The Zeitgeist: August 22, 2025

Today's Edition: The Sourcing Guy, Tin Can and Perfectly Imperfect

August 22, 2025

Good morning. Back-to-school shopping is in full swing and hitting wallets hard: apparel and accessory prices climbed 9% year-over-year in July, per CNN, and there’s fewer discounts than last year. Trade tensions are driving the spike, and if prices keep rising, families may focus on must-haves while cutting back on everything else.

Meanwhile, dorms are looking less like cinder-block cells and more like HGTV sets. As WaPo and NYT note, influencers and “momfluencers” are fueling a luxe dorm boom - think velvet headboards, color-coordinated lamps and rooms staged like reality TV reveals.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Scratch-and-Sniff Billboards Are All Over NYC. Ever Wonder How They Work?

For all their novelty, scratch-and-sniff billboards come with unique demands and challenges.

By Robert Klara | Adweek

Is Your Favorite Social Media Sitcom Actually a Marketing Campaign?

The first nine episodes of Roomies, a TikTok and Instagram sitcom from a fintech startup, never mention the brand.

By Patrick Coffee | The Wall Street Journal

Also, Campbell x Pabst Blue Ribbon’s beer-infused soups, Crocs x NFL’s 32-team lineup for football season, Rare Beauty x Tajín (RB’s first-ever collab) and Wrangler x Coors’ beer-painted watercolor posters.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

From Gucci to Rolex: The Rise and Fall of Luxury in Music

Luxury brand mentions in lyrics soared from 2020-2023 but have since slumped, reflecting young consumers’ shift away from showy spending.

By Andrea Felsted, Carolyn Silverman | Bloomberg

Singles Are Sick of Dating Apps. But There Are 2.5 Million on Raya’s Waitlist

Gen Z makes up ~40% of Raya’s members and applicants, despite being vocal about their distaste for online dating.

By Lane Florsheim | The Wall Street Journal

Can Bad Bunny and Selena Gomez make Americans snack again?

Major food companies are hoping that star power attracts Americans’ appetite to snack again.

By Jordan Valinsky | CNN

What Gen Z Really Thinks of Your Favorite TV Show

Shows like Euphoria and The Sex Lives of College Girls are targeted towards younger audiences but don’t actually resonate with them.

By Nikki Sternberg | The Hollywood Reporter

Corporate

Landline phones are back - and they’re helping kids connect safely with friends

Seattle startup Tin Can is reviving the landline, redesigned for kids as a safe, screen-free way to connect with friends.

By Chris Morris | Fast Company

Older Americans say they hit walls job searching, face workplace ageism

Those who can’t afford retirement say workplace ageism makes job searching difficult. Some are taking part-time, low-wage work to stay afloat.

By Noah Sheidlower | Business Insider

The Chili’s Economy Is Here: What’s Behind the Casual-Dining Boom

Darden’s CEO told analysts the chain is winning “wallet share from fast food and fast casual.”

By David Wainer | The Wall Street Journal

1 in 6 workers pretend to use AI amid workplace pressures, survey finds

Many US workers feel pressured and unprepared to use AI, showing how rapid adoption outpaces training, boosting productivity but also stress.

By Carolyn Crist | HR Dive

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Meet the sourcing influencer helping brands navigate the trade war

A profile on Isaac Hetzroni, aka The Sourcing Guy, who’s amassed 500K followers posting overseas factory tours and supply chain advice on Instagram and TikTok.

By Erin Cabrey | Retail Brew

Pawn shops: The surprising back-to-school shopping destination

Families looking for deals and with tighter budgets are finding that in a less traditional place.

By Vanessa Yurkevich | CNN Business

McDonald’s to Cut Combo-Meal Prices After Convincing Franchisees

It’s part of an effort to restore the burger giant’s reputation for affordability.

By Heather Haddon | The Wall Street Journal

Chipotle uses Zipline drone delivery to fly orders to customers

“Zipotle” aerial delivery service is available to select customers in the Dallas area.

By Megan Cerullo | CBS News

Connections

Feed intelligence

This startup is trying to reinvent the magazine for the social-media era

Perfectly Imperfect founder Tyler Bainbridge told BI that his project is trying to capture what the old internet “felt like.”

By Sydney Bradley | Business Insider

TikTok is reinventing 2004 Facebook with new features for college students

Campus Verification revives 2000s-era Facebook for Gen Z through a partnership with UNiDAYS.

By Tim Marcin | Mashable

How ‘Skibidi’ and ‘Tradwife’ Were Added to the Cambridge Dictionary

The additions reflect how social media slang quickly seeps into mainstream culture.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta | The New York Times

Media Moves:

  • Bryan Lufkin, formerly freelance and senior editor at InsideHook, is now senior editor at Fast Company, leading the Work Life vertical and covering the future of work, workplace dynamics and psychology, career growth, AI, thought leadership and more.

  • Russell Brandom, formerly US tech editor at Rest of World, is now AI editor at TechCrunch.

  • Daniella Cheslow, formerly deputy technology editor at Politico, is taking over the publication’s national security newsletter.

  • Alexis Sobel Fitts, formerly tech editor at The Washington Post, is now senior assignment editor overseeing technology and media coverage.

  • Terell Wright, formerly intern at The Washington Post, is now news associate at The Wall Street Journal. Wright will rotate across aspects of the newsroom as part of an early-career program aimed at cultivating the next generation of WSJ’s newsroom leaders.

  • Ryan Daily, formerly senior correspondent at FoodNavigator-USA, is now editor, Americas at Ag-Tech Navigator.

  • Moises Mendez II, formerly freelance, is now staff writer at Out Magazine.

  • Clint Davis, formerly quality team editor at Dotdash Meredith, is now shopping editor at PEOPLE, helping lead coverage of shopping news and deals, researching and testing products and more.

  • Shannen Zitz, formerly assistant editor at Prevention, is now associate style & commerce editor at Women’s Health.

Also... listen to eight hours of Severance focus music for all your data refinement needs.

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