Welcome back. Today, branded entertainment without the branding, the sunset of the leggings era and the next stage in the chicken sandwich wars.

The scripted series “Roomies,” whose weekly episodes on Instagram and TikTok follow a new New Yorker living with two strangers, is a marketing campaign for the financial-services firm Bilt.

But the millions of viewers for its nine installments so far wouldn’t know that from watching, Patrick Coffee writes for CMO Today.

“Roomies” is written, produced and directed by Bilt, whose products include a credit card that holders can use to pay rent while earning rewards. Neither Bilt’s name nor its offerings have yet appeared in the show.

Bilt plans to eventually integrate some of its corporate partners into the show, according to CMO Zoe Oz. The roommates might use Bilt benefits to get a free shake, for example, after a class at the gym chain Barry’s.

But for now the company mostly wants engagement. How many people are watching and commenting? Do they seem to want new episodes?

“Audiences are so adept at spotting advertising,” Oz said. “How do we start to get people to pay attention, to engage with us without us having to, you know, throw it in their face?”

Leggings, a staple of the everywoman wardrobe since the early 2000s, are fading in the face of the Big Workout Pant, Rory Satran reports.

Sales of stretchy fitted bottoms have been falling for years as Gen Z’s preferences have tilted toward oversize styles. The matching skintight tops and bottoms that drove brands such as Lululemon, Alo, Vuori and Beyond Yoga to dominance are starting to look basic.

Perhaps no company is capitalizing more than FP Movement, the activewear brand from retail chain Free People. Gap’s Athletica and niche brands such as Jo+Jax are also in the mix.

Lululemon and Alo are scrambling to catch up with their own versions, but time seems short. Yoga-studio owner Krissy Jones said a 37-year-old friend recently asked her which leggings to buy. “We’re not wearing leggings anymore,” she told her.

When her friend waffled, Jones spelled it out: “You’re a boomer if you wear leggings.”

Six years after Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen kicked off the so-called chicken sandwich wars by challenging Chick-fil-A’s flagship sandwich with a version of its own, the battle is entering a new phase, Heather Haddon and Patrick Thomas write.

Tightening cattle supplies have helped lift beef prices to record levels, making chicken a more profitable option for restaurants. But the competition is also tougher now, because many chains followed Popeyes into the fight with their own new or upgraded fried chicken products.

Heightened activity this year includes new crispy chicken tenders from Wingstop in February, followed by McDonald’s tenders in May and Snack Wraps in July. Taco Bell is developing a whole menu of crispy chicken tacos, burritos and nuggets.

And Wendy’s has spent months testing new tenders it plans to introduce this year along with six dipping sauces. The company views them as a building block for future products—and is also testing new sandwiches.

How it all began: A timeline of the original chicken sandwich wars. [Restaurant Business] 

Six Flags’ new Siren’s Curse ride is going viral for all the wrong reasons. [WSJ]

Swatch apologized for “any distress or misunderstanding” a recent ad may have caused, but it’s hard to understand how it was approved in the first place. [Creative Bloq]

Jewelry brands are jumping into sports with collaborations, pop-ups and endorsement deals with college athletes. [Glossy] 

How Crocs conquered China as Western brands faltered. [WSJ] 

Why Spotify’s ad business seems stalled. [BI] 

McGruff, the trench-coated anti-crime dog of ’80s and ’90s PSAs, now wants to “Take a Bite Out of DOGE.” [Yello]

YouTube has asked about the rights to show the Oscars once ABC’s contract is up. [Bloomberg]

Big Hollywood movies are starting to include warnings in the credits that they cannot be used to train AI. [Vulture] 

Opinion: Stop talking about AI. [FT]