Food Thirst Traps & Being a Sell Out

Author

Izzy White
February 15, 2024

Hi!!! Welcome!! This is the a newsletters that has taken the IRL weekly trends briefing, and been transformed into the written word. All this information is a weekly digest of current news, trendy soundbites and sharp insights so that you can quit reading and still sound smart. Gathered from articles, newsletters, reports, and TikTok: It's like Blinkist for culture.

Algorithm References  

Lots of interesting references this week, from shitty men becoming memes, to thirst traps for strawberries covered in chocolate - you never know what you’ll get when you go on the internet <3

Mememing Horrible Men

Often horrible men/people become memes, and it seems to make people forget all the bad things they have done. I know I am guilty of this, specifically with this Austin McBroom TikTok that is adding a relatable lens to him having a tantrum that his wife is (finally) divorcing him. At first, I laughed, and then I started to think about all these people and how their meme becomes front of mind - rather than their actual behaviour, think Drake’s “Anita Max Wynn”. Of course, we can laugh at these memes but also be weary of accidentally laughing with these people.

@t0xic.tea3

#austinmcbroom #catherinemcbroom #viral #snapchat #fypシ #meme #funny #acefamily

Food Thirst Traps

A thirst trap style video of strawberries covered in melted chocolate has over 17 million views on TikTok (and growing), and has led to other creators recreating the format and having amazing reach. Begs the question of the algorithm and how it works to favour formats and songs, especially because there is no reason that this video should have this many likes.

@pr4yforgabs

#fy #foryou #strawberry #chocolate #chocolatecoveredstrawberries

Articles

A great clickbait article title that is, especially space because of the absolute words used like ‘now’ and ‘everyone’ - making anyone that feels a slight inkling of selling out want to click it. The article is a great read because it touches on important points about what is currently happening for artists (specifically writers and musicians) and how their personal branding is almost more important than the art they are creating. I love that there is an article from 1997 linked as well, about personal branding and how it’s all still quite relevant in 2024. No one can escape the tyranny of personal brand - not even the person reading this newsletter. We’re all encouraged to post on LinkedIn, apply for awards or attend events - all to create a public version of ourselves. Be weary not to feel too hopeless after reading this, but just be critical of society's push on personal branding and what that truly means for you.  

Merch has become this ideal medium to express and signal our identity. And in our current world state, we seem to need to signal our identities more than ever before, because we’ve somehow become smaller, more diluted fish in a sea of access and information. This article is great because it talks about a time I can’t pinpoint, but can understand and that is that the New Yorker tote in 2014 skyrocketed this idea of repping merch from the things you consume - whether it be food, drink or media. Buying merch is also a way to show brand loyalty and this promotional product has become the ultimate IYKYK (even though it feels super American as I write this). A takeaway from this article that I thought was lovely, was how COVID impacted how we view the places we enjoy and that they could be fleeting if they don’t receive enough customers which is how merch can be beneficial for everyone - it shows your fave place to eat, a recommendation to someone else and hope that this ‘exposure’ means that their doors won’t close anytime soon.

To keep in line with the discussion aspect of Trends Briefings, here is a question for you to reflect upon… or even message me your thoughts and we can chat

!!Weekly Question!!

Is there something that you own, that feels like it represents “you”? How would you describe it?

Thank you for getting this far. I look forward to hanging out with you all next week!

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Always was, always will be.

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