Good morning. Chipotle wants to pull off the Keith Lee effect for National Quesadilla Day. Today, the fast casual chain is partnering with TikTok food creators Shari Dyonne, Dylan McArthur, and Anthony Hernandez to give away 10,000 text-to-win codes for buy-one-get-one free Chipotle quesadillas...and now we’re hungry.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Unpacking the Creator-Related Loophole Impacting the Election

With creators’ increasing involvement at political conventions and on the campaign trail, 2024 has been widely characterized as the first “influencer election.” But a key regulatory loophole raises an important question: Are some creators being paid by political action committees (PACs) to endorse candidates or spread political messaging?

“Theoretically, a super PAC…could have given Taylor Swift a million dollars to make that Instagram post [endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris], or [former President Donald] Trump could have given Nelk a bag for hosting him on their podcast,” one creator familiar with the loophole (and speaking on the condition of anonymity) told us.

“The crazy thing is that there is not any required transparency on when someone is getting paid,” they said.

Context: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires creators to publicly disclose when they post content about brands they have relationships with—brands that pay creators, send creators free products, or employ creators’ family members.

Creators typically verbally thank the brand for the sponsorship or use language such as #ad to meet the FTC’s requirements.

But campaign finance laws are regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), not the FTC. And when the FEC last updated its rules on “technological modernization” in December 2023, the commission declined to clarify whether creators need to disclose if they’re paid to post organic content about political candidates.

• Two FEC members published a letter shortly afterward arguing that the commission missed a “golden opportunity” to adopt rules similar to the FTC’s.

• “It is not the proliferation of these digital communications, but rather the lack of transparency that is the problem,” they wrote.

Big picture: For creators, “the main thing [to think about] is if you want to actually throw your weight behind [a] candidate, or if you want to get paid,” Ashwath Narayanan, the CEO of Social Currant (an agency that runs creator campaigns with advocacy organizations), told us.

He thinks that the FEC will release clearer guidelines for future elections—though in the meantime, creators should consider whether failing to disclose payments (from brands, PACs, or other sources) could erode trust with their audience. “No one’s actually endorsing someone against their will,” or if they are, “that number would have to be so large that they would want to do it,” Narayanan said.

Corporate Natalie’s Next Era

Comedian Natalie Marshall, aka Corporate Natalie, has come a long way from making workplace jokes in a robe at her desk in 2020. Now, she’s getting ready to launch her first fashion collaboration with the brand 12th Tribe in January.

The why: 

• “Corporate Natalie in 2020 looks a lot different than what I do now,” Marshall told us. 

• “Now I’m getting into fashion and workwear, which is really exciting for me because I think we’re all confused about what to wear to the office. There is no standard anymore.”

Marshall has amassed nearly 2 million followers across social channels since 2020. Her business includes brand deals, a virtual assistant company for creators, a podcast, a newsletter, speaking engagements, and consulting gigs for companies like Shutterfly.

How she’s evolving to fashion content → For the last year, Marshall has posted outfits to her Stories, linked what she’s wearing on LTK, and partnered with brands like Stitch Fix and Aritzia. “I’m starting to tease ‘get ready with me’ videos so that when [the fashion collaboration] launches it won’t be foreign to my followers,” Marshall said. 

Marshall brings her comedy and relatability into her fashion content with realistic fashion hauls. “I’ll never claim to be the on-trend fashion girly who has a perfect outfit and then I add a purse and it’s amazing,” Marshall said. “I think just having that relatability, like ‘yeah, I don’t love everything in a haul. I actually hate it and will return most of it.’ I’m happy to be the face of that.”

Sponsored by Spotter

Spotter Debuts Long-Awaited AI Software

Your workflow just got a major upgrade.

After more than a year of development, Spotter has officially launched Spotter Studio, an AI-powered suite of tools built for and with creators. With it, you can:

• Analyze competitors and leverage insights to stay ahead.

• Identify niche outliers and untapped trends that can set you apart.

• Refine story beats, ensuring your narrative captivates from start to finish.

And so much more…

Spotter developed their software by consulting with hundreds of top creators, including our own Colin and Samir. The result? An AI toolkit that helps you make winning videos without needing to worry about engineering prompts.

Press Readers, try Spotter Studio free for 30 days as a first-time customer. Boost your watch time, overcome creative blocks, and elevate your content by starting your free trial today.

What to Know from TwitchCon

Over the weekend, streamers and gaming industry professionals gathered in San Diego for TwitchCon, which included three days of panels and platform news. Here are the highlights →

Broadcasting is getting an upgrade. Starting early next year, Twitch will let creators put out “enhanced broadcasting” at a 1440p resolution, as well as broadcast in vertical video.

More collaborative streaming. With the new “shared chat” feature, streamers will be able to link each other’s chats when they are streaming together.

More transparency. Twitch promised to be more transparent about strikes and violations going forward, giving creators more information and making strikes temporary (currently, they are permanent and can lead to indefinite suspension).

👀 Creator Moves

• Her First $100k is hiring a marketing manager to help promote the financial educational brand’s podcasts and partnerships.

• 2 and 20 is hiring an editor to create video essays on economics and politics.

• Mythical is hiring an executive assistant to handle scheduling and manage deliverables.

Looking to bring on new team members? You can post opportunities on our (free) job board here.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Gabbie Hanna returns to YouTube and apologizes for career mistakes.

• Comedian and YouTube creator Uncle Roger breaks the Guinness World Record for getting 388 people to dress like him.

• QTCinderella is moving the Streamer Awards up from February to December.

• Sony launches a kids YouTube channel, Kidzuko.

• TikTok expands its subscription feature to include creators who don’t livestream.