Millennials Are Cool Again

PRESENTED BY LIGHTFIELD

Happy Tuesday, Future Party. Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary says he’s developing an AI version of himself — naturally called “AI Kevin.” He claims his wife will soon be unable to tell the difference between him and his digital double, though he admits it still won’t be capable of handling his work calls. In other words, Mr. Wonderful may be introducing a new AI use case: marriage optimization. With all due respect, one has to wonder what Mrs. Linda O’Leary thinks about it.

The NFL is officially rolling out a professional flag football league in collaboration with TMRW Sports.

Why It Hits Pulls: Flag football is growing in popularity every year, building momentum as one of the fastest-growing sports worldwide — with 2.4 million kids under 17 in the US and more than 20 million people of all ages playing globally. With its Olympic debut set for 2028, flag football is having a major moment.

Behind The Play: Now would be a good time to pull for flag football’s success.

Last Down: Troy Vincent Sr., the NFL’s VP of football operations, said of the new league: “This is especially meaningful for girls and young women who are helping drive the sport’s growth worldwide and who can now see their dreams in this game extend all the way to the professional level.” The assessment rings true, considering that at the high school level alone, 42,955 girls played in the 2023-24 season — a 105% increase from the previous season.

In other words, a new class of sports stars is on the horizon.

Next Season: The NFL may bundle flag football broadcast and streaming rights with its highly in-demand, very expensive traditional football rights to give the new league prime placement. Start saving now, media conglomerates.

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Brands are rediscovering that marketing to millennials is a powerful path to both cultural relevance and increased revenue.

The Big Picture: Common wisdom suggests that marketing to people in their late teens and twenties is the best way to shape culture and build lifelong customer relationships. But the unique attributes of millennials — and their ascension to meaningful purchasing power (even if still less than their parents’) — actually make them the ideal generation for an economy increasingly obsessed with nostalgia.

Between The Lines: Insider says a “millennial summer” is coming, so it’s time to put on your True Religion jeans, tuck in just the front of your shirt, grab a flip phone, and see if Hoobastank is playing a show nearby.

Closing Thoughts: Brands love nothing more than metrics, so here’s a closer look. Millennials account for 28% of all US retail spending, according to Capital One — about $1.1 trillion. While that’s technically less than Gen X, there are more people in the millennial cohort, which means more opportunities for conversions.

Take Gap’s new campaign featuring Kelis’ 2003 banger, “Milkshake” (you’re probably already humming it) — not only did engagement rise, but annual sales increased 5%. Coincidence or causation? Gap would argue the song brought all the millennials to the yard.

Next Campaign: Early-aughts nostalgia is easy to get behind — and, heck, it may just make the mall the coolest place in town again.

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45.5% of you voted More than a year ago in yesterday’s poll: When did you last buy physical media?

“I used to stock up on cheap DVDs and Blu-rays every Black Friday but haven’t done that in years.”

“There’s still nothing like reading a newspaper and getting ink on your fingers. It makes me think of the paper route I had as a kid.”

“I love playing my CDs, tapes, and records. I was quite surprised when my 12-year-old granddaughter asked for a phonograph and vinyl for Christmas — and she’s playing what she got when I visit!”

“I like reading the liner notes on CDs.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

💊 Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has struck a $2.75 billion deal with Hong Kong-based AI firm InSilico to fuel AI-powered drug discoveries.

🛰️ Space startup Aetherflux is raising $300 million in a quest to launch a data center in orbit early next year.

📎 Move aside, Clippy. Apple is getting into the adorable digital assistant game with “Finder guy.”

💸 Blackstone is launching a hedge fund targeting affluent individuals, such as doctors and lawyers.

🏦 A Wells Fargo study found that 84% of people would rather give up social media for a year than their banking apps.

👕 Travis Kelce has signed on with Tommy Hilfiger as a global ambassador and “creative collaborator.”

📱 Meta is testing a premium Instagram tier that lets users watch Stories after the 24-hour window and see how many times their own Stories have been rewatched.

💻 Adobe is trying to revive the YouTube web series format with The Marketers, starring Hasan Minhaj and Patty Guggenheim.

🤖 Bluesky released an AI assistant called Attie… and it’s already the platform’s second-most blocked account.