Good morning. Today, CMO Today reports from a branded wedding; college sports authorities try to tell real marketing from booster paychecks; and the holiday season is looking grim for toy companies.

Marketing gets personal in this report from CMO Today’s Megan Graham:

I immediately had questions when my friend Heather texted me last month to say, “Nick and I might be getting married in a Hellmann’s commercial on July 21 in Vegas and obvi would love for you to come.” I also immediately agreed to go.

She and Nick had entered to win a wedding with a chicken tender dip theme at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel and officiated by Hellmann’s mascot Manny Mayo. The Unilever brand would also kick in a travel stipend and a reception menu featuring towers of chicken and dips.

After they beat the odds and 35 other couples, according to the PR agency, I found myself in Vegas on a 101-degree Monday afternoon in a Hellmann’s yellow dress. My boyfriend graciously agreed to wear a Hellmann’s blue suit.

Heather and Nick took on-brand vows promising “to never judge each other’s sauce ratio” and never let their “love—or tenders—get cold.” They were pronounced “Mr. and Mrs. Sauceman” and fed each other chicken. Congratulations, Heather and Nick!

A fight is raging over whether booster collectives can keep steering money to student athletes in exchange for promotional or charity work, Rachel Bachman and Laine Higgins report.

The new College Sports Commission aims to curb booster collectives in the name of competitive balance, setting up a clearinghouse that must approve any player deal worth $600 or more.

The commission says many deals don’t satisfy a “valid business purpose” because they don’t license a player’s name, image or likeness.

At lot of money is at stake: Collectives made up more than 80% of the estimated $1.7 billion college NIL market in 2024-25, according to Opendorse, an athlete marketplace.

But boosters may not play ball.

“One thing I know about people who are wealthy is that they’re going to do what they want,” said Brad Heinrichs, who played varsity golf at Iowa and now runs the Swarm Collective that supports Hawkeye sports.

“Telling a wealthy person who owns a business that they can’t pay a student-athlete $25,000 for advertising because some other third party tells him that he’s overpaying and the student-athlete is only worth $10,000, you know, that just doesn’t feel appropriate to me, personally.”

Toymakers aren’t likely to have much fun the rest of this year, Connor Hart writes.

Steep tariffs on goods from China as well as Southeast Asian manufacturing hubs such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have eaten into margins.

Retailers meanwhile are responding to the uncertain environment with caution, delaying purchasing decisions, avoiding riskier new product launches and focusing their shelves on proven legacy brands rather than experimenting with novel offerings.

“These tariffs aren’t numbers our industry can work under,” said Greg Ahearn, chief executive of the Toy Association, an industry trade group.

Hasbro and Mattel are scheduled to report second-quarter results Wednesday, with Wall Street expecting both to log lower profit and sales from last year’s comparable quarter.

Coldplay is surging on Spotify. You know why. [WSJ] 

Universal Music Group, which owns the record label behind Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, filed for an IPO in the U.S. [WSJ] 

Three liberal Senators asked Skydance CEO David Ellison, whose company has a deal to merge with Paramount, whether there’s truth to President Trump’s claim that the $16 million “60 Minutes” settlement includes another $16 million in free advertising. [Washington Post] 

Why Big Tech keeps picking brand names like Grok, Hyperion and Palantir. [Fast Company] 

Trader Joe’s tote bags are all over London, even though the grocery chain doesn’t have any stores there. [NYT] 

WWE will show SummerSlam live at some Regal Cinemas theaters next month as part of a larger partnership between the wrestling promoter and Fandango. [Deadline]

PepsiCola will introduce a prebiotic version of its flagship soda. [CNN] 

Starbucks pre-empted the usual leaks by announcing that its Pumpkin Spice drinks will debut on Aug. 26. [Restaurant Business]