Snoop Dogg’s new THC-infused Snazzle Os are getting positive reviews, being compared to a tasty, "more onion-y" version of Funyuns.
In today’s email:
McDonald’s: Is all-in on nostalgia.
Chart: Humans love subscriptions.
GIFs: Might be on the way out.
Around the Web: Better meetings, a giant otter, a techy camo jacket, and more cool internet finds.
🎧 On the go? Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast to hear Rob and Juliet discuss Boo Bucket nostalgia, YouTube’s new handles, what killed the GIF, and more.
The big idea
McDonald’s is cashing in on nostalgia
In a gust of spoopy nostalgia, McDonald’s Halloween Boo Buckets are back in participating US stores Oct. 18-31.
After a successful test run in the NYC and Boston areas, the buckets first debuted in 1986, per horror blog Nightmare Nostalgia.
Buckets replaced the Happy Meal’s cardboard box and toy for several Halloweens to follow, and McDonald’s frequently iterated on their designs.
1989: McBoo was joined by the white McGhost and the green McWitch.
1992: The bucket lids got Halloween cookie cutters.
Between 2010 and 2016, the buckets featured pop culture tie-ins, including Mr. Potato Head, Minions, and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
McDonald’s occasionally tried other Halloween toys, but the pails have always been the most popular, per McDonald’s archivist Mike Bullington.
They could also lure millennials
The 2022 versionsriff on the classic ‘89 buckets, which were obviously the best — and the ones millenials likely remember from childhood.
As adults, millennials haven’t taken to McDonald’s like previous generations have.
In 2016, TheWall Street Journal reported that 80% of millennials hadn’t tried a Big Mac, and that many preferred health-focused chains or newer options like Shake Shack.
Still, McDonald’s is reportedly selling out of its “adult Happy Meal” collaboration with streetwear brand Cactus Plant Flea Market.
BTW: In ‘91, McDonald’s replaced the pails with vinyl treat bags, but a collector found the lost designs for the buckets that never were.
TRENDING
Ouch: Multiple TwitchCon attendees were seriously injured after jumping into a foam pit exhibit that wasn’t deep enough.
SNIPPETS
Oof: The Nasdaq composite closed at its lowest point since July 2020 on Monday, due in part to a dip in semiconductor stocks like Nvidia and AMD.
YouTubeannounced it will begin rolling out account handles for all users starting this week.
Amazon will invest $972m to electrify its delivery network of vans, trucks, and cargo bikes in Europe.
Getir, an Istanbul-based delivery app, is in advanced talks to acquire fellow delivery app Gorillas in an effort to gain scale in the UK and Germany.
Google has joined Apple in removing The OG App, an app that promised an ad-free Instagram experience, from its app store.
US consumers are expected to spend $209.7B online this holiday season, up 2.5% YoY.
Prize: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and economists Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig received the $886k Nobel Prize in Economics for their research on bank runs.
A Dutch court decided that forcing employees to keep their webcams on at work is a human rights violation.
Tinderpartnered with BallotReady on an in-app election center where users can register to vote and get polling and election info.
Balancing the checkbook: Wages, loans, insurance — need help tackling your business expenses? Check out The Hustle blog's deep dive into startup costs.
Chart
Singdhi Sokpo
Americans really, really love their subscriptions
If it wasn’t clear already, us humans — we really love paying for things on a monthly basis.
New data from the National Research Group found that while 44% of consumers have tried to cut back on spending at the grocery store amid ongoing high inflation, only 18% did so with their streaming subscriptions.
Among subscriptions generally, NRG found Amazon Prime is among the least likely to be canceled, trailing cloud storage and music streaming services.
Most likely to be canceled? Dating apps, at 76%.
With subscription businesses so widespread, consumers say companies must now innovate to grab attention, with NRG citing examples like Netflix offering mobile games and On’s subscription-based running shoes.
Weird history: One Swiss sock company proudly claims they beat Netflix in inventing “the first online subscription” service in 1999, dubbed the “sockscription.”
TRENDS
Alternative therapies keep on trending
If a brief recap of our alternative therapy reporting is any indication…
… In times like these, the people seek peace:
“Sound bowl meditation” searches climbed 600% on Amazon from November 2020 to January 2021.
Therapeutic furniture: The boom of bean bags and sleep pods got serious last September.
Ice baths are more than an ancient or athlete’s remedy. Our January signal covered the upscale cryotherapy craze.
Salt caves: Breathing in salty, spa-like rooms is a thing, yes. And peep this Himalayan salt lamp pulling in $54k/mo. on Amazon.
If you like market gaps and startup concepts, you might love Trends.
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In 2016, a Tumblr executive called GIFs “the file format of the internet generation.”
Six years later, the looping image format is being described as “cringe” by younger generations, per The Atlantic.
What happened?
In short, a combination of things:
Accessibility: GIF-searching features on Facebook, Twitter, and iMessage brought the format to the masses.
Over-usage: As using GIFs became easier, more people started using them, often selecting the same ones over and over.
As older adults started using the same GIFs as their children and grandchildren, the format lost its cool factor.
But are GIFs really going away?
GIF database Giphy reported declining uploads on its platform and said younger users describe GIFs as “for boomers” in a filing with the Competition and Markets Authority.
Further,another file type has emerged: MP4 video files, which can display a similar effect to GIFs at a smaller file size, have been embraced by most social media platforms.
Of course, as the latest wave of nostalgia proves — culture is cyclical. So as soon as we proclaim the death of the GIF, some trendsetters are sure to resurrect it once again.
AROUND THE WEB
🤣 On this day: In 1975, comedy variety show “Saturday Night Live” debuted on NBC.