PopPics©: a cream magazine concept and product that is part online game, part pop/news guide, and all very fun to play

By creammagazine, June 23, 2025

Above: Simple product images or thumbnails, as pictured above, lead the reader to either (a) a client’s webpage with information about that product, (b) a Cream review on the product within its own pages, or (c) an instant win for the reader of the product itself. The concept was first executed in Cream Magazine on 21 June, 2025.

Cream magazine has come up with a brand new concept in internet marketing, product branding, magazine-blog reading and the immersive internet experience.

The product is called PopPics© and its premise is pretty simple. The reader comes across a product image on one of Cream’s pages. Just a single product image – no logo, no branding, no slogan; just a simple product pic. He/she/they can then choose to click on the thumbnail – or PopPic – and is taken to either a client’s web page that outlines details about that product; to one of Cream’s editorial posts featuring information about that product; or to a post announcing to the winner that they’ve won an instant prize.

Examples of three PopPics are:

↑ This pic leads to a client’s web page containing information about that product, in this case a book by publishers Thames & Hudson.

↑ A product of which a sample has been sent from a public relations company to Cream magazine to review, in this case a beauty product by Australian beauty brand Omorfi.

↑ A prize that the reader wins instantly, here an example a free keychain from The Pop Shop.

The Uniqueness of PopPics

The key difference between PopPics and normal online click-and-win games is that PopPics has the following three features (that also see it differ from a blatant advertisement or your usual do-follow link):

01. A PopPic features only an image of a product, a thumbnail that contains a hyperlink.

There is no added branding, apart from what might be visible on the product itself.

02. There is no added text, no brand logo, slogan or any information about the product apart from what is on the product itself.

03. The reader simply needs to come across a product pic and choose to click on it (ie: PopPic it); there is no hyperbole or call to action or headlines with exclamations or anything else to tell the reader where these PopPics are or what they lead to; the reader either comes across them by chance… or they start to hunt them.

04. There is no mention of the words advertisement, promotion, sponsored post or similar terms – not even mention of the image being a PopPic – as it is purely an image and the reader takes a chance of what he/she/they might find behind that PopPic.

PopPics are peppered throughout the pages of Cream magazine and they work to satisfy all parties: the reader, the client (or product provider), and the publication, knowing it is providing a little interactive fun online.

It is indeed all fun and games, and definitely a most viable and original idea conceived and executed first by Cream Magazine Australia.

PopPics are unique in that they put the power of internet browsing back into the hands of the reader. Instead of being bombarded by interruptive window advertisements, the reader is in charge and can choose to pick whatever picture he/she/they wishes to pick.

The concept and product of PopPics is the copyright of Antonino Tati, owner and founding editor of Cream Magazine Australia. It has never been seen on a magazine website – perhaps as an anomaly in a minimalist concept advertising or as an oddly placed solitary image that links to editorial – but certainly not as a signature feature of the magazine.

With elements of positive marketing, experiential activity, and satisfaction for the reader, it looks like this particular party trick is really going to catch on.

© PopPic and the PopPics game are the concept and copyright of Cream Magazine Australia, conceived and first published on 21 June, 2025.