The Zeitgeist: October 11, 2024

Today's Edition: Microtrends, Limited Too and Nutter Butter

October 11, 2024

Good morning. With Hurricane Milton making landfall just weeks after Hurricane Helene’s devastation, businesses alongside individuals (including Taylor Swift) are pitching in to provide relief efforts. Unfortunately, widespread misinformation and conspiracy theories are spreading largely unchecked on social media and disrupting recovery efforts. The American Red Cross warned that the outlandish claims could prevent survivors from seeking help. On the other end of the spectrum, last night’s solar storm which thrilled stargazers around the world showed us that not all storms are destructive.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

A Haunted House, Psychedelic Cats and Shrimp: Inside Nutter Butter’s Fever Dream

The cookie sandwich brand’s videos - funny, disturbing, fever-dreamlike - rack up tens of millions of views. The secret is lots of lore without much sense, the campaign’s strategists explain.

By Hank Sanders | The New York Times

Airheads 'treats feet' with new cherry scented foot spray ahead of Halloween

Airheads wants to "treat your feet" this Halloween, gifting a limited-edition fruit scented foot spray to lucky fans.

By Amarisa Encinas | USA Today

Also, Coors Banquet x Wrangler’s Beer Wash Jeans, Domino’s Emergency Pizza promo return with Twitch’s The Glitch and Krispy Kreme x Ghostbusters’s anniversary collection.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

A Taste for Vibes, and Sometimes Wine

Some Gen Z-ers and young millennials say the culture and aesthetics of wine meld with their lifestyles, whether they’re drinking or not.

By Casey Lewis | The New York Times

Meet the Guys Dating AI Girlfriends

Your AI companion can be whatever you want her to be. And now a growing number of men are turning to bots to ease their loneliness.

By Michal Lev-Ram | Esquire

The 'typical U.S. adult' follows no politicians or journalists on TikTok, survey finds

Pop culture and entertainment news make up 56% of accounts followed by surveyed users.

By Elena Cavender | Mashable

Why Cakes Can Be a Powerful Form of Protest

A new generation of bakers are reviving an old tradition.

By Jenny Comita | The New York Times

Corporate

U.S. retailers donate millions of dollars toward Hurricane Helene relief

Hurricane responses from retailers have included donated cash to relief organizations, as well as food, water and emergency team deployments.

By Brian Warmoth | Digital Commerce 360

These are the benefits with the biggest worker engagement payoff

Mental health care, maternity leave and group medical coverage are the perks that are most likely to drive employee engagement, according to a new report from OC Tanner.

By Emma Burleigh | Fortune

5 Steps to Build a Climate-Literate Workforce

Senior managers need to lead the effort to become climate literate and to then enable all of their employees, especially aspiring and rising managers, to do the same.

By Lynn Schenk, Alison Smart | Harvard Business Review

Get an MBA—on your employer’s dime. These Fortune 500 company will help you fund your MBA

A career level up is easier than ever for those working at places like CVS Health, Microsoft or Google.

By Preston Fore | Fortune

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Microtrends are killing personal style and making shopping a nightmare

With the mill of TikTok aesthetics and microtrends constantly churning, shoppers say they’re buying trendy items en masse but still don’t know what to wear.

By Sakshi Venkatraman | NBC News

In America’s Factories, Even the Robots Are Getting Less Work

Robot use is declining in US factories as manufacturers scale back automation investments.

By Bob Tita | The Wall Street Journal

Remember Limited Too? It’s Back — and Selling Adult Sizes

Like Delia’s, Bebe and so many other mall brands of yore, Limited Too is back and is releasing an adult-size collection in spring 2025 as a “tribute to our cherished OGs that have supported us all along.”

By Chantal Fernandez | The Cut

Consumers Start Holiday Shopping Early, But High Prices On Essentials Drive Cutbacks

It’s not even Halloween yet, but consumers already have Christmas on the brain.

By Sharon Edelson | Forbes

Connections

Feed intelligence

There’s new evidence Instagram’s plan to win over teens is working

According to Piper Sandler’s latest survey of US teens, Instagram is the most used social media app, but TikTok is the most liked.

By Sydney Bradley, Dan Whateley | Business Insider

Facebook launches a Gen Z-focused redesign

Facebook is leaning into its Marketplace success, a favorite among Gen Z, with more local features and an Explore Tab created to compete with TikTok's FYP.

By Sarah Perez | TechCrunch

Glassdoor takes a leaf out of LinkedIn’s book, launches short videos, polls, and images

Professional platforms, like LinkedIn and Glassdoor, are launching experiments around short video formats after seeing the success of consumer apps like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

By Ivan Mehta | TechCrunch

Media Moves:

  • Bonny Ghosh, formerly program producer for Apple’s global events team at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, is now editorial director at Inc. She will start November 4.

  • Veronica de Souza, formerly director of digital news and audience at Gothamist, is now executive digital director at Inc. She will start on October 16.

  • Jennimai Nguyen, formerly entertainment and culture reporter at The News Movement, is now reporter at Marketing Brew.

  • Sharon Profis, formerly VP of content at CNET, is leaving the outlet after 16 years and has yet to announce her new role.

  • Caitlin Ostroff, formerly reporter covering crypto and financial markets at The Wall Street Journal, is now data reporter at the same organization.

Also... check out some of the best photos of last night’s northern lights.

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