📳 Adult Toys to Thinking Partners
PULSE/1: Two very different signals from brands that want to matter in 2026
Welcome to CO/SIGNALS[PULSE] - In this quickfire series, we highlight collabs we’ve come across, to keep you on the pulse of brand and media partnerships.
Collabs, Evolved
How many brands could really stretch from natural history discourse to serious kitchen goods without dropping the (poké)ball?
The kids that were shaped by Gameboys and trading cards, grew up and got jobs. They got more cultured and the toys that excite them now are fancy pots and pans.
Natural History Museum collab
Pokémon has launched a fully sold out pop-up with the Natural History Museum. Over a long 3 month run, it’s framed around a ‘proper’ theme - Pokécology - where you can browse displays of the pocket monsters in their natural habitats, shop limited edition NHM x Pokémon merch, and collect an exclusive oversized trading card.
This is Pokémon playing in the same space as fashion houses or craft brands: limited access, object culture, and education-meets-fandom.
There’s absolutely no shortage of creator content on Youtube and socials. You can check it out here: Pokémon x Natural History Museum Reveal ‘Pokécology’ theme and products for sold-out Pop-Up, running 26 January - 19 April 2026
Le Creuset collab
Le Creuset is literally turning high‑ticket, intergenerational kitchenware into a Pokémon collection: cast-iron pots in Pikachu yellow, character-colour sets, and specialty tableware built around Poké Balls.
Check out more here: Pokémon Le Creuset revealed
This is the adultification of nostalgic fandom. Perhaps we’ll see more in grown up spaces like museums, cookware, homeware, finance, travel - they’re all ripe for IP that once lived in domain of kids, and I for one, am here for it.
Anthropic Going Big in 2026
AI continues to be a force of nature, and with the competitive landscape heating up, we saw AI brands launch their first big ad campaigns last year. Now, Anthropic are coming out of the gates this year, and it’s clear - they’re not messing around.
Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.
Ahh these are brilliant - worth watching the whole set. Clearly inspired by the infamous Apple vs. PC ads, but brought into the 21st century and neatly taking down competitors that are optimising for engagement and ad-driven monetisation (in itself, a topic for another time!).
Looking ahead, Anthropic’s safety-first stance, and Claud’s ‘keep thinking’ positioning may just pay dividends as these tools permeate society. I keep coming back to the signal of ‘trust’ - it’s a powerful lever in an age of information overload. Also, the Apple “think different” vs. Microsoft parallel is hard to ignore - especially with OpenAI’s affiliation to the latter.
It’s not a two-horse race (Google will have plenty to say), but framing it this way is powerful: a choice between attention brokers… or a thinking partner. Very nicely done.
“Official Thinking Partner” as a new sponsorship archetype
The through-line continues. Where most tech brands frame themselves as the ‘technology partner’ in sponsorships, Anthropic’s deal with Williams F1 carves out a more philosophical space - AI as the brain, not just the sponsor.
This is a conscious move from logo spam to positioning as cognitive infrastructure - and in a place already thick with tech brands (Google/McLaren, Oracle/Red Bull, IBM/Ferrari), this is a really compelling way to bring out a differentiated positioning.
Read more about this on LinkedIn.
So there you have it - two very different approaches to collaboration.
In an age where brands are constantly looking to reinvent themselves for younger audiences (see Jaguar), it’s refreshing to see one that can still bring the OGs on the journey - stretching their IP in new ways just to show us that a Pokémon can learn new moves.
And on the other hand, we have a challenger tech brand in a fiercely competitive space. The super-power here is absolute clarity on what their brand stands for - and we see that come to life in their advertising and sponsorships in a smart way.
Thanks for reading - we’ll keep unpacking what these shifts like these mean for brands, media, and culture in future pieces so subscribe to stay close.