Hey Cowboys,
Happy Tuesday! We’re bringing you a fresh round of DTC, retail, tech, and ecommerce news to unpack this week.
Today’s lineup 👇 and stories.
Oren & TJ in the Chair
A creative director who reads the internet for a living, and a solo founder shipping supplements and alcohol alternatives at multi-seven figures.
TJ Bongiorno - Founder, The Outgoing Co
Oren John - Partner, Darkroom Agency
Meta’s “Flock-Fueled Future”
Viral Post Accusing Meta of Surveillance Overreach Hits 4.4 Million Views. A video posted by marketer Cory Dobbin has drawn 4.4 million views on X, showing [what the clip depicts] and demanding a response from Meta and Mark Zuckerberg. Dobbin called it "the flock-fueled future everyone is afraid of," referencing the surveillance network debate around license plate camera company Flock Safety, and the post has racked up 14,000 likes and 8,300 reposts since going up September 3.
The Rundown:
The video originated from Instagram account @kontheinside and was amplified by Dobbin, founder of programmatic ads agency Otherside.
In follow-up posts, Dobbin dismissed "read the terms of service" responses, arguing no reasonable person reads them and that Meta's ToS scope has expanded dramatically since most users created their accounts.
He said the core problem is not that Meta has access to user information, which he called obvious, but how far the permitted uses have grown.
The post lands amid a rough stretch for Meta on privacy: Instagram recently began removing covert "pickup" videos filmed on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, a Texas AG investigation into the glasses is ongoing, and reporting earlier this year alleged contractors in Kenya reviewed sensitive user footage.
Meta has not publicly responded to the post.
The reaction reflects growing public unease about how consumer hardware and platform data intersect with surveillance infrastructure. Meta has weathered individual controversies on this front all year, but viral moments like this one keep resetting the conversation faster than the company can close it out.
Top Stories: Kendall Joins TRIP, Hulken's Inventory Raise, and X Ads for DTC
Kendall Jenner Joins TRIP as Global Ambassador and Equity Shareholder. Kendall Jenner has taken an undisclosed equity stake in TRIP, the UK-founded calming drinks brand, and will front its new global campaign launching today. The announcement lands as TRIP tracks toward $200 million in revenue in 2026, double last year's $100 million.
Hulken Adds Third Factory as Retail Growth Reshapes Its Holiday Inventory Playbook. Viral rolling tote brand Hulken is racing to build inventory ahead of what it expects to be its biggest Q4 yet, adding a third dedicated manufacturing facility and consolidating US logistics into a single 3PL, per Modern Retail. The nine-person company has grown revenue 50% year over year as wholesale expands.
DTC Operators Report X Ads Gaining Ground as Meta CPMs Climb Two ecommerce operators are publicly reporting strong performance from X ads, with Ridge co-founder Connor MacDonald saying X is his company's fastest-growing channel and marketer Orlando Rios sharing weeks of profitable results for his brand. The posts follow X's launch of what it calls the most ambitious advertising platform rebuild in its 20-year history.
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See you on the stream,
Ecomm Cowboy Team