via Twitch + Teams, it’s like some perverse nightmare) and THEN I think I’m done. I’m done! For THE YEAR. Absolute scenes.

Wherever you are reading this, I hope you are well I hope you are spending or planning to spend your Christmas in exactly the way you want to and if that’s not possible, then I hope it’s at least peaceful.

All my love, and until next time - whenever that may be.

Whatley out x

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