The Zeitgeist: July 19, 2024

Today’s Edition: Twister, Auramaxxing and Prime Day

Happy Friday! Bud Light has now fallen to the No. 3 spot in U.S. beer sales, behind Modelo Especial and Michelob Ultra, over a year after a major boycott. Kraft Heinz appointed a veteran marketer from PepsiCo as its North American CMO to enhance the nutrition of its products. OpenAI introduced a smaller, cost-effective AI model, GPT-4o mini, which is 60% cheaper than its predecessor. South Korea’s top court ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples. The 2024 Emmy nominations saw "The Bear" and "Shogun" setting new records.

Next week, around 300,000 people will gather for the 2024 Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Paris, with 1.5 billion viewers expected to watch from home. The ceremony is directed by Thomas Jolly, an actor and theater director known for his Shakespeare adaptations. Jolly discussed his two-year preparation for the Games in a recent Vogue interview.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Also, Ticketmaster x Shazam and Olympic campaigns and products from Coca-Cola and Krispy Kreme.

Culture

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Corporate

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Connections

Feed intelligence

Media Moves:

  • Kenrick Cai is joining Reuters in San Francisco as a technology correspondent, focusing on Google, its parent company Alphabet, and artificial intelligence.

  • Forbes Advisor has hired Taylor Tepper as a senior writer focusing on consumers' saving and spending behavior.

  • Emma Goldberg is shifting to a new beat as a Business feature writer at The New York Times. In her new role, she will cover cultural and societal changes affecting how we live, work, and cope with economic, workplace, and technological shifts.

  • CoStar hired Parker Leigh Leipzig as a data visual journalist.

  • Politico Europe has hired Max Griera as a reporter for the European parliament.

  • Cici Yu is now an associate producer for NPR’s Morning Edition in Boston.

  • Jovi Dai has joined the Bay Area News Group as a data reporter for the Mercury News and East Bay Times.

  • Tim Rice is now the deputy managing editor of Daily Wire.

  • Asad Hashim has joined AFP’s Washington news desk as an editor.

  • Maia McCann joined Fast Company as an executive digital director.

  • Bustle Digital Group laid off nine staff members—including the editors in chief of Romper and The Zoe Report—and consolidated its parenting and lifestyle publishers into centralized units.

  • CNN layoffs include Brian Lowry, Rob McLean, Phil Lewis, Samantha Murphy Kelly, and Brian Fung.

Also…read more about the candy salad trend on TikTok and why people are using it as a form of therapy to dump their trauma.

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