Parker Ortolani

This Friday afternoon I swung by the West Village for a free hat. Not just any hat though, a Claude hat. Anthropic is hosting a special activation this weekend here in Manhattan at Air Mail on Hudson Street which shares its name with the online newsletter. It’s a very stereotypical unassuming West Village shop at first, until you spot the line of New York’s hippest nerds along the sidewalk.

The Air Mail “newsstand” is a product of Graydon Carter, the iconic Vanity Fair editor-in-chief during the magazine’s heyday. They sell magazines, books, all kinds of unique gear, and of course, good coffee. It’s a chic store with a neat courtyard for co-working in the back. It’s no wonder that Anthropic picked it as the home of their first New York City pop-up. If you want to show customers that you’re cool, Air Mail is a pretty great spot to pick.

The outdoor flourishes added by Anthropic didn’t need to stand out, word of the activation spread like wildfire on X and other social media platforms. My feed was full of pictures of free hats and I was itching all morning to head downtown to grab one of my own. When I arrived I immediately hopped in the line, staff walked down asking to see the Claude app on our phones to get a hat. It was a great way to get new folks to download the app and to show loyal users some appreciation. Several folks in line didn’t have it and had to download it, a bunch of us were already prepared and raring to go.

Once inside, the store’s ambiance made waiting very comfortable. There’s a ton of stuff to look at in there and man were there plenty of fascinating conversations going on. There were clearly some employees of both Anthropic and its competitors in the line. I heard mentions of changes to the app, talk of hirings, debates about whether Sora is “slop,” whether OpenAI v. Anthropic is the new Microsoft v. Apple, and among other things. It was New York’s hottest club. Along the route to the coffee counter, there were several “I didn’t vote for him” products. I’m not sure what to make of that, but it’s interesting that Anthropic was okay with making that association given the current relationship that lots of the major tech companies have with the administration.

Once I got my coffee and had my “thinking” cap in hand, I walked out of the store and just watched the line continue. If you’re in New York and have time I highly recommend stopping by just to check out the vibes. Though the Claude hats are pretty great. I unfortunately missed out on a Claude Tote and a copy of Dario’s book, but I understand they will have more tomorrow.

I’m pretty impressed with the activation. They picked the right spot, made the right merch, and didn’t oversaturate with their marketing. It was a very Anthropic event, that is to say, the vibes were right on point. In an era where there are now five major American companies competing for your chats, unique marketing is what will ultimately help grow usage and cultivate loyalty amongst the current user base. While I’m not sure this one pop-up will move them too far up the App Store rankings, I hope this is just the first of many moves like it. OpenAI might be winning with virality, but Anthropic could plant a flag squarely on the cultural edge and in a race this fast, taste can be power.