The Zeitgeist: December 13, 2024

Today's Edition: Shopping Malls, GLP-1 Friendly and Hot Ones

December 13, 2024

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty broke his silence today on the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an op-ed published in The New York Times. The piece advocates for healthcare reform while condemning the online vitriol directed at the company but is already facing criticism for deflecting insurers’ role in the healthcare crisis.

In other news, Merriam-Webster selected “polarization” as its Word of the Year for 2024, reflecting the divisive political climate. It joins other notable words and phrases highlighted by dictionaries this year, including “brat,” “manifest,” “demure,” and “brain rot,” which underscore the power and pitfalls of digital life.

Finally, the Geminid meteor shower peaks this weekend, promising a spectacular celestial show.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

No, You Haven’t Entered The Upside Down. Netflix Is Everywhere - Here’s Why

From Scoops Ahoy’s “U.S.S. Butterscotch” in Walmart to Puma’s Squid Game uniforms, Netflix’s IPs are seemingly everywhere.

By Rebecca Stewart | Adweek

Why Powerade is letting athletes pause partnerships to prioritize mental health

Part of the Coca-Cola brand’s “Pause is Power” platform, The Athletes Code program encourages athletes to take a break and come back stronger.

By Chris Kelly | Marketing Dive

Also, MTA x Meta creator MetroCards, PetSmart’s streaming experience for dogs and cats and Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie x SONIC’s beverage collab.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

The Year Creators Took Over

The attention economy has dominated the Internet for over a decade now, but never before have its protagonists felt so central to American life - or had such direct access to the levers of power.

By Kyle Chayka | The New Yorker

On Ozempic? Big Food Makers Have a New Label for You

Conagra Brands is rolling out a new label that dubs a selection of its Healthy Choice frozen meals “GLP-1 friendly” to pitch its products to a growing group of consumers: people who are eating less.

By Jesse Newman | The Wall Street Journal

Luigi Mangione Is Everywhere

From hoodies to erotic fan fiction, the internet is flooded with expressions of support and love for the suspected killer - a development experts find concerning.

By Angela Watercutter | WIRED

2024 in pop culture: In a bruising year, we sought out fantasy, escapism - and cute little animals

Looking back on 2024, escapism defined our pop culture - from Wicked and Thailand zoo videos to “brat summer” and celebrity lookalike contests.

By Jocelyn Noveck | Associated Press

Corporate

The Secrets of the Man Who Made Nvidia the World’s Most Valuable Company

A deep dive into Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s leadership strategy, from T5T (Top-5 Things) emails to working from conference rooms.

By Ben Cohen | The Wall Street Journal

How millennials and Gen Z see the C-suite evolving in 2025

As the next generations of senior leadership, these professionals will influence how business will run in the future, according to the chief commercial officer at West Monroe.

By Casey Foss | Fast Company

Netflix’s Extraordinary Parental Leave Was Part of Its Culture. That’s Over.

Employees now worry this move and other new restrictions mean the company is losing the identity that fueled its success.

By Jessica Toonkel | The Wall Street Journal

Melinda French Gates will donate $150 million toward women in the workplace - and one-third of it will go to AI

The donation is to nonprofits that aim to increase professional opportunities for women, with roughly a third going toward supporting women in STEM and AI.

By Paolo Confino | Fortune

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Gen Z wants to shop in person - and that’s helping malls make a comeback

Shopping mall owners are capitalizing on teens’ and twenty-somethings’ growing interest in in-person shopping.

By Melissa Repko | CNBC

NYC Grocery Prices Are High. Could City-Owned Stores Help?

A NYC mayoral candidate wants the city to open its own, more affordable grocery stores. The idea has gained momentum in other cities - Chicago and Atlanta are moving forward with proposals, and there are already city-owned grocery stores in Kansas and Wisconsin.

By Emma G. Fitzsimmons | The New York Times

Holiday Shopping Trends Survey Uncovers Rise in AI Adoption and Demand for Personalized Retail

Consumers want innovative, personalized shopping solutions this holiday season.

By Arthur Zaczkiewicz | Women’s Wear Daily

TikTok Shop sales surpass $100M on Black Friday

The platform reported that sales tripled compared to last year, even as its future in the U.S. is uncertain.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris | Retail Dive

Connections

Feed intelligence

BuzzFeed Strikes Deal to Sell ‘Hot Ones’ Company for $82.5 Million

In a statement from Sean Evans, who will become chief creative officer of First We Feast: “The future is spicy, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

By Benjamin Mullin | The New York Times

Meet the 22-year-old creator who directed Taco Bell’s latest TV commercial

Art creator Ash Xu has built a following of over 1 million on TikTok making paint videos and food commercials, and she just directed her first TV commercial for Taco Bell.

By Katie Hicks | Marketing Brew

Which Hot Girl on TikTok Will Be Gen Z's Martha Stewart?

There’s a whole new class of fashion-meets-food influencers poised to usher in a host of lifestyle brands.

By Alyssa Vingan | The New Garde Substack

Media Moves:

  • Dara Kerr, formerly tech reporter at NPR, is now reporter at The Guardian covering technology in the U.S.

  • Julia Boorstin, senior media & tech correspondent at CNBC, will now oversee women’s leadership content for the company. The move is part of a new unit to expand CNBC’s coverage of wealth, serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and women’s leadership, with more verticals to be introduced in the coming year.

  • Meghan Bobrowsky, formerly tech reporter at The Wall Street Journal in the San Francisco bureau, is now covering Meta for the same newspaper.

  • Emma Hurt, formerly Denver editor at Axios, is now business reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She’s based in Atlanta.

  • Allison Arnold, formerly associate editor at Delish, has left the outlet and is pursuing freelance opportunities.

  • Layoffs were announced this week at Nexstar Media, focusing cuts on local stations.

Also... meet the “fruit detective” who examines old paintings for clues about produce and how it’s changed (or disappeared) over time in this Smithsonian Magazine article.

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