“You don’t even realize” - Shark Tank’s Daymond John reveals the strategy behind Ariana Grande’s upside-down albums

FUBU founder and Shark Tank star Daymond John shared a marketing insight about Ariana Grande's album covers via an Instagram post on March 1, 2025. The business expert highlighted a strategic marketing technique that inspired the artist's signature upside-down album presentations. In his detailed breakdown, John stated,

"Have you ever noticed how Ariana Grande's albums are upside down? You think that's a mistake? It's an old tactic that we have used in the advertising world for years. She's just bringing it back and you don't even realize what she is doing."

He continued,

"Back in the days with magazines you would have to turn magazines like this. Because you took that energy, you don't flip the page right away, you spend more time looking at it.”

While the Shark Tank star has labeled this a marketing tactic, Ariana revealed different reasons for the same. According to the Eternal Sunshine star, her friend Aaron sparked the creative direction when he mentioned liking an image that was turned upside down. This moment aligned with Grande's personal experiences at the time.

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Shark Tank investor Daymond John reveals advertising trick in Ariana Grande album designs

The origin of Grande's upside-down aesthetic emerged during the creation of her "Sweetener" album in 2018, which was her fourth studio album. The album cover featured her inverted portrait against a white background. Her social media accounts adopted this visual approach for promotional content during the release period. The cover of her fifth studio album, Thank U, Next, followed the same theme.

Shark Tank investor Daymond John used Sweetner’s album poster in an Instagram video to dissect the music star's marketing tactic. Daymond explained the history of print magazine advertising, where the photos of models made readers flip repeatedly between pages.

John then connected this to modern phone behavior, pointing out that users spend extended time on some kinds of content because the screen keeps shifting around. He specifically mentioned that this digital behavior leads to three to ten times longer viewing duration for each image compared to traditional print methods.

Shark Tank investor ended the video praising Ariana Grande's voice and music.

“And now think about adding a beautiful voice to it with well crafted design, and choreography, and amazing music that takes you to another place. Add that, then you got a couple 100 billion streams and one of the world’s most top recognized individuals who is nominated for an Oscar in Wicked. Congratulations Ariana," Daymond John shared.

Ariana Grande had discussed feeling disoriented at the time of an album release. As per Girlfriend.com.au, replying to a fan on X (formerly Twitter), Ariana said,

“I showed Aaron a photo and he was sitting opposite me and he said, ‘I even love it upsidedown’ and that was kind of it for me. At the time, I had been feeling v ‘upsidedown’ for a while and the simplicity of that was like, ‘Oh duh, wow. My bestie a genius.’ Everything clicked after that,”

This reply is no longer available on X as Ariana deleted her X (formerly Twitter) account right before the 2021 Christmas holidays.

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Daymond John's background

Shark Tank investor Daymond John started his entrepreneurial path in Queens, New York while growing up in a single-parent household in Hollis. His first business venture involved sewing and selling tie-top hats with initial sales of $800 in a day.

FUBU emerged when John mortgaged his house for $100,000 initial capital in 1992. The company secured early support from L.L. Cool J, who wore FUBU products in a promotion. By 1994, at their first trade show, FUBU attracted $300,000 in orders.

The company hit $350 million in revenue by 1998. John has served as a regular investor on ABC's Shark Tank since 2009. His business portfolio now spans fashion, media, and investment sectors.

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