Catboys and Fake Birds

"Gen Z’s attempt to upend the rabbit hole with absurdism"

Following in Pete Davidson’s footsteps, Squid Game star HoYeon Jung just took over Calvin Klein’s socials; Kanye is rumored to replace Virgil at Louis Vuitton; Vice UK’s 19 songs that defined the hope and hopelessness of 2021; and is Dua Lipa’s little sister the next big thing?

BIRDS AREN’T REAL, OR ARE THEY? INSIDE A GEN Z CONSPIRACY THEORY, nyt

What Birds Aren’t Real truly is, they say, is a parody social movement with a purpose. In a post-truth world dominated by online conspiracy theories, young people have coalesced around the effort to thumb their nose at, fight and poke fun at misinformation. It’s Gen Z’s attempt to upend the rabbit hole with absurdism.

FROM 4CHAN TO THEORYGRAM: HOW CATBOYS BECAME A SYMBOL FOR THE POST-LEFT, dazed

Delve deep enough into the memosphere and you’re bound to come across a corner of Theorygram (a pocket of Instagram dedicated to philosophy and critical theory) populated by catboys.

TINDER INTRODUCES 'MUSIC MODE' ALLOWING POTENTIAL MATCHES TO COMPARE MUSIC TASTE, hypebeast

I’m pretty sure they just swiped the feature from Raya, but it’s still a cool collaboration with Spotify.

According to the online dating platform, roughly 40% of all Gen Z members across the globe have already selected Anthems for their Tinder profiles and, in turn, have seen a 10% increase in their matches.

VALENTINO IS TRANSFORMING ITS INSTAGRAM INTO A PLATFORM FOR YOUNG DESIGNERS, dazed

This is so rad and reminds me a bit of Calvin Klein’s revolving social media manager stunt this week: “Starting with Marco Rambaldi, the Italian fashion house will pass over its social media account to one emerging label each season.”

THE SECONDHAND LUXURY WATCH MARKET IS BIGGER THAN EVER, r29

Scarcity is driving the watch gold rush — and so are secondhand-obsessed young consumers. “Luxury watch-related content generated over 173 million views on TikTok, according to the app. With that in mind, popular creators like @nicovanderhorst, @topbrandwatches, @watchoutforalex, and @watch.eric are giving followers a front-row seat to the world of luxury watches, from videos about buying a watch for the first time to behind-the-scenes glimpses of a career in the watch world.”

THE ERA OF THE CELEBRITY MEAL, nyt

These collabs — D'Amelio for Dunkin, Bieber for Tim Horton’s — are a no-brainer for food brands. Not only do they get extremely valuable (and mostly free) promo on Gen Z-friendly platforms like TikTok, but “the celebs are a powerful lure that can entice customers to download restaurant apps or join loyalty programs to get meals, discounts or even free food…during its celebrity-meal campaigns, which began in September 2020, McDonald's has seen 10 million downloads of its app, a significant jump.”

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One last thought:

Molly Mulshine @mollymulshine

Someone in Gillette’s marketing department finally was like, “Carl, I’m done. We’re putting pubic hair on the box.”

December 9th 2021

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