The Zeitgeist: August 16, 2024

Today’s Edition: Very Demure, Election Influencers and Cat Ladies

Happy Friday! Victoria’s Secret is spicing things up by bringing in Hillary Super from Savage X Fenty as its new CEO, promising a bold new direction. Not to be outdone, Starbucks is brewing up some major changes of its own, swapping out its chief executive for the head honcho from Chipotle Mexican Grill, all in a bid to perk up its lagging sales and slumping stock. On the tech side, Google is expanding its AI-generated summaries for search queries to six new countries, doubling down on innovation despite a rocky start earlier this year.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index has posted a modest 2.9% rise over the past year, marking the smallest bump in more than three years. And, retailers are already getting into the Halloween spirit with a phenomenon called "Summerween," now making way for "Augtober" as pumpkin spice season kicks into gear. Home Depot even started the festivities early by unveiling 12-foot skeletons back in April—because who can wait until October for that kind of spooky fun?

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Also, Coca-Cola x Oreo limited-edition cookies and drinks, Hellmann’s mayo-inspired fragrance, and Van Leeuwen x Liquid Death Hot Fudge Sundae-flavored water.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Corporate

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Connections

Feed intelligence

Media Moves:

  • Myles Miller has been hired by Bloomberg News to be a managing editor.

  • Gian Volpicelli has been hired by Bloomberg News to cover tech in Europe.

  • USA Today has hired Andrea Riquier to cover the housing market.

  • Verity Burns is joining the WIRED Gear team as an Associate Editor and will be based in the UK office.

  • Amit Katwala is now a features editor at Wired. He has been with Wired since October 2018 as an editor and writer based in London.

  • Skye Battles has joined the WIRED photo team as a Photo Editor based in San Francisco.

  • Zeyi Yang is joining WIRED’s business desk as a senior writer covering China.

  • Bloomberg News real estate reporter Jennifer Epstein is moving to cover the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris.

  • ProPublica has hired Ronnie Greene to serve as senior editor in Washington, D.C.

  • MarketBeat has hired Bridget Bennett as an associate editor.

  • The New York Times will debut the first podcast for Wirecutter, its product reviews brand, on August 21.

Also... check out the makeshift koi pond in Bed-Stuy taking TikTok by storm.

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