New Year Brand Wellness Marketing Narratives

Equinox Blocks January 1 Memberships & Calls for Commitment

Riffing on the failed ambitions of the 88% of Americans who break their New Year’s resolutions in the first two weeks of January (Baylor College of Medicine, 2024), US-based luxury fitness brand Equinox’s New Year’s campaign prompted consumers to “commit to something”.

In a New Year’s Eve Instagram post, the brand hinted at a midnight surprise launch, but it subverted expectations with a January 1 post stating: “No magic reset. Just a wake-up call. Commit to something.” Signalling its contempt for easily made and broken New Year’s resolutions, Equinox also blocked new member subscriptions on January 1 – traditionally a boom day for gym subscriptions.

Its strategy extended to X (formerly Twitter), where Equinox chimed in about publicly posted New Year’s resolutions to prompt users to commit to their 2025 wellness goals, adding: “We’ll check back in on this on March 20,” to encourage resolution accountability.

Huel’s Ad Spotlights the Daily Grind

Harnessing the frenetic energy often associated with 2024 sports marketing (see Nike’s Unapologetically Competitive Ads in Paris 2024 Olympics: Pop Culture’s Winning Moves), UK-based food supplements brand Huel’s New Year’s campaign expands its messaging to include the rituals of (mostly) manual workers.

Soundtracked by British electronic duo Disclosure’s When a Fire Starts to Burn, with narration from British-American rapper Outlaw the Artist, the one-minute black-and-white video features footage of professional athletes (including British endurance athlete Russ Cook, famed for his recent year-long run from Africa’s southernmost to northernmost point), sweaty gym-goers and a thrill-seeking skydiver, spliced together with shots of a refuse worker, farmer, paramedic and exotic dancer.

RXBar’s BS Blocker Banishes ‘New Year, New Me’ Rhetoric

American protein bar brand RXBar embraced guerilla marketing for its 2025 New Year’s marketing campaign. Known for its all-natural protein snacks, the brand extended its no-BS (bullsh*t) narrative to combat outdated and overused “new year, new me” rhetoric displayed on advertising billboards.

Its BS Blocker Truck (a black vehicle with minimalist RXBar advertising and a hotline number) toured New York on January 3. Locals could text the hotline to report instances of stereotypical New Year’s messaging, and the truck would arrive at the location to physically conceal the advertisement.

RXBar also recruited local influencer Nisarah Lewis (@DudetteWithSign - 867,000 followers, who riffs on the lead of and now collaborates with @dudewithsign – 7.7m followers) known for her comedic cardboard protest signs. In an Instagram post she concealed an advertisement with a sign featuring the slogan “New year. Same me. No BS”.