Voice Memo Romance and Cheugy Blondes
Voice Memo Romance and Cheugy Blondes
Canned wine seltzer for all
After School is a daily newsletter about youth culture read by execs from Facebook, Nike, and Depop. If you like it, consider forwarding to your extremely powerful boss (or becoming a paid subscriber).
Is blonde hair cheugy? Gen Z suspects so; apple picking and PSL lattes, meanwhile, are deemed “not cheugy”; AmEx is getting younger (and more blue collar); the “clean look” is going viral on TikTok, and as is — unfathomably — indie folk band the Mountain Goats; and New York City has a new band of buzzy post-punk teens.
PRADA’S BUCKET HAT HAS TIKTOK IN A CHOKEHOLD
This is how you do it: The #PradaBucketChallenge has over 1.6 billion views, with some of the app's biggest creators (Bella Poarch, Lucas and Marcus Dobre, Lil Huddy) grabbing a signature Prada hat and transitioning into a full Prada runway look from the label's FW21 collections. highsnob
PAPER AND GOOGLE SHOPPING LAUNCH 21OF21
Google teamed up with Paper on what may be the coolest sponcon I’ve ever seen: a shoppable mag about the trends that defined 2021, written by some of the best culture writers right now (Darcie Wilder, Kate Lindsay). Start with this piece on the rise of the Google search term “skincare routine” then read everything else (especially the essay illustrated with dogs wearing cuddly stuff). papermag
↳ Google eyes 'long-term opportunity' in commerce as retail drives blowout ad revenue. marketingdive
INSIDE GOOGLE BILLIONAIRE ERIC SCHMIDT’S $1 BILLION MOONSHOT PLAN TO FUND THE WORLD’S MOST PROMISING TEENS
Apologies in advance for the sheer amount of G**gle in this email, but: Rise is the “flagship initiative” of a $1 billion pledge to “identify, develop and support global talent working in service of others” by Schmidt and his wife Wendy, the 100 winners of which were announced this week. fastco
The winners will be getting full-ride college scholarships to any accredited four-year university they chose, plus stipends, mentorship programs and access to other winners. They’ll also get to attend a free, three-week summit with their peers scheduled for July in South Africa, and will receive laptops or tablets from the Schmidts to help everyone stay connected…The plan is to invest in these wunderkinds for the long haul: Rise winners can also apply for graduate scholarships, grants for their non-profits and seed money to start social enterprises.
HINGE WILL NOW LET YOU REJECT SOMEONE BASED OFF THEIR VOICE
In an effort to stay competitive, Hinge is launching new audio and video features. Will young singles bite? I think Nylon sums it up best here: “Voice prompts will offer users the potentially humiliating chance to put a 30-second voice recording on your profile for matches to hear, with prompts such as ‘Proof I have musical talent,’ (though most guys include a video of themselves playing guitar in their bedrooms anyway) or ‘My best celebrity impression.’” nylon
GEN Z BUILDS SAVINGS, FOCUSES ON FINANCES COMING OUT OF PANDEMIC
In the last year, 70% of Gen Z added to their savings, while 26% contributed to a retirement account and 26% invested in the market. That said, a third rate their financial knowledge as low, and 40% say they don’t know where to start learning about finances and were never offered a course in school. (I almost said, “Sounds like a business opportunity to me!” and then I realized at least 500 startups are inevitably already on it…) bloomberg
One last thought:
(he really does)