Overheard at Huxly: 14-25 July

Sparkling wine with your fish & chips? Banana pudding for your lips? Cod for fuel?! This week’s chatter was rich with remix culture, rebrands, and a few sensory curveballs — from the fizz of Sprite’s late-night spice collabs to cake for the lips, and faux-English fantasy from Fortnum’s…

Let’s dive in! 

Sprite Gets Spicy with its new ad campaign – It Hurts Real Good!

Sprite’s global ‘Hurts Real Good’ campaign is a fizzy ode to Gen Z’s love affair with heat. Instead of cooling spice, Sprite amplifies it — teaming up with Takis, Buldak, McDonald’s and more to fan the flames. There are 1–3 AM pop-ups, bold flavors, and a full sensory playground. It’s bold, emotional, late-night chaos — and not for the faint of heart (sorry, Maria Pálla Valiente). 

Hojicha’s Having a Moment  

Hojicha lattes — earthy, smoky, and with a caffeine profile that doesn’t cause chaos — are popping up everywhere. We clocked it in the FT as a gentle answer to jitter culture. Think slower mornings, richer flavor, and functional sipping with heritage baked in. 

 Move over, matcha: a hojicha latte is summer’s buzziest order 

Is fish making a Co(d)me Back!?  

Fortnum & Mason invites you to drink sparkling wine with your fish & chips… it’s giving coastal glamour and sparkling pragmatism. But is this luxe-for-laughs trend elitist, nostalgic, or both? If this didn’t get you thinking, then energy bar brand David’s new Cod Protein Bar definitely will! Yes, really. This launch split the room. Between the 80s Power Bar vibes, Apple-esque fonts, and Michelangelo references, David’s positioning is straight out of the biohacking playbook. Food as performance tool. It’s masculine-coded, yes, but also perfectly tuned for our “smart everything” era. Still, will anyone actually eat it? 

Banana Pudding Balm: Dessert You Don’t Eat 

Glossier x Magnolia Bakery launched a Banana Pudding Balm Dotcon. A crossover for the chronically online, nostalgia-prone beauty sweet tooth. But there’s depth here too: ‘treat’ culture in beauty might reflect rising food guilt and cost-of-living stress. If you won’t let yourself eat the cake, maybe you’ll wear it on your lips? Selfridges is making the bet!   

Until next time — stay curious, stay snacky, and maybe don’t pair sparkling wine with everything!