The Zeitgeist: October 17, 2025

Today's Edition: MANGO, TBPN and Performative Reading

October 17, 2025

Good morning. OpenAI’s been busy making friends. The company teamed up with Walmart to let shoppers buy directly through ChatGPT. It’s also linking up with Instacart, Uber and DoorDash, connecting more than 800 million weekly ChatGPT users to real-world services. The shift is clear: consumers are moving from search bars to conversations, and from transactions to trusted exchanges.

Meanwhile, the food world’s latest drama is about who copied whose lunch. Smucker’s is suing Trader Joe’s, claiming its crustless PB&Js look a little too familiar. The case spotlights an age-old grocery gray area - you can’t trademark a sandwich, but you can definitely stir up a legal jam trying.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

Huggies’ baby-making campaign scores World Cup parental leave

The official “sponsor” of baby-making overtime is encouraging parents to conceive now to score parental leave during the World Cup.

By Julia Walker | Campaign US

Inside Advertising’s Most Grueling New Genre: ‘You Have to Have Zero Social Anxiety’

Authentic man-on-the-street content is tough to capture but increasingly sought after in the AI era.

By Katie Deighton | The Wall Street Journal

Also, Dunkin’s Spider Donut Halloween costume, European Wax Center’s witty OOH ads, Alex Cooper x Crocs’ dog-inspired clogs, Ramp x Brian Baumgartner’s Flatiron finance stunt (featuring Andy Buckley), 818 Tequila’s Texas tailgate and Bobbie’s new Chief Confidence Officer, Cardi B.

Culture 

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Are you an actual book nerd, or are you just ‘performative reading’?

It started as a meme but is now the latest iteration of a cultural fixation on authenticity.

By Angela Yang | NBC News

Wellness Is the New Nightlife

The hospitality industry and travel agents are seeing a cultural shift that positions wellness as a top priority for travelers.

By Sarah Rappaport | Bloomberg

Gen Z is redefining the ‘lipstick effect’ with matcha and designer sneakers

Young consumers seek small luxuries that serve a purpose - products that boost both mood and self-improvement.

By Alex Bitter | Business Insider

Corporate

Job Interviews Are Broken

Some candidates now use AI to cheat live interviews, exposing flaws in the modern hiring system.

By Ian Bogost | The Atlantic

MANGO is the new FAANG

The companies commanding attention today are the ones leading the AI revolution (Microsoft, Anthropic, Nvidia, Google DeepMind and OpenAI).

By Erica Pandey | Axios

Why Leaders and Workers Think Differently About Workplace Safety Risks

Leaders focus on physical safety, while workers see mental health and culture as key risks.

By Kit Eaton | Inc.

I created a brand new job at Deloitte: corporate influencer

Lara Sophie Bothur uses LinkedIn to humanize tech and boost the firm’s brand.

By Polly Thompson | Business Insider

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

For Uniqlo’s Founder, Conquering America Is Personal

Tadashi Yanai views the US as key to Uniqlo’s growth but is increasingly worried about America’s growing protectionism.

By River Akira Davis | The New York Times

Grocery Prices Keep Rising. Frustrated Consumers Are Trying to Adapt.

Rising grocery prices are squeezing consumers, prompting cutbacks, stockpiling and shifts to cheaper stores.

By Christopher Kuo | The Wall Street Journal

Baby boomers still love their department stores. Here’s what they know that Gen Zers don’t

Some department stores maintain old-school perks like longer returns and free shipping, strengthening brand loyalty.

By Jessica Dickle, Ana Teresa Solá | CNBC

Connections

Feed intelligence & AI tips

What if SportsCenter and LinkedIn Merged?

TBPN, a three-hour tech and business livestream, is “like traditional TV with the best of independent media,” says co-host Jordi Hays.

By Mike Isaac | The New York Times

Netflix Inks Deal With Spotify to Stream Video Podcasts

They’re bringing video podcasts, including shows from Spotify Studios and The Ringer, to Netflix in early 2026.

By Caitlin Huston | The Hollywood Reporter

Why brands must design for humans, not engines, in AI search

As AI, social media and multimodal tools reshape search, brands must craft human-centered content that works across platforms.

By Joe Hayes | AdAge

Meet the Greatest Artists of Our Generation (They’re TikTok Fan Editors)

TikTok editors are reshaping entertainment marketing with viral, authentic micro-stories that outshine traditional campaigns.

By Annabel Iwegbue | Cosmopolitan

Media Moves & Intel:

  • Christina Wilkie, formerly senior politics editor for CNBC.com, is now senior business editor at NBC News.

  • Jena McGregor, formerly senior editor of work/leadership at Forbes and editorial director and VP of content strategy at Modern Executive Solutions, is now managing editor of Charter, which covers work issues. She starts in Nov.

  • Robert Hart, formerly senior reporter at Forbes, is now AI reporter at The Verge. He is based in London.

  • Brent Sanchez, formerly senior editor at Yahoo Finance, has left the news organization and is taking time off to welcome his first child.

  • Layoffs were announced this week at NBC News.

  • Mike Butcher, formerly editor-at-large at TechCrunch, launched Pathfounders, a new site covering tech startups and VC firms, on Beehiiv. Pathfounders will publish content on its website and newsletter, with a podcast and events also planned.

  • Bloomberg launched a new global podcast, The Mishal Husain Show, featuring the former BBC News presenter and in-depth conversations with newsmakers, leaders, cultural figures and thinkers. The podcast premieres today, 10/17, as part of Bloomberg Weekend, its weekly ideas and culture section.

  • Business Insider is launching First Trade, a new weekday newsletter on what’s moving markets, on Monday 10/20.

Also... check out MapCrunch, which teleports you to a random place in the world by showing daily street views from Google Maps.

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—The Editors

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