08/07/2026
If they asked me and not ChatGPT… here’s what I would’ve told OpenAI why their recent brand trip would not go how they wanted it to…
1. The obvious tone deafness. I really believe the location is the number one biggest issue undercutting this entire brand trip. You’re also subconsciously connecting it to “unplugging” in nature, yet being so plugged into AI. It all contradicts itself, and in-turn, undercuts your brand as a whole.
2. The subject matter makes it a moral issue: OpenAI has had some intense public scrutiny lately, and rightfully so. While LLMs and AI as a whole are still vastly un-legislated, you’re already working against a largely negative public sentiment and brand image. With that, you’ve set your brand and the influencers you invited, up for negative backlash. The comments section prove that.
3. The wealth disparity continues to grow, and the gap between luxury lifestyle creators and their followers (and the delicate parasocial relationships) with it. While the cost of living continues to soar, showcasing a lavish luxury weekend sponsored by AI was essentially microdosing hell with everything that you wish was real but will never be able to attain and may one day never exist because AI’s datacenters destroyed it... too much for a little post about a brand trip? 👀
This Summer Camp weekend positioned itself as an aspirational, luxurious weekend away- not a weekend truly centered around education and product learning like their competitors (Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, etc) who what all successfully pulled off brand trips with influencers for years—and who also partner with the Department of Defense.
The biggest difference (or what it feels like to me) is that their competitors have ✨human✨ strategists and creatives behind their strategy and it shows. Whether or not this was truly a “conference” or a brand trip. It lacked cohesion, vision, and ex*****on for the long term in a critical moment for a company like OpenAI.
Curious to hear what you think 👀 drop thoughts below or send me a dm!
Influencer marketing | creator economy | creative strategist | branding | llm
