The Zeitgeist: May 30, 2025

Today's Edition: Rivr x Veho, Fake My Run and Sailing With Phoenix

Good morning. According to a recent Axios survey, Americans want AI to slow down. 77% of those surveyed prefer companies to slow down AI development to ensure accuracy, even if it delays breakthroughs, reflecting skepticism about the AI “race.” This sentiment spans all generations, with particularly strong support among boomers (91%) and Gen Z (74%). It’s an important signal of consumer values - and presents an opportunity for companies to build trust by prioritizing responsibility over speed.

In other news, Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned its 2025 winner yesterday - Faizan Zaki, 13, of Plano, TX - who correctly spelled the word “éclaircissement.” This year was the competition’s 100th anniversary. For those feeling inspired, try the New York Times’ spelling quiz.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Also, Dr. Squatch x Sydney Sweeney’s bathwater soap, Hefty’s cake-scented trash bags, QDOBA’s Chief Guacamole Officer, Dave & Buster’s x Mattel’s Hot Wheels Victory Lap game and themed menu, Baskin-Robbins x Trolli’s nostalgic Dirt ‘n Worms Sundae and DIG x Cyrus Veyssi’s Persian plate collab for Pride Month.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Corporate

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Connections

Feed intelligence

Media Moves:

  • David Lidsky, formerly executive editor at The Ankler, is rejoining Mansueto Ventures as head of editorial strategy, a newly created role, for Inc. and Fast Company.

  • Clara Hudson, formerly reporter at Bloomberg Industry Group, is now reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering sustainable business.

  • Julia Rubin, formerly senior editorial director for culture and features at Vox Media, is now editor of the In Depth section at Bloomberg Businessweek. She will “work with the Businessweek staff to set the magazine’s priorities for the subjects we’ll go deepest into each month and assign and edit stories from writers inside and outside the newsroom.”

  • Mary Ann Azevedo, formerly senior reporter at TechCrunch, is leaving the outlet to pursue freelance opportunities.

  • Hayden Field, formerly tech reporter at CNBC, is leaving the news organization. She starts a new position June 2 and will be covering the same beat.

  • Ashley Capoot, health technology reporter at CNBC, is adding AI coverage to her job, covering OpenAI and Anthropic and other major companies.

  • Elena Cavender, formerly tech reporter at Mashable, is now reporter at Adweek covering influencer marketing and the creator economy.

  • Nick Sobczyk, formerly energy reporter at Axios, is leaving the outlet and has yet to announce his new role.

  • Amanda Hesser, co-founder at Food52, is stepping down and will focus on her Substack newsletter, Homeward.

  • Maggie Ortlieb, founder at VegOut, has sold the outlet and is launching a new site focused on sustainable travel called Planetly.

  • Layoffs were announced this week at Business Insider.

Also... read this IGN profile on Chris Maple, designer of the Pokémon logo.

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