Together with
Name game. In a quest to outwit Google’s search bots and capitalize on its algorithm, small businesses are borrowing a page from the tech giant’s playbook by giving themselves SEO-friendly names like “Thai Food Near Me.” While the clever hack may make headlines and bring in new customers in the short term, there’s no guarantee it’ll keep the lights on once the novelty fades… or until the company’s brass reads this article.
Happy Halloween!
In other news… Super commuters take the long way home, Americans struggle to fund fun, and Martin Scorsese is now TikTok famous.
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WORK
We’re gonna need a bigger parking lot… // Illustration by Kate Walker
Hybrid work gives rise to “super commuting”
The Future. Hybrid work (only having to come into the office a couple of times a week or even a month) is supercharging the number of workers who could be called “super commuters.” That’s changing the geography of where people work, play, and live. As return-to-office requirements take effect, companies that find a way to cater to super commuters may attract both seasoned employees and those who are just entering the workforce.
Planes, trains, and automobiles
Are you traveling over three hours round trip to the office? Welcome to the super commuter club.
Super commuters are considered anyone taking a train or car from an exurb outside a big city to flying in from a town in an entirely different state.
Insider says that’s great news for industry centers like NYC, LA, San Francisco, and Miami but spells trouble for “mid-tier cities like Cleveland and Syracuse,” which were built up as regional hubs for companies.
Super commuting is mostly geared towards the executive class who can afford the travel (or have the trip expensed), but entry-level employees have found it can give them a big city job and the ability to live at their parents’ house in Iowa.
In 2019, the Census Bureau discovered the number of Americans who commuted 90 minutes or more for work was around 3.1%. With 46% of people who worked from home during the pandemic now having a hybrid schedule, we’re pretty sure the next census will find that percentage to be much higher.
We’re all just vacationing to the office now.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Empty the savings account // Illustration by Kate Walker
Fun is hit with sticker shock
The Future. “Funflation” is hitting American wallets, forcing people to pull back on the amount they spend on live experiences. For all but the biggest stars who can command nearly any price, that may signal some alarm. If prices don’t level out, there may be a shift to people saving for a handful of tentpole experiences per year — a change that may hurt middle-class artists, venues, and theme parks that rely on a stable flow of fans and visitors to survive.
The price of play
Experiential entertainment is now really, really expensive.
A WSJ/Credit Karma survey found 60% of Americans have cut back on spending on live entertainment because prices are too high, with 37% saying they simply can’t keep up with price increases.
How high are we talking? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, admission tickets to concerts, live events, and sports games rose more in price faster than nearly every other good last year.
Taking a look at just concert tickets, they cost 7.4% more on average than last year and 27% more than they did in 2019, per Pollstar.
And it’s not just events. Admissions to theme parks like Disney World have hit record highs, too… which is already pricing people out and making visits decline overall.
Still, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis found Americans are set to spend $95 billion this year on live experiences — 23% more than last year.
So, while everyone’s posting record grosses, it may be from consumers who are saving up to spend on only one or two big-ticket events per year.
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Shark Tank would make an offer, too
Listen up — there’s a new startup called RYSE, and it’s showing signs it’s going to be a big deal. Like three pillowcases full of Halloween candy, big deal.
They pitched their revolutionary smart shades on Dragons’ Den (the Canadian version of Shark Tank) and received two offers. They also just launched in Best Buy this week!
So, yeah, you’re probably going to want to invest in them as well. And it’s not too late.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Courtesy of Francesca Scorsese
Martin and Francesca Scorsese are now TikTok royalty
The Future. The great Martin Scorsese is a TikTok influencer thanks to his daughter Francesca. It’s showing the world a different side of the legendary filmmaker and endearing him to a new generation of fans. While that hasn’t necessarily translated into box office success for his Apple-backed epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, it may entice people to check it out when it hits Apple TV+... and get them to head to the cinema for his next one.
Generational talents
During the press run for Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese has been all over TikTok.
But this isn’t some studio-mandated marketing ploy — it’s simply the 23-year-old Francesca (a filmmaker in her own right) giving people a glimpse into the life of her father.
That involves everything from quizzes of Gen Z slang to mock auditions with his dog, which have racked up millions of views.
And it just so happens to be great marketing as well, with one user commenting on a video, “Fine, I’ll watch one of his movies” (a win for cinema).
And you just know Francesca was also behind her father signing up for a Letterboxd account, which, considering the elder Scorsese’s legacy as a film preservationist, makes perfect sense. He’s already logged 69 films.
But our favorite revelation from Francesca is that Leonardo DiCaprio routinely texts the 80-year-old Scorsese, calling him the GOAT… and that the filmmaker didn’t know what that meant until very recently.
We stan.
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Hedonova is 200% better
Investing in alternative assets can be unhinged. Hedonova makes it easy. And since late 2019, Hedonova has outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 200%. That’s, like, 100% amazing.
Wait, but what does Hedonova do exactly? It serves as a single access point to a diverse portfolio of alternative assets, including media royalties, pre-IPO startups, wine, and fine art. It’s so legit it even won the multi-strategy hedge fund award at the 2023 Hedgeweek European Awards.
Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Universal and Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s grossed a massive $130 million worldwide at the box office while also premiering on Peacock (becoming the biggest day-and-date release ever) — all driven by the 81% of ticket buyers who were under the age of 25. Read more → slashfilm
Apple is bringing down the hammer on independent theaters putting unauthorized intermissions in the middle of Martin Scorsese’s 306-minute Killers of the Flower Moon. Read more → thr
With the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift broke her own Spotify record of being the artist with the most streams in a single day. Read more → variety
Fashion & E-Commerce
The NBA has recruited Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS as its official underwear partner. Read more → bloomberg
Matty Matheson, the famed chef and an actor/consultant on The Bear, has hooked up with WeTransfer to release a free digital cookbook. Read more → hypebeast
Eminem is dropping a pasta sauce called “Mom’s Spaghetti.” Read more → consequence
Tech, Web3, & AI
President Biden’s executive order on AI hopes to put guardrails around the systems by requiring companies to share safety test results and all accompanying data with the US government before the tools are released to the public. Read more → techcrunch
A new map of the brain is set to provide insights into how to tackle diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s. Read more → fastcompany
According to X, the company is now worth $19 billion… a fraction of the $44 billion that Elon Musk paid to acquire it. But maybe ruling users’ financial lives, a $16/month Premium+ subscription, and a dating feature can turn things around. Read more → fortune
Creator Economy
X announced posts that’ve been corrected by “Community Notes” won’t be eligible for monetization any longer — a rule that could potentially tamp down on misinformation clickbait. Read more → theinformation
Marriott Bonvoy has assembled a “TikTok Travel Tribe” to put the brand at the center of travel trends. Read more → tubefilter
The newest TikTok influencers are blue-collar workers like commercial fishermen, lobstermen, and sheep herders — giving some much-needed exposure to the under-the-radar professions. Read more → nyt
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.