This Old Marketing - News Podcast Weekly with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose

The Marketing of AI Acceptance: The Different Paths of OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta (552)

Oct 2, 2026

OpenAI’s safety messaging sparks a debate over genuine risk versus strategic theater. Publishers look to reclaim online communities, while owned conversations become increasingly important to AI visibility and reputation. Meta makes AI feel friendlier with a cute mascot, Visit Sweden courts introverts, and Anthropic explores religion, morality, and AI acceptance. Plus, the rise of the “marketing engineer” gets a skeptical review.

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INSIGHT

OpenAI Turns Safety Warnings Into Marketing

OpenAI’s safety announcements function as positioning, portraying unreleased models as dangerously powerful while seeking regulatory legitimacy.
Robert Rose argues that saying nothing, or simply explaining delays, would avoid turning safety concerns into promotional theater.

INSIGHT

AI Progress Is Moving Faster Than Safety

Frontier AI companies face a conflict between rapid competitive releases and the slower testing required for genuinely safe systems.
The hosts argue current models already provide substantial value, reducing the case for reckless speed.

INSIGHT

Publishers Try To Reclaim Their Communities

OpenWeb’s publisher forums reflect a return to owned communities after conversations migrated from comment sections to Reddit and social platforms.
Joe Pulizzi warns moderation costs previously caused publishers to abandon these communities.

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AI is getting more powerful, publishers want their communities back, and marketers are apparently becoming engineers.

In this episode of This Old Marketing, Joe and Robert start with OpenAI and the growing concerns around increasingly capable AI systems. Is it marketing...or theater...or real concerns? The boys lean toward marketing.

Then, OpenWeb launches Reddit-style forums that publishers can build directly into their own sites. For years, publishers watched conversations move from their comment sections to platforms like Reddit and Facebook. With search traffic under pressure, could community once again become one of the most important assets publishers own?

Marketing Winners and Rants & Raves

Joe's Marketing Winner: Meta and Muse

Joe gives Meta the win for understanding that AI adoption isn't only a technology problem. It's an emotional one. By associating its AI with a cute, friendly character, Meta is making the technology feel less intimidating and more approachable.

Is it brilliant positioning, or the AI equivalent of putting a cartoon character on a cereal box?

Robert's Marketing Winner: Visit Sweden

Robert gives the win to Visit Sweden and its "Introvert Travel Agency," a campaign built specifically around travelers who would rather avoid crowds, forced social interaction and the traditional tourist experience.

Joe's Commentary: Anthropic, Religion and the Marketing of AI Acceptance

Joe looks at The New York Times report on Anthropic's private meetings with theologians, philosophers and religious thinkers about Claude, morality and the possibility of AI consciousness.

Robert's Rant: The Marketing Engineer

The Wall Street Journal looks at the rise of the "marketing engineer," a title for marketers combining AI, automation and traditional marketing judgment.

Links

OpenAI / Astra safety https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/technology/openai-astra-safety.html

OpenWeb launches forums for publishers https://www.axios.com/2026/09/30/openweb-forums-publishers-reddit

Joe's Marketing Winner: Meta Muse https://www.theverge.com/column/999999/optimizer-meta-muse-ai-cute

Joe's Commentary: Anthropic, Claude and Religion https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/us/anthropic-claude-morals-ai.html

Robert's Marketing Winner: Visit Sweden's Introvert Travel Agency https://adage.com/creativity/work/aa-visit-sweden-introvert-travel-agency/

Robert's Rant: Marketers Are Rebranding as Engineers to Survive the AI Era https://www.wsj.com/cmo-today/marketers-are-rebranding-as-engineers-to-survive-the-ai-era-2938574b

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Get Joe's new book, Burn the Playbook, at http://www.joepulizzi.com/books/burn-the-playbook/ Subscribe to Joe's Newsletter at https://www.thetilt.com/join-tilt-newsletter

Get Robert Rose's new book, Valuable Friction, at https://robertrose.net/valuable-friction/ Subscribe to Robert's Newsletter at https://seventhbearlens.substack.com/

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