Ads are awesome. Ignorance is expensive. And the American dream is alive on the wild web.
Today, an energy powder called Blow is going viral for all the wrong reasons, TikTok is adding one-click checkout to the For You feed, and Prime Big Deal Days opened with household spending down 22%. Nate Lagos of Shootin' Doubles is our guest host today, and Nebu Clothing's Nate Davenport and Interrupt Studios' Henry Coan join us live. Here's what we're riding into at noon.
Streaming on YouTube & X
✶ ENERGY DRINKS
The energy drink that looks like something else
A clip of Blow Energy Powder hit 689K views overnight with one caption: "wtf did I just come across" (hawa on X). Blow is a white powder you mix into a drink, sold in small vials. Each 1g container has 400mg of caffeine and 600mg of inositol (Blow).
The brand has been here before. In 2024 the FDA urged Blow to change its marketing (FoodBev). It's still selling, including on TikTok Shop.
OPERATOR TAKE: Shock packaging gets the views, and it also gets regulators and platforms looking. If your growth depends on looking like something you're not, you're one policy change away from losing the channel.
✶ PLATFORM WARS
TikTok Adds One-Click Checkout to the For You Feed
At Advertising Week New York, TikTok announced Buy Direct, an in-app checkout that lets people buy from the For You feed in one click. It also announced Shopping Assistant, a conversational AI that answers questions on product details, shipping, sizing, and availability, then helps close the sale. Shopify, Salesforce, Shoplazza, and Stripe are among the partners (TikTok Newsroom).
OPERATOR TAKE: The distance between seeing a product and buying it just got shorter. Make sure your catalog, sizing, and shipping info are clean enough for an AI to answer on your behalf.
✶ RETAIL & MARKETPLACES
Prime Big Deal Days, Day One: Spending Fell 22%
Average household spend on day one fell 22%, to $86.98 from $106.41 last year, according to Numerator. Average order size rose 5% to $51.03, and 66% of items cost under $20. The top sellers were Premier Protein shakes, Scott ComfortPlus toilet paper, Lysol wipes, Dawn Powerwash, and Sol de Janeiro body spray (Chain Store Age).
OPERATOR TAKE: Shoppers stocked up on essentials and skipped the splurges. If you sell premium, lean on value and bundles this quarter rather than deeper discounts.
✶ HOLIDAY 2026
Shopify: Holiday Shopping Started in September
Shopify's September data shows shoppers getting an early start. Advent calendars were up 143%, firewood up 129%, adjustable exercise benches up 176%, and pet hoodies up 142% (Retail Brew). Shopify's 2026 Global Holiday Retail Report also found 65% of shoppers plan to use AI for at least one shopping task this season (Shopify). Read the full report.
OPERATOR TAKE: If your holiday campaign starts in November, you're already late. Early shoppers are buying now.
✶ WATCH & REACT
Microdramas Are the New Brand Channel
Crocs, David's Bridal, and StockX are making short, episodic shows. StockX launched "Listed," a closet-tour series that sells items from the collection on screen, and Crocs made 60- to 90-second microdramas. Omdia estimates microdramas brought in $11 billion worldwide in 2025 and will reach $14 billion by the end of 2026. Analysts warn about high production costs and unclear ROI (Modern Retail).
OPERATOR TAKE: You don't need a studio to tell a story in episodes. A recurring series with the same characters can build the habit a single ad can't.
Guest Host: Nate Lagos
FOUNDER, SHOOTIN' DOUBLES
Nate is riding shotgun as today's guest host. He founded Shootin' Doubles, which he describes simply: "We sell hats for whiskey guys" (Practical Ecommerce). He also runs Bottoms Up Copywriting (LinkedIn).
Spotlight: Nate Davenport
FOUNDER & OPERATOR, NEBU CLOTHING
Nate is a Marine infantry veteran who worked in finance at Zappos, then quit on the day his daughter was born in 2022 to build Nebu, an outdoor apparel brand in Ogden, Utah. Nebu is bootstrapped and sells only on its own Shopify site (CanvasRebel).
He's open about the numbers: over $100,000 in first-year ad spend before ads turned truly profitable, events that usually return about 3x their cost, and fixed costs cut by almost 95% (Honest Ecommerce).
After nine months of restructuring, closing the warehouse and office, moving fulfillment into his garage, and expanding into retail, he says Nebu stopped losing cash (CanvasRebel).
