If it feels like Brooke Burke, Dr. Phil, and Howie Mandel have suddenly taken over mid-roll ads and podcast breaks, you’re not imagining it. A new wave of instantly recognizable celebrities is popping up across streaming, social, and even Times Square — and one agency is sitting in the middle of that shift: TRNDY Social.
“We saw a gap,” TRNDY cofounder Logan Simmons explained to The Blast in an interview published Friday, December 5. “Brands wanted celebrity power without the wait times, the Hollywood red tape, or the seven-figure budgets. We built the bridge.”
The 27-year-old recently landed on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for his work connecting small and mid-tier brands with recognizable athletes and TV personalities. He leads TRNDY’s creative side and shapes the content strategy, while his co-founder Mike Visnick focuses on operations and builds the company more like a tech startup than a classic agency.
“What we’ve built works like a machine,” Visnick said. “From the first call to national placement, we move in weeks. Legacy firms take quarters.”
According to E! News, TRNDY began working with Mandel’s podcast Howie Mandel Does Stuff in 2024, handling the show’s brand integrations and helping push its ads wider across YouTube and streaming. From there, other familiar names followed.
In September, Brooke Burke commented on Instagram that she’s “excited to partner” with the agency on recent campaigns, and TRNDY has booked a lineup of former athletes for similar work, including Terrell Owens. Last year, the Hall of Fame wide receiver told Sports Illustrated he appreciated that the partnership was “about more than slapping his name on a product,” calling the approach something that “[builds] lasting value.”
And then there’s Dr. Phil. In October, Variety reported that he teamed up with TRNDY to bring more structured ad strategy into The Dr. Phil Podcast. “At a time when authenticity and reach matter more than ever, this partnership is about meeting audiences where they are,” Simmons told the outlet. “Dr. Phil has a unique ability to connect across generations and pairing that with TRNDY Social’s brand network opens up some exciting possibilities.”
The rise of TRNDY fits into a broader advertising shift. The algorithm is brutal, influencer content blends together, and brands want someone audiences actually recognize. That’s why TV names and former athletes are suddenly starring in performance-style ads — and why an agency like TRNDY keeps popping up behind the scenes. For now, TV names are converting, and the internet is full of familiar faces because of it.
