Rush Coaches and Le Cirque
Discover more from After School by Casey Lewis
Rush Coaches and Le Cirque
Taylor Swift ham, egg, and cheese
Gen Z faves Ethel Cain and Amelia Gray Hamlin co-star in Miu Miu's latest campaign; of course Mattel is selling that 'I am Kenough' hoodie; and Stella Blackmon directed a gorgeous short film to honor the end of Harry Styles’ Love On Tour (less than 24 hours later, it has nearly 4 million likes — no one captures Gen Z on film better than Stella).
IS GEN Z DOWN TO CLOWN? THE CIRCUS IS COUNTING ON IT., nyt
After filing for bankruptcy protection in 2020, Cirque du Soleil decided it had to be more than just a circus — it need to be a brand, “something that could sell perfumes, sunglasses, tote bags, and video games.” So it hired a “cultural analysts” firm, called Cultique, to answer an age-old question: Is it possible to hack popularity?
Executives at Cirque are experimenting with anything a young person curious about the circus might buy. A video game called Cirque du Soleil Tycoon set for release on July 28, with the gaming company Roblox, in which players can build their own circus world. A signature fragrance (for the clown lover in your life) and a line of home goods (think maximalist rugs and psychedelic curtains). Corporate partnerships with companies like Motorola, which introduced its new flip phone in an event in June produced with Cirque.
PARENTS HIRE $4,000 SORORITY CONSULTANTS TO HELP DAUGHTERS DRESS AND IMPRESS DURING RUSH, wsj
Consulting firms like “It's All Greek to Me” have emerged to offer practical advice and — more importantly — emotional support to women trying to get into sororities. “My boyfriend went to Stanford, and he said this is more complicated than getting a Stanford M.B.A.,” said “rush coach” Stacia Damron, owner of “Hiking in High Heels” in Texas. As someone who went through a fairly competitive rush in the Midwest, this article was physically and psychologically painful.
TIKTOK FOLLOW-UP LEMON8 IS FLOPPING IN THE U.S., restofworld
The much-hyped app that made many a headline in April has struggled to keep the momentum, falling to about 6,300 daily active users, down from nearly 12,000 last spring. Emily Hessney Lynch, 32, a social media consultant based in Rochester, said Lemon8 was not as good as TikTok at gauging which content she wanted to see. “I mostly get Bible content from religious people and weight loss tips, and I’m not interested in either of those,” she said.
AMID TWITTER/X AND THREADS TUMULT, TIKTOK DEBUTS ITS OWN VERSION OF TEXT POSTS, fastco
The day after Twitter announced plans to rebrand themselves as the letter X, TikTok announced that they’re “thrilled” to introduce an expansion of text posts. The new format on the app is capable of “expanding the boundaries of content creation,” the company writes, by “giving the written creativity we’ve seen in comments, captions, and videos a dedicated space to shine.”
HOLLYWOOD STRIKES WILL CHANGE THE BOOMING CREATOR ECONOMY, wapo
The last major Hollywood strike “reshaped the media landscape, fueling the rise of reality TV and unscripted content.” This current strike could “similarly reshape the industry,” elevating a new generation of stars — online creators.
Several actors said they expect their social media accounts could become a lifeline now that traditional work has dried up. Brian Morabito, an actor in New York who has amassed over 600,000 TikTok followers with his comedy videos, said he plans to double down on merchandise sales and increase his output on TikTok and Instagram Reels during the strike.
FROM PENNSYLVANIA’S ‘SWIFTSBURGH’ TO NEW JERSEY’S ‘TAYLOR SWIFT HAM, EGG AND CHEESE,’ POLITICIANS ARE CAPITALIZING ON THE ERAS TOUR, fortune
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s tweet declaring the “Taylor Swift ham, egg, and cheese” garnered 5,700 likes; his next unrelated tweet had fewer than 100.
One last thought:
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