From the Studio: Henry Coan
FOUNDER, INTERRUPT STUDIOS
Henry worked on growth at TBPN in 2025, and before that spent more than two years at Workweek ghostwriting for founders. He started Interrupt Studios in January 2026 to make short-form videos for brands and creators (LinkedIn, Interrupt Studios).
His new essay, "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Slop," breaks down how an AI video account he started got 6 million views on five posts in four days (Henry on X).
Follow the guests: Nate Davenport on LinkedIn ✶ Henry Coan on X
1. GHOST Bars wants your flavor ideas
GHOST asked, "What flavor should we drop next?" Fans asked for salted caramel pretzel, a Cinnabon collab, coconut, and huckleberry and cream (GHOST on X).
2. Hero turns pimple patches into holiday collectibles
Hero Cosmetics launched its first Mighty Patch Design collection for the holidays: Sugar Plum, Snow Globe, and Frost Pop, brought to life with Nadya O., Issa Okamoto, and Ameya Okamoto (Beth Marie Peña on LinkedIn).
3. Oatly drops Churros and Popcorn oat milk
"Some people launch new products with a 14-page corporate press release about synergy and market positioning." Oatly just told people it made new Churros and Popcorn Barista Editions and a Matcha Latte (Priscilla Garcia on LinkedIn, Parade).
4. Buy a piece of subway history
The 2026 MTA Memorabilia Pop-Up Shop runs October 8 and 9, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 23 Avenue X in Brooklyn (Noel Calingasan on X).
5. The Goldman interview question
"Interesting Goldman Sachs interview question. Your answer reveals more about you than you think." It has 1.4M views (Andrew Yeung on X).
AI Video Editing Has Gotten Too Good
"For months we've resisted bringing much AI into cut30 cuz most people learn nothing and make shitty content with it. AI video editing has gotten too good tho."
Cut30, the short-form video course run by Colin and Oren John, is adding its first full AI editing module for the Oct 27 session. It comes in week 3, after students learn the basics on their own (Colin Landforce on X).
You Can't Pay the Bills With Shelf Space
"18 months ago I was selling mustard at farmers markets. Now we're in over 250 stores."
The more stores he got into, the more money he lost: free fills, slotting fees, distributor margins, promos, and surprise deductions. He makes about $1.50 a bottle selling to a distributor, before those costs, so he's shifting his focus to selling direct on his website. His advice: "figure out how you're going to pay for it before you say yes to the next store" (Houston Max Buehrle on LinkedIn).
AI Should Be Making Your Ads
"Because speed you can't trust is just faster garbage. Everybody can make 50 ads now. That was never the problem."
Jack's point, in a paid post for Hightouch, is that the real problem is ads that don't look like your brand. The tool he's using builds from a team's real photos, product catalog, and brand guidelines (Jack Appleby on LinkedIn).
✶ FEATURED SPONSOR: TRENDTRACK
Find what's working in ecommerce, right now.
Want to know what's working in ecommerce, right now? Not what worked 6 months ago — what's actually scaling today.
TrendTrack gives you full access to the marketing playbook of any brand in the world. From every Meta, Google and TikTok ad they run, to every email and newsletter they send their customers. Your direct competitors, the biggest players on the market, it's all there.
All the market data, centralized in one place, refreshed every 24 hours.
RICHPANEL
AI helpdesk that automates 70–80% of interactions. Ridge cut cost per ticket by 70%. richpanel.com
UNIVERSAL ADS
Performance TV for DTC brands. Code UACOWBOY gets $1,500 in matched ad credits. universalads.com
NORTHBEAM
Measurement built from real orders, clicks, and verified views. northbeam.io
OUTERSIGNAL
Find the VIPs on your list. Say Ecomm Cowboy sent you to get a free persona report. outersignal.com
SEGUNO
The Shopify-native marketing suite. Ecomm Cowboy listeners get 22% off for two months. seguno.com/cowboy
ROKT AFTERSELL
Post-purchase upsells and premium offers that add profit to every order. aftersell.com/offers
INTELLIGEMS
Free AI-powered audit that gives you three ideas you can test today. intelligems.io/audit
POSTSCRIPT
The SMS partner focused on one thing: making SMS your biggest revenue channel. See the SMS benchmarks
PROPPEL
Recruiting for ecom brands, paid on performance. Mention Ecomm Cowboy for 10% off your first hire. weareproppel.com
