Hello dearest subscribers! Welcome to this little corner of the internet, where I—Ann-Marie Alcántara, former internet culture and marketing reporter at The Wall Street Journal—dissect trends I’m seeing into something useful for your 9-to-5 (or even your 5-to-9). 

It’s a new day and a new dawn in comms and marketing land, as we’re finally ready to talk about one of the most taboo topics once considered off-limits: our poop routines. 

That’s right. Suddenly, fart walks and whether you grew up in a fart-pride or fart-shaming household crept into the zeitgeist by way of a familiar Trojan horse: health and wellness. People are swapping reviews about which bidet they love. MiraLAX hosted National Poop Day on Feb. 9. And if you’re a hot girl with tummy problems, you’ve been talking about it for a while.

Our newfound love of our bowel movements is partly fueled by two relatively new trends in health: the rise of GLP-1s and trying to amp up our protein intake. GLP-1s can cause constipation, as can eating too much protein without any fiber. And if you fall in neither camp, you're probably still not getting enough fiber. A USDA survey from 2009 to 2010 found that 95% of U.S. adults and children do not eat the right amounts of fiber. Add in a decade of different diets, from keto to Whole30 to now protein and GLP-1s, and we're not looking great on the fiber front.

The fiber-maxxing craze has already started. Whole Foods Market included fiber as one of the top food trends in 2026. PepsiCo told CNBC in December that it’s introducing two new products to its lineup: SunChips Fiber and Smartfood Fiber Pop.

This year’s Super Bowl included two advertisements that brought fiber, bowels and probiotics to the big screen. One was from Poppi, the probiotic soda bought by PepsiCo last year. The other? Kellogg's Raisin Bran, touting its cereal with actor William Shatner (“Will Shat”) saying “it’s fiber time.”

And while fiber is nowhere near the level of the protein craze, brands will most likely follow a similar playbook.

One that still stands out to me? David Protein, the new(ish) protein bar company from Peter Rahal, the co-founder of RXBAR. 

The company didn't stick to an influencer rollout campaign or earned media to market itself. Instead, David did it all, from generating awareness with a waitlist that filled up with 40,000 people before launch day to selling on social media. The company ended up selling more than $1 million worth of bars in its first week, according to The New York Times.

All of these are strategies that fiber-focused companies and products may end up using. Fiber on its own isn't inherently as easy — or tasty — as picking up a protein bar (especially if people consume it in powder form), but trying to sell that convenience will be important.

David leaned into the traditional marketing funnel to make something that’s existed for decades — a protein bar — into something cool, effortless and sleek. Hosting TikTok Shop livestreams and working with creators made it so the product reached everyday consumers who may not have known they were interested in a protein bar, let alone a new player in the market.

It might come as no surprise to anyone that I really enjoy unhinged moments on the internet. The Pop-Tarts Bowl has become an annual event I look forward to, even though I follow exactly zero college football teams.

This year, after making its debut to consumers in November, the Protein Slammin’ Strawberry Pop-Tart was a star at the game. It also refused to take part in the snackrifice with its fellow Pop-Tart comrades, holding up a sign that said, “You haven’t seen the last of me!” before jumping off the giant toaster.

The Pop-Tart stayed true to its promise, showing up in San Francisco the week before the Super Bowl to run around the city.

And stunt marketing tends to work. Remember Kevin from ‘The Office’ appearing in the middle of Manhattan to promote Ramp, a fintech company? If B2B brands can find ways to become culturally relevant, so will fiber.

Like the David Protein bar, I have yet to try the protein Pop-Tart (I’m more of a brown cinnamon sugar gal), but it’s so silly and fun that it makes you want to try it just for the love of the game.

For anyone heading to Expo West this year, please report back on your fiber findings or if a different supplement is taking over shelves. I, for one, am waiting for the fro-yo craze to come back when probiotics are really back in vogue.

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