No-slop.

The best brand activation I've seen in a while just dropped, and it's been living rent-free in my head all weekend.

Last week, Anthropic partnered with Air Mail (in a pop-up still going on until tomorrow in NYC) in what could have been just another brand collab. Instead, it became a masterclass in brand positioning that's as refreshing as it is brilliantly executed.

Here's why this matters: In a market racing toward AI-generated "slop" (see Sora 🤷‍♂️) that devalues human-centered creations, Anthropic positioned itself as the anti-slop option. The message? AI that works with humans, not against them in the long run.

The aesthetics hit different too. Even the imagery is edited to match film photography, and that's not random at all. It conveys beauty and signals craft over convenience, choosing analog's honest warm and human imperfections over infinite digital perfection. All of this gives me serious Apple circa 1990s/early 2000s vibes. Remember when Apple wasn't trying to be everything to everyone? They were building tools for the dreamers, the makers, the ones who believed technology should enhance humanity, not diminish it. That's exactly what Anthropic is doing with Claude.

Loving the fact that Claude’s branding is using a serif font too.

Coming just a week after Claude's first ad (which you need to watch if you haven't, see below this paragraph), the timing and positioning are just perfect. Anthropic is not just building an AI. They're crafting a creative companion that respects not just human intelligence and creativity, but humanity's future by taking AI alignment more seriously than anyone else in the industry.

(Also, can we talk about the choice of having MF DOOM's Madvillain on the soundtrack? Absolute chef's kiss. 🤌)

Zooming out, I can't seem to shake the resemblance of a similar case that we've seen before.

- Microsoft vs. Apple in the 90s and 2000s;
- OpenAI vs. Anthropic today.

You can probably guess which is which.

Sometimes the best strategy isn't being everything to everyone. It's being the right thing for the right people. And understanding that in the age of AI, "no slop" might be the most powerful differentiator of all.