{
  "id": 17036987,
  "title": "Marketing: A plush croissant for the neck - and the hype is ready",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/marketing-ein-pluschcroissant-fur-den-nacken-und-fertig-ist-der-hype",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-29T09:01:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/marketing-warum-lidls-plueschcroissant-auf-social-media-viral-geht/100263538.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "A German discount retailer with a four-letter name staged a fake incident on a flight to Paris during Fashion Week in September. The prank, captured on Instagram video, showed a captain announcing a diversion to Berlin, but instead of anger, passengers were delighted when an influencer named Riton handed out neck pillows shaped like croissants, dubbed \"Neckcroissants\". The retailer has distributed 5,000 of the pillows in 25 countries, and while they are not for sale now, they may become available in stores if deemed successful. On October 17, 600 more pillows were given away at a pop-up event in Berlin.",
  "summary": "A pillow in the shape of a croissant is playing the leading role in the latest marketing campaign by a German retailer. Our author thinks: the neck croissant can give us hope.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}