Polarizing Spokescandies and Razr Flips

"$200K is chump change"

Kim Kardashian brilliantly tapped The White Lotus’s Italian scammers for Valentine’s Day Skims campaign; the very first Telfar wallet design sold out in five minutes; and if you need a laugh, “I’m a self-made millionaire — $200K is chump change if you’re a guy in your 20s.”

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LUSH?, r29
Just over a year ago, Lush made the conscious decision to quit social media, citing "concerns about the serious effects of social media", particularly on mental health. Unfortunately, young consumers seem to have forgotten about the company altogether.

TECH LAYOFFS SHOCK YOUNG WORKERS. THE OLDER PEOPLE? NOT SO MUCH., nyt
Job cuts at Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Spotify, and…every single other tech company “have been an awakening for a generation of workers who have never experienced a cyclical crash.” “It seemed like tech companies had so much opportunity,” said Ms. Chang, 26. “If you got a job, you made it. It was a sustainable path.”

BIGGEST PAY RAISES WENT TO BLACK WORKERS, YOUNG PEOPLE AND LOW-WAGE EARNERS, wsj
On the bright side: Weekly pay for workers between 16- and 24-years old rose more than 10%.

I USED A MOTOROLA RAZR FLIP PHONE FOR A WEEK AND HERE'S HOW IT HELPED MY MENTAL HEALTH, buzzfeed
”After the week was over, I got out of the habit of holding and unlocking my iPhone without conscious thought, hovering over apps for my influx of news and information. I looked at different outlets for news at work instead of the occasional scroll on social media. I read more medical journals and studies for topics I was writing about instead of looking through TikTok health trends.”

FEMALE TIKTOK USERS SAY THEY'RE DELETING THEIR DATING APPS AND HEADING TO HOME DEPOT, insider
"No husbands at this site," said one user who went to a Home Depot three times in one month.

M&M’S SAYS IT’S TAKING A ‘PAUSE’ FROM POLARIZING SPOKESCANDIES, cnn
Last year, M&M’S unveiled a new look for all of its anthropomorphized chocolate characters to “make them more relevant to young consumers.” Outrage ensued, and now they’re taking “an indefinite pause from the spokescandies.” I don’t know who needs to hear this, but “woke-ifying” your mascots is not how you make them more relevant to young consumers.

One last thought (for context):

dan q. dao @danqdao

naurrrr