The Zeitgeist: January 16, 2026

Today's Edition: Saks, Snail Mail and 2016

January 16, 2026

Good morning. Where were you during the great Verizon Wireless outage on January 14, 2026? It knocked 1.5M customers offline for hours - a blunt reminder of how phone-dependent we are. Verizon stayed vague on the why and when, but one smart move: putting real humans (not AI) on social to handle the fallout, per Inc.

That phone dependence shows up in schools, too. Pew found just 41% of teens support cellphone bans in middle and high school. Only one-in-five teens back a full-day ban, while nearly three-quarters oppose it outright - underscoring how unsettled the role of always-on tech remains in the classroom.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Why brands are spending more on A-list celebrities than ever before

A new report found US brands spent more than $1 billion on celebs to feature in their ads in 2025.

By Lara O’Reilly | Business Insider

Why Recess is rethinking Dry January as drinking trends toward moderation

The campaign promotes moderation, framing the drinks as a balanced option amid “drink less” trends.

By Chris Kelly | Marketing Dive

Also, El Pollo Loco’s gym towel coupon, Krispy Kreme’s 2-hour Verizon outage giveaway, Fischer x Ore-Ida’s french fry skis, Jeni’s x Netflix/Shondaland’s Bridgerton-inspired ice cream and beauty stunts from Liquid Death with E.L.F. (“embalm” collection) and Aprés Nail (true crime-inspired press-on nail collection).

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Young people are leading a snail mail revival

Snail mail clubs are growing as people embrace slower, analog living and support indie artists through monthly mailings.

By Hatti Rex | Dazed Digital

Bricking your phone is the hot new digital detox

The Brick app has become a widely recognized “appstinence” tool as more people embrace stricter screen-time boundaries.

By Julia Pugachevsky | Business Insider

That Restaurant You Love Will Close One Day. What to Do?

Why losing a beloved restaurant can feel like real grief.

By Tejal Rao | The New York Times

Corporate

Boomers are staying in the job market as Gen Z struggles to break through

An aging workforce, slower hiring and a preference for experience over training are leaving many graduates underemployed.

By Taylor Telford | The Washington Post

The typical American plan to study for 22 years and work for 40 ‘is broken,’ VC CEO says

Employees have to constantly reskill to stay afloat, says General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja.

By Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez | Fortune

AI Can’t Touch These Skilled Trade Jobs. If Only Enough Humans Would Fill Them

Skilled trades are disappearing as younger workers avoid long, demanding apprenticeships with lower pay.

By Allison Pohle | The Washington Post

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Inside the Mad Dash to Save Saks, America’s Last Luxury Retailer

The Saks-Neiman Marcus merger was meant to build a luxury powerhouse, but a year later, unpaid debts pushed it into bankruptcy.

By Suzanne Kapner, Chavie Lieber | The Wall Street Journal

Google teams up with Walmart and other retailers to enable shopping within Gemini AI chatbot

Google’s turning the Gemini app into a virtual merchant as well as an assistant.

By Anne D’Innocenzio | The Associated Press

Gen Z and social media are helping men’s makeup go mainstream. The beauty industry is trying to capitalize

Men’s makeup is losing its stigma as TikTok and Gen Z fuel growth and brands chase a long-untapped beauty market.

By Luke Fountain | CNBC

Connections

Feed intelligence & AI tips

The YouTube Vibecession

YouTube is bigger than ever, but Shorts, algorithm shifts and rising competition have creators uneasy about what’s next.

By John Herrman I New York Magazine

AI speeds up work and creates more of it

A new survey says workers spend hours weekly fixing AI’s mistakes.

By Emily Peck | Axios

Is 2026 the New 2016? All About the Throwback Trend Taking Over the Internet

Social media users are chasing a 2016 revival, driven by a growing nostalgia for the decade-old era.

By Tabitha Parent | PEOPLE

Media Moves & Intel:

  • Saira Mueller, formerly freelance, is now tech editor at Morning Brew, leading the Tech Brew newsletter.

  • Vincent Ryan, formerly editor at CFO Leadership, is now editor at Morning Brew, leading the CFO Brew newsletter.

  • Demi Lawrence, formerly reporter at Portland Business Journal, is now reporter at Morning Brew on its CFO Brew newsletter.

  • Jyoti Mann, formerly senior tech reporter at Business Insider, is now reporter at The Information covering Meta.

  • Camille Bromley, formerly features editor at WIRED, is now staff editor at The New York Times for the Opinion section.

  • Chris Crowley, formerly senior writer at New York Magazine, is now reporter at Caper, a soon-to-launch food media company founded by Puck alumni.

  • Sarah Ball, editor in chief of WSJ. Magazine, will also serve as features coverage chief amid restructuring of its Features and Weekend teams.

  • Tess Koman, formerly executive editorial director at Serious Eats, is now food editor at Apple News.

  • Gourmet Magazine will be rebooted as a newsletter on the platform Ghost, founded by former Bon Appetit editor Amiel Stanek and former Modern Retail editor Cale Weissman, among others.

  • Consumed, the Substack helmed by Jane Black and Liz Dunn, is going on a two-month hiatus.

  • The Economics of Everyday Things Podcast is going on a hiatus.

Also... play the Sandwich Alignment Game made by Andrew Boylan and place a variety of sandwiches on an axis of good, chaotic, evil and lawful.

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