Marketers Have Become Followers Of The Cult Of Performance | AdExchanger

Monday, June 1st, 2026 – 1:41 am

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Let me introduce you to a phrase that’s been pinging around the back of my head for the past year or so: the “cult of performance.”

I decided to bring up this so-called cult now – frankly, the idea is still in the marinating stage for me – because of a Chewy ad I saw doing the rounds this week. Perhaps you’ve seen the ad or some discussion about a screenshot of it on LinkedIn or X. It features a close-up of a 1991 quarter featuring George Washington’s face. The coin is covered in squirming maggots.

Chewy’s account confirmed that the image was pulled from its catalogue. It’s actually a picture of a food product for insect-eating animals like lizards, with the coin present for scale.