Together with
Death by Grimace. Another day, another viral hashtag. ICYMI, #grimaceshake is trending on TikTok (650+ million views as of yesterday), much to the chagrin of McDonald’s. What started as a lighthearted product drop to celebrate the birthday of its beloved mascot has turned into a chilling meme where people suffer a grim fate after tasting the purple drink. Needless to say, we doubt the company is lovin’ it.
Then again, any publicity is good publicity. (ba da ba ba ba)
In other news… Destination marketing takes over the runway, subtitle demand skyrockets, and brands just can’t get enough of Barbie.
Top Trends
Reddit → Tom Cruise
TikTok → “Cruel Summer” - Taylor Swift
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FASHION
Fashion brands immerse fans in the vibe
The Future. Coach and ICECREAM are the latest labels to launch unique, themed shopping destinations that are more statement pieces than functional retail stores. But that may be the point — in a world where even the most-storied of brands can get lost in the noise, those who may seem more premium are pulling off one-of-a-kind stunts.
Design destinations
Fashion brands are thinking outside of the brick-and-mortar box.
Coach
The NYC-based fashion brand recently opened Coach Air — a concept store situated inside a totally renovated 1981 Boeing 747.
Located at the Freeport A'Famosa Outlet in Malaysia, the store gives customers an experience reminiscent of the golden age of air travel.
Predictably, the store contains airline-themed items like carry-on bags and passport cases. There’s also a café on board if you need a caffeine boost.
ICECREAM
The subsidiary of Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club opened a retro American diner called Satellite Diner in the iconic Le Marais district during Paris Fashion Week.
It’s a play on the design inspirations of the brand, with a curated selection of exclusive coach jackets, varsity jackets, and bowling shirts.
Yes, you can even order classic diner food like hot dogs and grilled cheese.
It looks like the new trend in fashion is crafting luxury destinations that are a cut above anything you’ll see on Rodeo Drive or 5th Avenue.
ENTERTAINMENT
CC goldmine // Illustration by Kate Walker
Subtitles are an entertainment gold rush
The Future. With deaf-led charity Stagetext finding that 80% of 18 to 24-year-olds use subtitles most of the time when watching content (while only 10% of them are actually hard of hearing), it’s safe to say that the closed captioning business is in a boom market. But with the advent of AI, expect smaller services to skip the human workforce for the cost reduction of the algorithm… just maybe don’t expect as nuanced a translation.
Translation treasure
Global streaming led to a demand for more content in various languages… which means a lot more demand for good translators.
The US closed captioning market hit a high of $170 million, while the larger transcription business is a whopping $30 billion… and growing 7% annually.
The market mostly comprises highly-trained freelance contractors who work for firms like Rev and VITAC and are paid for each minute of a title’s runtime.
Freelancers, who need to have an understanding of local cultures and lexicons, also need to follow each studio’s unique style guide (Disney’s is specific).
With streamers angling to be global platforms, the pressure has never been greater to think about subtitling way in advance of a film’s or TV show’s premiere. Flawless translations are expected to already be in the can in case a title unexpectedly takes off anywhere in the world.
And with digital creators also wanting their content to be subtitled to grow their global fanbases, the demand for closed captioning services is set to skyrocket even further.
TOGETHER WITH FARFETCH
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ENTERTAINMENT
Barbie bags all the brand crossovers
The Future. Brand strategist Moshe Isaacian has outlined an exhaustive breakdown of all the ways Barbie (the movie, not the character) is making its presence known. With Barbiecore becoming a bonafide design sensation, we have a feeling that we’re going to see hot pink all summer long… giving Mattel a buzzy start to its renewed focus on film and TV.
It’s a Barbie world
Barbie has…
A themed Xbox console
A dream house in Malibu you can rent on Airbnb
A car with Forza
A shoe with ALDO
A Progressive Insurance ad
A Pinkberry soft-serve flavor
A roller skate with Impala
A boat cruise in Chicago
And, truly, so much more. At this point, Barbie wants to take 007’s playbook and turn it into the brand equivalent of a Cheesecake Factory menu.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
The future of TCM comes into focus as key programming executive Charles Tabesh won’t be laid off but will get some curatorial help from Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson. Read more → variety
Roland Emmerich, the director of Independence Day, has teamed up with the talent behind Warcraft to create the Space Nation franchise — a sci-fi universe that will include a TV series, a game, and animated shorts. Read more → deadline
Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company is launching an audio division that will focus on “risky, out-of-the-box storytelling,” according to head of audio Chris Morrow. Read more → theverge
Fashion & E-Commerce
LVMH’s Antoine Arnault, the likely successor of his father Bernard, is pushing for fashion brands to join a new sustainability pact. Read more → businessoffasion
Marc Jacobs tapped ChatGPT to pen the show notes for his Fall 2023 presentation in NYC… and apparently, it was brief and not very interesting. Read more → complex
MSCHF’s Microscopic Handbag sold for $63,750 — far more than the actual Louis Vuitton OnTheGo tote that MSCHF lampoons. Read more → hypebeast
Tech, Web3, & AI
About 80% of Google’s video ads violated the company’s own policies, which could result in some hefty refunds. Read more → wsj
The Vatican worked with Santa Clara University to pen its own AI ethics handbook to ask deeper questions about AI’s role in society. Read more → gizmodo
Tech’s biggest names are tripping out all the time, experimenting with LSD, ketamine, and magic mushrooms to optimize their brains. Read more → wsj
Creator Economy
TikTok’s new e-commerce storefront is set to debut in the US as soon as next month. Read more → techcrunch
TikTok is also backing a lawsuit filed by five Montana content creators against the state to overturn its ban of the app. Read more → theinformation
TikTok, clearly staying busy, is forming a global Youth Council to get their input on how to make the platform safer. Read more → tubefilter
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Editing by Nick Comney. Publishing by Darline Salazar.