Horse Girls and Island Time

millennial pink is dead; long live millennial pink

In a bid to reclaim the K-Pop crown, BTS is releasing their first album in four years; Romy and Cosima Mars stole the show at Le Bal (in a different era, they would be on the cover of Teen Vogue); W Magazine interviewed the next generation of Gallaghers (they would also be on the cover of Teen Vogue); and I’m really enjoying this Megan Stalter/Lena Dunham press run (I’ve mentioned it here before, but if you haven’t listened to Lena on How Long Gone — recorded years ago; guys, bring her back! — I highly recommend).

TIKTOK’S NEXT MOVE HAS GOOGLE AND META SWEATING BULLETS, thestreet
By now, you’ve surely seen the headlines about TikTok’s plans to launch a U.S.-only version of the app as ByteDance attempts to avoid a (supposedly!) looming federal ban. TikTok now has 118 million U.S. monthly users and is projected to generate $14.8 billion in U.S. ad spend this year, much of it driven by Gen Z’s outsized engagement (a pretty impressive 52 minutes per day on average, though I can tell you I average much, much higher). If the reboot succeeds, it could block Meta and Google from absorbing TikTok’s Gen Z-powered ad dollars, derailing what analysts estimated to be a $6-9 billion windfall for Meta alone.

GLOSSIER IS JOINING TIKTOK SHOP, fastcompany
Glossier’s long-awaited debut on TikTok Shop is obviously an attempt to reconnect with Gen Z, but it also underscores the brand’s increasingly precarious position in a market it not so long ago defined. While TikTok Shop has become a dominant beauty retail channel, surpassing even Sephora in popularity among young consumers, Glossier’s late entry follows a whole slew of catch-up moves, which I talked about here and here. Meanwhile, Hailey Bieber’s Rhode has already mastered the TikTok-native playbook: scaling fast, selling out drops, and securing a $1 billion acquisition from e.l.f., all while Glossier reportedly struggles to raise capital.

BORN INTO CRISIS, GEN Z IS SAVING FOR RETIREMENT LIKE NO OTHER GENERATION, theguardian
Contrary to pretty much everything we’ve read about Gen Z, this cohort is actually saving for retirement at “unprecedented” rates, with a recent study showing they’re contributing up to 20% of their income and holding over three times more in 401(k) assets than Gen X had at the same age. Driven by early memories of the 2008 crisis, a volatile job market, and constant exposure to financial anxiety online, 68% of Gen Zers say they’re on track or ahead with savings, according to Goldman Sachs. “They yearn for security,” one CPA wrote, “and one way is to save their money.”

THE LEISURE TRAVEL MARKET WILL BE WORTH $15 TRILLION BY 2040, bloomberg
A new Boston Consulting Group report projects global leisure travel spending will jump from $5 trillion in 2024 to $15 trillion by 2040 — I’m not great at math, but even I know that’s triple — driven largely by emerging markets like China, India, and Saudi Arabia. Younger consumers are fueling this shift by prioritizing experience over ownership, with BCG noting a rise in spontaneous travel and “carpe diem” behavior.

WHY IS GEN Z INTO HORSE RACING NOW? HOW UMA MUSUME PRETTY DERBY TOOK OVER TWITCH, sportsillustrated
A niche Japanese gacha game that turns real-life racehorses into anime girls has unexpectedly gone viral with young gamers following its June 28 release, sparking Twitch tournaments, Google search spikes, and even real-world horse pilgrimages. (Related: I just learned via Matthew Belloni that 14% of Gen Zers watch anime daily, with 50 percent watching weekly.) “Do not let the cute horse girls fool you,” one viral Steam reviewer wrote. “This is a game of hard work, determination, tenacity, hype, and aura.”

WHY IS EVERYONE WATCHING ‘LOVE ISLAND USA?’, nytimes
The reality series has become an unexpected summer obsession, with over a billion TikTok views in the past month and packed bar watch parties that rival sports games. The show’s real-time format — filmed a day before airing six nights a week — is helping to fuel FOMO-driven viewing (guilty!). Peacock’s Frances Berwick credits its success to “fun and frothiness,” while experts say the show’s apolitical escapism resonates during a time of global unrest: “You and I might not agree about gun control, but we both think that Huda has issues with emotional regulation, and we can bond over that,” explained Danielle J. Lindemann, a sociologist who quite literally wrote the book on reality TV.

Sorry for so many parentheticals. I had a lot of coffee this morning. One last thought:

@certifiedcoolgorlhelp i liked my outfit #jerseyshore #lbi #fourthofjuly #outfitinspo #martini #fyp #beachhaven

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