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Conservatives are super-excited about surveys supposedly suggesting that Gen Z men are leading a stampede back to the churches by young people in the zillions. “Young men are turning to faith, more so than women,” proclaims Fox News, while conserva-influencer Riley Gaines crows, “Churches are PACKED again.”

Cool story, bro. But as Amanda Marcotte writes in her first column of the week, it ain’t necessarily so. Reported church attendance by younger Americans hasn’t changed much (if at all), and that statistic tends to be inflated anyway. (Because of what’s known as “social desirability bias.”)

It kinda seems, Amanda concludes, that this “surge of self-proclaimed religiosity among young men likely has less to do with faith and more to do with politics — specifically, gender politics,” and reflects the “dramatic swing to the right” among young male voters seen in the 2024 election.

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The “triumphal arch” has a long history — and it’s mostly a history of tyrants trying (and failing) to compare themselves to the supposed glories of ancient Rome. But only three leaders have aimed to build one bigger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris: Donald J. Trump, Kim Il Sung and Hitler.

Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:

After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.

The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.

“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”

Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.

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