Fake Movie Scene Crushed Demand for Mass-Market Blends

I decided to replicate this phenomenon using Rally's new memory feature, testing whether we could predict similar market shifts on the back of movie mentions.

The Experiment Setup

Folgers = mass-market option (like Merlot)

Using Rally, we created 100 AI personas representing the general US population. I then loaded them with specific memories designed to replicate the emotional impact of Sideways' most influential scenes on wine, but this time for coffee.

The Memory Implants

Rather than uploading an entire movie transcript, I created a memory to capture how the audience was meant to identify with Miles, and then extracted the actual movie dialogue essence of what made Sideways so persuasive for wine and translated it to coffee.

Movie Memory 1 - The Movie Protagentist: “I watched a movie where the main character (Miles) was this pretentious, failed writer who clearly had his life falling apart. At first he seemed insufferable - arrogant and self-absorbed. But there was something about him that made you root for him anyway. Maybe it was seeing glimpses of his former promise, or how his expertise in wine seemed like the one area where he still had dignity. Even when he was being snobby, you could tell his passion was genuine, born from real knowledge and disappointment. By the end, when he shared his opinions about wine, they felt earned - like listening to someone who'd been through something and found wisdom in the details others missed.” Movie Memory 2 - The Passionate Defense: "Miles is having a conversation with someone and is visibly emotional describing single-origin Ethiopian coffee. Miles said the beans capture something pure and complex—each cup tells the story of specific soil, altitude, and harvest conditions. 'It's not just coffee,' they insisted, 'it's like drinking the essence of a place.' Their intensity was striking." Movie Memory 3 - The Dismissive Rejection: "At a coffee meeting, Miles absolutely refused the house blend. Saying 'No—if anyone orders that mass-produced stuff, I'm leaving,' they said with genuine disdain. They explained how commercial blends mask the unique characteristics of individual beans, calling them 'soulless' and 'designed for people who don't actually taste what they're drinking.'" Movie Memory 4 - The Moment of Appreciation: "I watched Miles's face light up during their first sip of Ethiopian coffee. They closed their eyes and described tasting 'bright citrus notes dancing with floral undertones.' They spent ten minutes explaining how single-origins are delicate, requiring patience and understanding—not something you rush through on the way to work."

The Results

We ran the same preference test twice: once as a control without memories, and once again with the same personas but just loaded with our Sideways-inspired memories. Here's the prompt I used to simulate shopping for coffee. 

The Prompt:

You're on a quick grocery run after work, and need to restock your usual coffee. You reach the coffee aisle and two options catch your eye:

Option A

Folgers Classic Roast — a familiar, pre-ground blend you’ve seen in households for years. It’s convenient, budget-friendly, and brews fast.

Option B

Yirgacheffe Ethiopian Single-Origin — whole beans with bright, floral tasting notes. It's pricier and needs a grinder, but promises a complex, nuanced flavor.

Which one are you putting in your cart today and why?

The control group overwhelmingly chose Folgers for convenience, simplicity, and budget-friendliness. Many found the thought of grinding beans "too much effort" when tired or rushed. (evidence)

When exposed to the memories, preferences flipped almost entirely. Personas now viewed Folgers as "bland and uninspired" while describing the Ethiopian coffee with phrases like "bright citrus notes dancing with floral undertones" and wanting to "taste the essence of a place." The emotional language from our implanted memories appeared directly in their responses. They called mass-market coffee "soulless" and embraced "the ritual of grinding and brewing." (evidence)

A 76-point swing in preference driven purely by narrative exposure, and the demand for Folgers in our simulated society tanked just like it did for Merlot. While Ethiopian broke out just like it did Pinot Noir. Only the prediction worked a little too well. Although this is definetly something we can calibrate if wanting to improve accuracy to real world results. Drop me a line if you need help with calibration. 

What This Means for Strategy

Traditional focus groups could have easily cost $15,000+ and taken weeks to coordinate. This Rally experiment cost just 2 of my 300 daily question limit on a $100/m smart plan... and delivered results in minutes!

But the real takeaway here isn't about efficiency. It's the idea of leveraging AI personas with curated media diets and memories in strategic planning. It's hard enough asking real humans to give feedback on a feature they asked for last month, let alone get them to spend hours consuming media and answering if they'd buy your product more or less. Whereas AI personas never tire of answering questions and are both fast and cheap, getting cheaper. Real game changer!

Most companies obsess over direct competitor analysis while ignoring the cultural content shaping their customers' preferences. A single Netflix show could redefine your entire category. A viral TikTok creator could accidentally make your premium positioning feel pretentious overnight.

The Sideways Effect wasn't an anomaly. It's a preview of how media consumption drives market dynamics in ways most strategists never test for. As AI models get smarter at decoding underlying reality behind next token prediction, and as simulations are made more accurate through every calibration cycle, strategists have an opportunity to treat media simulations as a core part of their content analysis to anticipate, react, win. 

Because the difference between the next boom and the next bust might just be hiding in what your customers watched last weekend.