America, like many of its congresspeople, is nearing 250 years old.

In honor of the big birthday (or semiquincentennial, if you want to be formal about it), which will officially take place on July 4, 2026, design studio Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv was commissioned by the US Semiquincentennial Commission to create a logo, after doing similar design work for the country’s bicentennial in 1976. The logo, which was revealed this week, is an all-caps, black serif font that says “America,” above a “250” (or “2SO”?) depicted as a red, white, and blue striped ribbon.

Designer Sagi Haviv told the New York Times that the ribbon has “almost an impossible construction,” which adds additional meaning to the look because “bringing people together today is almost an impossible task.”

While the logo may be embarking on a mission to unite the country, it’s left some branding experts divided. We asked them to share their thoughts.

Red, white, and…ew? “It feels like an early-round idea that should have gone through a couple more…refinements before it saw the light of day,” Ross Clugston, CCO of Design Bridge and Partners, told us.

The black text, he said, “is an old serif typeface that feels disconnected to the logo itself” and creates what feels like two separate elements: “Right now, it just looks like a blandly set piece of serif typography then locked up with another symbol.”

And the ribbon, reminiscent of a Möbius strip or an infinity symbol, feels a little “forced,” Clugston said.

“It’s something that people get tattooed on their body because it’s really easy to explain what it means,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that it’s a great idea.”

Continue reading here.—KH

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Surprise, surprise: Teens are online more than ever, according to the Pew Research Center’s annual report on teen social media usage, released this week.

The study, which surveyed 1,453 US teens (ages 13 to 17) in September and October, found that TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram reigned as the most-used apps among the respondents, with 63%, 60%, and 59% saying they use each app, respectively.

“Despite negative headlines and growing concerns about social media’s impact on youth, teens continue to use these platforms at high rates,” Pew Research stated in a press release.

Not doing so hot: In contrast to platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, Facebook does not seem to be especially popular among US teens: Only a third of those surveyed said they use the platform, versus 71% in 2014–2015. X also saw a decline. BeReal didn’t notch many teen users either, with only 13% reporting that they use the app.

Who’s who: Social media usage broke down differently by gender. Two-thirds of teen girls surveyed said they were Instagram users, while 53% of teen boys did. TikTok and Snapchat were both slightly more popular among teen girls than teen boys. Teen boys, on the other hand, were more likely to use Discord and Twitch; 34% of teen boys reported using Discord, compared to 22% of teen girls.

The lowdown: Black teens were most likely to report using TikTok, with eight in 10 saying they use the platform, compared to 70% of Hispanic teens and 57% of white teens who said the same. Hispanic teens were more likely to report using WhatsApp than white and Black teens. On BeReal, more white teens reported using the platform than Black and Hispanic teens.

One year later: Year over year, some social platforms remain enduringly popular: Snapchat, for instance, had the same percentage of teens (59%) reporting usage in 2022 as they did this year. Tumblr, meanwhile, continues to struggle with teens: In 2014–2015, 14% of teen users reported being on Tumblr, compared to 5% in 2022. This year, in what is perhaps a sign of the site’s waning influence, Pew Research didn’t ask teens whether they were using Tumblr at all.—JS

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Carlos Cantú is the CMO of the image website Freepik. Before that, he worked at Twitter in marketing and brand strategy roles, and at Cheil Worldwide as executive creative director. He’s worked on campaigns for brands including Samsung, Coca-Cola, Ford, Greenpeace, Gatorade, and Unilever.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? When I joined Freepik last year, my first undertaking was to craft a new brand identity for the company and its subsidiary brands, which included the iconic Freepik brand. It has been an exciting journey, and in September, we were able to successfully launch our rebrand. It’s been a challenging project, but full of creativity and design. I am proud of the work that the team has done.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I am actually an old-school copywriter who has evolved several times through the years until becoming a techy marketer. (I guess you could find this in my LinkedIn profile, but it’s very hidden.)

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? Most: The generative AI revolution is exciting, particularly for marketers, advertisers, and creatives, as it will unlock endless opportunities for individuals with new ideas who may have otherwise struggled to materialize their concepts without AI.

Least: The suboptimal use of AI. By this, I refer to all those upcoming campaigns that are trying to take advantage of generative AI but are lacking a well-defined creative concept. Before jumping on a trend, marketers need to ask themselves if adopting the trend truly aligns with their brand.

What’s one marketing-related podcast/social account/series you’d recommend? Ramin Nasibov, a well-known artist and designer, is a great person to follow on social media, especially for those interested in branding and UX/UI design. You Are Not So Smart is a great podcast and with each episode, it continues to inspire me and broaden my perspective. Finally, Archillect, an AI-based art curator that identifies stimulating visual content on the internet.

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Service line: A guide to using AI tools to help with customer service requests.

Referral slip: Tips on writing referral slogans.

Topical: A rundown of high-performing topic tags on Threads, and what can be gleaned about conversations happening on the app.

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Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Perion, an ad tech firm, is acquiring the digital out-of-home advertising company Hivestack for $100 million.
• Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management are offering $5.8 billion to buy Macy’s and take the retailer private.
• Altice USA is discussing selling financial news streaming service Cheddar News to a private-equity firm, CNBC reported.
• Showtime, the cable network, will officially be renamed Paramount+ with Showtime, and will air some Paramount+ original series, as part of an ongoing rebranding effort.