Friday, May 15th

Top Creator News, Stories & Tips

Author

Paul Boulet
May 15, 2026

Hey, marketers & entrepreneurs,

It’s Paul from Click Analytic 👋

Welcome to our 31 new subscribers, who are joining a community of 58,000+ marketers & founders building with creators every day.

This week: Kylie Jenner lost 15M followers in one night. TikTok now books your hotel. And TJ Maxx turned a Devil Wears Prada insult into their best campaign in years.

Plus…

→ A 5-second AI clip fooled 15M people, it’s the Korean Baseball trend

→ Miu Miu sent 10 creators an ice cream and got 4.9M views for $0

→ LinkedIn is finally paying creators, but only 50 of them to start

Check it all below 👇

🗓️ Quick Recap:

And more…

  Estimated read time: 2 minutes or less

📊 Did You Know?

Syracuse University is launching a creator economy minor this fall, with required courses on content monetization, strategic partnerships, and building a creator venture from scratch.

(Syracuse University, 2026)

🔥 What is the Korean Baseball AI trend?

You've probably seen the clips on your feed: someone randomly caught on a live broadcast camera at a Korean baseball stadium.

It started with a 5-second clip on X of a woman watching a KBO game.

→ 15 million views before anyone realised she was AI-generated. Sharp-eyed baseball fans spotted a retired player listed on the scoreboard, that's what exposed it.

The numbers show how fast it spread:

  • The original post: 15M views, 28K likes in 11 days

  • A copycat on Instagram: 358K likes in a single day

  • Another one with a dog in the crowd: 237K likes in one day

  • Kling AI hit #1 on the App Store in 42 countries in one week

💡 Lesson: The most viral AI content doesn't look AI. Brands that master that aesthetic first win the next content cycle.

Instagram Post

🔔 Top Creator Stories

🛫 TikTok now lets you book the trip you just watched

What is TikTok GO? 6 partners. Hotels, tours, experiences. Bookable without leaving the app. Creators with 1,000+ followers earn commissions every time their content drives a booking.

📊 Recap: Biggest creator campaigns from April 2026

Lancôme sent 1,000 boxes to the wrong people on purpose. A 4-month-old brand flew 16 influencers to St. Barths on a private plane and hit an all-time high on Google searches.

5 campaigns worth stealing from, all broken down.

✉️ Miu Miu sent 10 creators an ice cream. It got 4.9M views for $0 in paid media.

No press release. Just a pale blue box with kinetic sand sculpted into an ice cream scoop — hiding the perfume underneath.

The best part? A nano creator with 7K followers drove 85% of total EMV.

📉 Kylie Jenner lost 15M Instagram followers overnight

Meta ran a 6-hour AI sweep — bots, inactives, click farms, all gone.

Ronaldo lost 9M. Taylor Swift lost 5.9M. Every account was hit. The real question: how much of your influencer's audience is actually real?

🎬 Why I love this campaign: TJ Maxx × The Devil Wears Prada 2

(Small spoiler ahead if you haven't seen The Devil Wears Prada 2)

In the film, Stanley Tucci's character greets Anne Hathaway with: "Look what TJ Maxx dragged in." 

A throwaway insult. TJ Maxx saw it differently 🔥 

Within a week they had Tucci in a new ad declaring himself a "Maxxinisto".

Then they layered in fashion influencers like Danielle Pheloung and Victoria Hiegel, each showing off their own TJ Maxx finds while riffing on the line.

@victoriahiegel

Moving at a glacial pace. That’s all. #outfits #nyc #TJMaxxPartner #ad @TJ Maxx

Comments flooded in: "ICONIC 👏 marketing 10/10"

Why it worked:

  • Plays on trends → Film released May 1 / campaign live by May 7.

  • Maximum Effort's self-aware humor made a retail brand feel like it had a personality

  • Fashion influencers over celebrities

💡 Lesson: You don't need to create cultural moments. You just need to be fast enough to respond to them.

📱 Social Snapshot

🤖 Instagram launches 'AI Creator' labels AI-heavy creators will now be labeled

📺 Instagram eyes long-form content on connected TVs

🟦 LinkedIn plans gated creator-led events starting with 50 creators in H2 2026

💰 OpenAI launches ChatGPT Ads Manager ads appear below responses clearly labeled. Entry bar is $200K in beta

🎬 YouTube announces ad updates at Brandcast 2026

🎥 YouTube announces new creator shows at Brandcast 2026

📸 Meta launches Instants its ephemeral sharing app to take on Snapchat

✂️ Meta drops latest Edits updates more tools for creators in the editing app

💵 OnlyFans valued at $3.15B after selling a 16% stake to Architect Capital

🧵 Threads adds animated mini stickers and new posting options

What is your biggest influencer marketing challenge?

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That's it for this week 🦁

More insights, case studies & campaign breakdowns coming next Thursday!

Until then → keep building, keep testing, and create moments worth sharing.

— Paul from Click Analytic

See you next week!