TO: All Junior Marketing Associates
FROM: Gary Vance, Senior VP of Literary Damage Control
RE: The Olivia Rodrigo Serena Joy rollout crisis
Team, we have a major situation on our hands regarding the new Interscope Records priority campaign. Over the weekend, the artist released a limited CD single titled "Serena Joy" at a record shop in Orange County. We initially believed this song was about a TikTok influencer. We have now learned the Olivia Rodrigo Serena Joy release actually references a character from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale. None of us have read this book.
Immediate Reading Assignments
Effective immediately, all marketing staff must pause their playlist pitching. You must immediately read the Wikipedia plot summary of the novel. Do not buy the book. We do not have the budget to support Canadian literature. Focus all energy on understanding why a pop star is singing about a fictional Christo-fascist architect.
"Our entire demographic has never seen a physical book without a movie tie-in cover," said Dr. Thaddeus Mbeki-Ransome, Chair of Applied Hype Studies at the Institute for Trending Phenomena. "If teenage fans start researching the literary origins of the Olivia Rodrigo Serena Joy track, they might accidentally score higher on their AP English exams. This would destroy our target market of easily distracted consumers."
Visual Asset Updates
We must alter the promotional imagery immediately. Remove all pastel pinks. Replace them with deep, oppressive crimson robes. If anyone asks, tell them the robes are a collaboration with Balenciaga. We cannot let the public know we are promoting actual political satire.
"We thought Serena Joy was a new brand of clean mascara," said Brenda Flapjack, Director of Teen Mood Boarding at Interscope. "We already printed eighty thousand stickers that say 'Serena Joy is a Total Vibe.' We are currently trying to pivot this to mean the vibe is heavy state-mandated subjugation."
Please ensure all social media posts frame this release as a fun summer anthem. Do not mention the Republic of Gilead. If a TikTok creator asks about the thematic parallels to modern reproductive rights, please block them and redirect their algorithm to a video of a cat falling off a table.
