It Tastes Better When You Tug It Yourself

Stories With Heart about monster milking, design dodos and mammoth tasks.

Hello story lovers, Sam Lightfinch here. Welcome to Stories With Heart. As a brand strategist and storyteller, I help organisations build story-worlds that touch hearts and win minds.

Are you ready to cook up a five-star storytelling soufflé, watch it collapse spectacularly, and still serve it with a grimace and a dusting of icing sugar? Me too. Aprons on.

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🏆 Story of the week 🏆

IRN-BRU XTRA | Leith

When a relationship is coming to an end, it feels easier to say the things you’re actually thinking, because, hey, what’s the worst that can happen? These ads from Leith for IRN-BRU feel like one of those shall-we-do-that-really-weird-thing-we’ve-always-spoken-about last hurrahs.

The fizzy farewells include monster milking and unicorn belittling to promote the second national drink of Scotland’s XTRA range.

It’s the end of an era, a brand-agency relationship that gave us everything from Made in Scotland from Girders to a snowman stealing a boy’s drink mid-flight. And this swan song is a masterclass in storytelling. By wrapping the product in legend and laughter, they remind us that great branding is enchanting.

Takeaway: When a brand dares to be delightfully absurd, it captures hearts as well as attention. This last sip is a testament to the power of being unafraid to be both silly and sincere.

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New product of the week

THIS

I’ve been vegan for a decade now. If I were to condense that journey down for the sake of the point I’m going to make, it would look like…

Nothing but veg → ooh, meat alternatives → ah, junk food → geez, I should really eat some veg.

THIS – heavyweights in the meat alternative category – just did something really smart: they quietly walked sideways into a completely new corner of the market.

Instead of fighting for the best fake meat crown, THIS launched Super Superfood – a range made from whole ingredients like fava beans, mushrooms, spinach, and seeds. High protein. Natural nutrition. Minimal processing. It’s not pretending to be meat. It’s pretending to be nothing. THIS ISN’T just became THIS IS.

It’s a perfect example of brand bravery. Rather than battling for inches in a crowded aisle, THIS found open space. They spotted a consumer tension (people want plant-based food and they’re suspicious of over-processing) and built a new product world around it.

Takeaway: THIS IS SMART.

(We’re done with the all-caps brands now. Proceed for less aggressive punctuation).

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Article of the week

Why Is Brand Writing Still Largely Ignored? | Mike Reed | Design Week

Picture this: a brand struts into the room wearing the finest bespoke suit. Italian fabric. Immaculate stitching. Fresh haircut. Everyone turns to look. Then it opens its mouth… and it’s got nothing to say.

That’s the problem Mike Reed digs into in an article for Design Week. In a world where brands will spend six months arguing about the exact shade of “optimistic mauve”, they’ll still cobble together their verbal identity in a week, using the intern’s cousin’s dog-sitter’s copywriter.

Or, a copywriter slogs away dead hard crafting a verbal identity, and then every feature talks about the kerning rather than the extensive work that’s gone into the messaging, language and world-building.

Brands spend all this time polishing their faces, but often forget to feed their mouths. And hungry mouths don’t tell good stories. A great brand needs a great voice. One that doesn’t just decorate the story, but delivers it with teeth, wit, and warmth.

Takeaway: Beautiful design turns heads. But sharp words turn hearts. If you don’t invest in how you sound, your story will glide right through your audience’s fingers like a slippery fish.

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Gig of the week

Big Lad | The Peer Hat

Last Saturday, I stumbled into a basement and found myself swallowed by a noise so loud it made my ears sting for two days. Not an unaverage weekend for me so far. But there’s live music, then there’s Big Lad.

The two-piece forgo the stage, and set up in the middle of the room, drum kit, laptop, keys, and pads surrounded on all sides by the crowd. And that changes everything. No barrier. No hierarchy.

Just two sweaty, joyous men facing each other to concoct a battle of noise, drama, and pure chaotic energy. Watching them was like watching two atoms smash together and generate a tiny, temporary sun. Not had that much fun in ages.

Takeaway: When you pull down the walls between performer and audience, something alchemical happens. The connection deepens. The stakes rise. And for a few brilliant, deafening moments, you’re truly co-creators of the sweaty story.

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Music video of the week

Everything Must Go | Goose | Chris Hopewell | Black Dog Films

Rats don’t usually get redemption arcs. In stories they play the villain. They’re vermin. Sneaky. Untrustworthy. Yet Everything Must Go by Goose tells the story of a lone lab rat in a broken world – and what the creature chooses to do with it.

The rat rummages, repairs, repurposes. It carries seedlings like precious cargo. It’s not looking for escape – it’s leaving something behind. An act of quiet defiance in the face of total ruin.

Takeaway: I’ve got two for you. 1) Go watch a stop motion for five minutes and switch your brain off. 2) Act like you’re doing A-Level Media Studies and draw parallels between the video and how capitalism is destroying the world, and takeaway the message that even the ‘little guy’ can do small things that make a big difference.

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My story of the week

You Bet I’m Trying To Befriend A Robin

Let’s start, as all good stories do, with a fallen branch. It fell from a tree last year during a storm, and it’s been at the top of my garden until Meg suggested we spear it into the ground and turn it into a bird sanctuary. Obviously.

We stuck some bird feeders on our Midsommar-inspired creation and waited.

And then came the robin. A hungry little ball of suspicion in a red waistcoat. He’s cute, I thought, I want to be his friend.

Now I’ve got this unshakeable need for this robin to recognise me as the provider of nourishment, and eat from my hand (because that’s the basis of any friendship, right?).

It’s a very slow negotiation. Especially as my dog keeps chasing it off.

Turns out, trying to win the trust of a robin is quite a nice metaphor for trying to build anything that matters. Friendships, creative work, brand loyalty, a life you actually want to live. You can’t shout at it. You can’t bribe it. You can’t rush it into existence.

You just have to keep showing up with the right intentions, be prepared for the emotional hurt of being ignored, and let time do its slow, slow work.

Takeaway: Not everything good is a quick win. Sometimes the best stories (and friendships and work) start with something broken, repurposed, and the stubborn hope that something will land when it’s ready.

THE END(ISH)

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Hopefully you’re here because you love the craft of storytelling, not because you misheard and thought I was offering the craft of storey-selling – a guide to flogging very tall buildings.

If it’s the former, I’d appreciate it if you A) share this newsletter with someone who might like it, or B) check out my website.

If it’s the latter, meet me on the 73rd floor. Bring cash.

Love, Sam ❤️