Digging Up Lily's Garden
Endless Thread13 Maalis

Digging Up Lily's Garden

A woman sitting blissfully on a vibrating laundromat dryer. A faked pregnancy test to dump a bad boyfriend. In 2019, the internet was abuzz about bizarre ads for a mobile game called Lily's Garden. The ads were only about 15 seconds each, but they evoked a whole universe of drama amongst a cast of zany characters that inspired countless YouTube videos and copious internet chatter.

The thing is... the story in the ads had almost nothing to do with the story in the game. In this episode of Endless Thread: creative differences, the wilderness of mobile games, and where the Lily's Garden game-world and the ad-world diverged.

Show notes:

This episode was produced and written by Grace Tatter, co-hosted by Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson, and edited by Meg Cramer. Mix and sound design by Paul Vaitkus. Special thanks to our 2025 Bloomberg Arts Intern Cendy Charles.

***

Sponsor message:

INCOGNI: Take back your personal data with Incogni! Use code ENDLESS at the link below and get 60% off annual plans: https://incogni.com/ENDLESS

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(451)

Manifesting an online rom-com existence

Manifesting an online rom-com existence

Of all the internet communities in all the world, you walked into ours. Hosts Ben and Amory pay homage to the magic of chance encounters with producer Grace Tatter. Together, they explore the ways in...

15 Touko 27min

Ben Palmer's Brain

Ben Palmer's Brain

Comedian Ben Palmer set up a fake tip line for reporting immigrants in the United States suspected of not having legal status. He recorded the conversations, and things... got uncomfortable and, in so...

8 Touko 25min

Endless Thread presents "The Midnight Rebellion"

Endless Thread presents "The Midnight Rebellion"

Introducing The Midnight Rebellion, a new climate fiction podcast from WBUR — a rollicking adventure to a flooded, robot-infested world where you choose what happens. When Joule Watts-Green steps int...

5 Touko 21min

Extraordinary vs. Extra Ordinary

Extraordinary vs. Extra Ordinary

Ben and Amory take a hike with producer Grace, following the digital trail of  "Ridiculoubs" — a mysterious climber who traverses the world's peaks in striking footwear. Then, Amory celebrates the bea...

1 Touko 28min

Close Encounters of the Hexagonal Kind

Close Encounters of the Hexagonal Kind

Endless Thread goes to space! First, host Ben Brock Johnson goes deep on radio signals of unknown origin, with an assist from real-life radio astronomer and Reddit MVP Yvette Cendes, aka, Andromeda321...

24 Huhti 32min

A Beige New World

A Beige New World

What's your favorite color? If you ask the algorithm, the answer is probably beige. The  internet loves neutrals. Aesthetic coffee shop videos feature white walls and minimalist decor. Influencers fil...

17 Huhti 27min

How Afroman turned lemons into lemon pound cake

How Afroman turned lemons into lemon pound cake

When you think of rapper Afroman, chances are his early 2000s hit song "Because I Got High" is already playing in your mind. More than two decades later, his music has once again broken containment. H...

10 Huhti 20min

Rewind: Digging Deep with TikTok's "tunnel girl"

Rewind: Digging Deep with TikTok's "tunnel girl"

In this throwback from the Endless Thread archives, hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson revisit an episode from 2024. In 2022, a TikTok creator who identifies herself as "Kala" began digging. ...

3 Huhti 28min