Manpris and White Boy Dance
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! 💫
This week, my FYP has been overrun by videos about how hot it is in New York. I’m not sure if this is because the algorithm knows I live here, or if this is just the central narrative on the app this week, but every time I open TikTok, I’m reminded how much people hate New York in the summer. Except for me.
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This is my fifteenth summer here. I vividly remember my first summer, living on Broome Street in an NYU dorm and commuting to 4TS to intern at Teen Vogue. Every morning, I would sweat through my outfit that I had inevitably spent way too much time planning before I even made it to the 6 train. It was humbling. But I loved it!
Since then, I’ve learned a few things that make it more tolerable, like not commuting to an office job if you can help it, and going to the beach every chance you get like I’m doing later today, and eating as many cold tomato sandwiches from Court Street Grocer as you can afford, and always taking the ferry instead of the subway. Also, realizing I could have whole watermelons delivered from the grocery store instead of paying $8 for a pint of cut fruit or lugging a 10-pound melon for half a mile has changed things for me. (The grocery delivery guys here drive cars; I’m not making someone else lug a 10-pound melon half a mile.) Mini fans help, too.
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Today we’re talking about:
Tiffany’s Gen Z aesthetic
Barbie Botox
Gap, old (vintage Gap is trending) and new (CEO!)
Why Thredup is trailing behind Depip
Glossier’s brilliant foundation launch
Maybelline’s super smart mascara campaign
How cruise ships are trying to win Gen Z (+ how they can win over Gen Z)
Chipotle’s Threads activation
Folgers’ clever TikTok strategy
Hot Manpri Summer
‘Is padel the new pickleball?’
Emily Mariko’s wedding
Plus everything else that happened this week in brands, trends, and internet culture — guys, I’m so sorry, but this is a long one 😅 and Substack suddenly rendering TikToks supersized is not doing me any favors.
Before we jump in, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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