Brand Genius? Colin Jost Is Just Happy He's a 'Non-Idiot'

Colin Jost wouldn't necessarily call himself a Brand Genius: "I would have been very happy with non-idiot," Jost told ADWEEK. But at ADWEEK, we beg to differ, with Jost becoming one of the latest members of our 2026 Brand Genius class. And it's easy to see why. Over the last couple of years, the longtime Saturday Night Live writer and Weekend Update co-anchor has made a name for himself in branding, scoring high-profile client campaigns alongside his No Notes Productions agency, including working with T-Mobile, Blue Moon, and Zoom, with the latter tapping No Notes for a Super Bowl campaign. All the while, No Notes Productions is also behind several movie and TV projects, including the 2026 romcom Love Language, the upcoming film South Pole Santa for Netflix, and a project for Peacock where Jost is breaking bad as a dentist turned drug kingpin. Plus, the comedian and producer is also continuing his SNL gig, hosting Pop Culture Jeopardy on Netflix, and turning a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry into a venue and event space alongside SNL alum Pete Davidson. With all that in mind, not only do we stand by Jost's Brand Genius nomination, but we'll double down and say whoever handles his schedule deserves an award, too. From money pit to cash cow The ferry is perhaps one of Jost's most subtly successful branding exercises. Despite the pervading narrative being that the ferry is a "money pit," with Jost's purchase becoming the butt of the joke multiple times on SNL, the comedian notes that the venture is the exact opposite. As a guest on the Smartless podcast in May, Jost revealed the truth of the ferry, which is that he and Davidson have already made back the around $280,000 they invested into it; they're currently hosting events, such as a spring Tommy Hilfiger fashion show; and the pair are turning the vessel into a dockside New York venue. So does the money pit storyline hurt the branding? Nope, according to Jost. In fact, all that free publicity may be helping. "It only adds to the lore and the mystery. And anytime you're on a boat, you want mystery," Jost said with a laugh. The comedian noted that, in addition to the vessel becoming a venue, there are a couple ferry-related brand deals already going on, which he teased will be fun, and he's looking to mix his advertising experience with the ferry in the future. "I hope there'll be some overlap between the advertising opportunities related to the ferry and events. More to come on that front," Jost said ... mysteriously. Breaking tradition No Notes Productions isn't Jost's first foray into advertising. In addition to being a part of ads as talent, the comedian noted he worked at an ad agency while at Harvard, which he said was his first real job that wasn't lifeguarding. "I really liked it, and I always thought it would be fun to go back to that someday as part of a production company, especially now, where it's very hard to get things made in a traditional way," Jost said. Amid traditional channels becoming increasingly difficult, Jost's production and advertising company is decidedly nontraditional, according to No Notes head of content Jeff Grosvenor. "Colin's approach to everything is like, 'How do we do things differently?' He doesn't like to work within the mold," said Grosvenor, who, in lieu of a traditional advertising background, has had a long career in TV production, previously serving as vice president of comedy development at Warner Bros. Television. Truly only getting into advertising in the last couple of years, coming out of the 2023 Writers' Strike, No Notes is a four-person outfit, which Jost views as a "mercenary agency," adapting to whatever level of involvement a client needs. And though the company won't turn down an enticing RFP if it comes along, their strategy is more about approaching specific companies or categories with their own creative notions. "We're an ideas-forward agency, so we'll go to companies, directly to their CMO, and pitch them an idea that we come up with because we like the idea," Jost said. Much like Don Draper pitching a client and then writing the campaign, Jost's company cuts out the middle man. He and his team are in the pitch meetings, and they're also doing the work. It's a job that translates well from his late-night TV gig. "We're already making versions of commercials every week [at SNL], and regular commercials now are adopting some of the things that probably used to be commercial parodies," Jost said. Jost and his team are also tapping into their network of talent and production to bring the ads to life. For instance, Jost himself starred in a campaign for Blue Moon, and the team brought in SNL alum Bowen Yang for Zoom's Super Bowl push. "It's nice to get to work with some of the people I already work with who I trust and bring them into the advertising world when we're off from SNL," Jost said, adding, "I get excited making things and the creative challenge if a company has either a product they want to figure out how to present or a problem they want to solve." Grosvenor said that the commercial projects are also helping to build relationships with brands, which can then expand to the company's more traditional productions as well, with brands getting in on the ground floor of TV and film and also entering the world of comedy with a voice they can trust. "Our sweet spot is just leaning into Colin's sensibility," Grosvenor said. "How do you bring funny and smart to a brand? And most of our clients that we're working with have a bit of a sense of humor to their product as well." Duly noted Of course, Jost's brand sensibility didn't just develop overnight. The comedian had a decidedly more critical view of brands earlier in his SNL career. In his 2020 memoir, "A Very Punchable Face," Jost noted that Volkswagen sent multiple notes to NBCUniversal due to Nazi references on SNL. Though the references were unrelated to Volkswagen, the advertiser allegedly thought the references could make viewers think of the company's past in Hitler's Germany. The unwelcome notes, as well as an emissions scandal from Volkswagen, inspired Jost and others to create a commercial parody showcasing Adolf Hitler driving a Volkswagen through the decades. Though it was fully produced, Jost noted in his book that it never ran due to Volkswagen coming onto NBCUniversal as a major advertiser. However, since then, Jost said he has "started to empathize" more with brands, especially since SNL is so fast-paced that it's hard to keep up with the constant script changes. "I do understand that it must be terrifying for someone who's representing a brand to sometimes see what we have in scripts and have to imagine explaining it to their boss," Jost said. And despite his company's No Notes name—and his fully produced Volkswagen parody—Jost wants to make it clear that notes from clients are totally fine. "It really should be called 'Some Notes,'" Jost said, saying the name is more wishful thinking that a project would be completely perfect from the start. "I wanted to approach these projects from the place of, 'What's an ad we want to do?' Before we are in a position of, 'What's an ad we have to do?'" Still live from New York For Jost, this phase of his career is about following creative projects he's passionate about. And even with all the irons he's got in the fire—or ferries in the water—that also still includes SNL. In fact, Jost said he hasn't chatted with Weekend Update co-host Michael Che about when the pair should walk away from the show, despite constant speculation from media and fans about when the two will exit. "Neither of us are particularly 'planners.' We really both take things just as they arrive. I've never been a person who has a five-year plan or a 10-year plan," Jost said. "I just look at it each time when I'm making the decision about what to do, and try to figure out if I'm still happy doing it, if it's still challenging, and I still like the people I'm working with. And so far, I still do." So for now, Jost will continue his SNL gig, as well as his TV and film production, ferry activations, and game show hosting. Amid all that, is there anything else he has going on we forgot to mention? "Probably," says Jost. "If I were better at planning, I would have an answer."

Brand Genius

Brand Genius? Colin Jost Is Just Happy He's a 'Non-Idiot'

From upscaling a decommissioned ferry to writing Super Bowl ads, SNL's Colin Jost is a 2026 ADWEEK Brand Genius

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