--- title: "Brands Say Everybody’s Wrong, Actually the Metaverse Looks Great" description: "Get With It Brand engagement — in other words, brand advertisement and investment — is key to Facebook-turned-Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's longtime business model — a business model that, as the founder has made abundantly clear, he's intent on applying to his forthcoming metaverse. It makes sense, after all; Zuckerberg, however accidentally, turned Instagram into […]" date: "2022-09-04" modified: "2022-09-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/brand-everybodys-wrong-metaverse-looks-great" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "the digest" --- # Brands Say Everybody’s Wrong, Actually the Metaverse Looks Great ![Apparently, invested brands don't care that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse looks like garbage. Horizon Worlds is ugly and just fine!]() *\Image: Meta/Futurism\* ## Get With It Brand engagement is key to [Facebook-turned-Meta]() CEO Mark Zuckerberg's longtime business model — a vision which, as the founder has [made abundantly clear](), he's intent on applying to his forthcoming metaverse. It makes sense, after all. Zuckerberg, however accidentally, turned Instagram into an e-commerce mecca. Why not trust his vision for an e-commerce future? To that point, while some companies have expressed ambivalence towards the [metamate's]() brave new internet, many have eagerly latched on. As such, you might imagine that brands were pretty pissed off when the company's metaverse faced [extensive online mockery]() last month for looking, well, terrible. But weirdly, as [*The Wall Street Journal* reports,]() they're apparently not. To brands, Horizon Worlds is great. To hear them tell it, we're the ones missing the point. ## Good Enough According to the brands and experts who spoke to the *WSJ*, simplicity is necessary for Zuckerberg to gain the breadth, influence, and brand engagement that he's reaching for. "If I'm Zuckerberg, and I'm trying to get to a billion users, I'm saying, 'It's got to be simple,'" Ethan Zuckerman, a professor and internet scholar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told the paper. "They're trading visual appeal for the ability to create." Horizon Worlds, though, isn't just simple. It's possible to have a successfully rudimentary design. Roblox, to which Zucko's world has been widely compared, features a decidedly elementary aesthetic. But it still has just that: an aesthetic. Direction. *Something*. Horizon, in contrast, is bland and barren. Rudimentary, sure, but in an aimless way. Still, invested brands seem to either think that the general public just doesn't get it — or, as Puma chief brand officer Adam Petrick told the *WSJ*, is asking for too much, too soon. "Is it going to be better than the best games out there?" Petrick told the paper. "No, it's not. But it's not meant to be." It's hard not to point out that Zuckerberg's digital chokehold has mainly been bought. Sure, he invented Facebook, but he maintained relevancy by either acquiring competitors or just copying features of platforms that he couldn't buy. He likely doesn't care about building the best option out there, just the biggest. And apparently, brands are onboard — which sucks for users, who despite making clear that this [just doesn't cut it](), probably won't end up having much of a say in the end. **READ MORE:** *[Critics Think the Metaverse Looks Bad. What Do Brands Pouring Money Into It Say?]()* \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on Facebook's metaverse:** [*The Head of Facebook's Beleaguered "Metaverse" VR Platform Is Leaving the Company*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()