Girlboss-ified and Bobbi-pilled
after school weekend edition
Welcome back to After School Weekend Edition. Think of the Monday-Thursday letters as the CliffsNotes; this is the extended version for paid subscribers. Thanks for reading — your support makes this possible! 💫
No one knew the name “Bobbi Althoff” a couple of weeks ago — well, that’s not quite true; her 3 million followers on TikTok knew her name — but she wasn’t making headlines and getting profiled by Cosmopolitan and signing with WME.
Though she’s been accused of being an “industry plant,” what really happened is that the TikToker, who had previously built a fanbase by posting comedic content about her life as a young mom, leveraged her following to interview internet celebrities. Bobbi’s whole schtick is that she comes into the interview knowing nothing about her interviewees, which may or may not be a bit, but what she lacks in pop culture expertise she makes up for in being really f*cking good at the internet. Her delivery is painfully deadpan and excruciatingly awkward, kind of like Between Two Ferns if it were hosted by a Gen Z April Ludgate, and it’s exactly what performs well on TikTok, where cringe is king.
Bobbi’s big break was interviewing Drake, a man who is the definition of cringe; it was posted on YouTube three weeks ago and already has 10M views. How does a relative unknown score a Drake interview?
He followed her after seeing her interview with Funny Marco, she immediately slid into his DMs asking if she could interview him next, and Drake — who is known to be very online himself — agreed. (It’s not like Drake never does this kind of thing; he’s also been on the Barstool podcast Sundae Conversation.)
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I went into last week having never heard Bobbi’s name. I’ve now watched every one of her YouTube videos and TikTok clips. I’ve listened to her on the Barstool podcast BFFs with Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards, and Brianna Chickenfry — my first time ever listening to a Barstool pod, which is a statement in and of itself — and I’ve read her Cosmo interview. I’ve even gone deep into the Bobbi Althoff subreddit.
In other words, I’ve been Bobbi-pilled, and based on the proliferation of “Who is Bobbi Althoff?” headlines, I am not alone.
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Today we’re talking about:
Madewell’s new president and why this hire is significant for young consumers
The return of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show
American Eagle’s (somewhat confounding) NYC activation
Could Michael Kors pull off a Coach-esque comeback?
Gen Z gets its own version of Dr Pepper Bonne Bell Lip Smackers
Havaiana flip-flops’ resurgence
Capri pants revival
The highly specific $8 men’s boxers cool girls are selling out
Sunflower nails are the new blueberry milk nails
Gen Z doesn’t understand the purpose of bar tabs
Whole Foods’ brown butter cookie latte
Gen Z is coming for the girlboss-ified Snow White movie
The (my?) dress of the summer!
Plus everything else that happened this week in brands, trends, and internet culture. I will warn you that I got a little carried away this week and it is my longest issue ever — more than 5,000 words, fml — but there’s lots of good stuff.
Before we jump in, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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Oh, also! Bama Rush is upon us, and so is back-to-school HaulTok so I have some extra-fun (IMHO!) weekend letters in the works…hope you enjoy.