Hi all,
For those of you who are new here: Hi! And welcome to Wednesday’s edition of the letter.
Sunday’s letter is designed to give you all the bits you need for the week and connect the major dots—a best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc
Wednesday’s edition is a podcast that does a deeper dive into the stand-out topics of the week. We link back to the Sunday letter but, inevitably, add more things worth watching.
Listen to the full thing on the way home from work to get unfiltered, hot takes on everything you shouldn’t miss, hit the hyperlinks to skip to the bits that strike your fancy, or just read the written synopsis if podcasts aren’t your jam—choose your adventure.
Enjoy!
THIS WEEK:
Brand activism’s reboot
Even Frida Baby is misbehaving
Metamucil’s fear will be their undoing
Ingredients still matter
A cause I didn’t ask for: AI & retail
Fantastic photography’s revival
Bryan Johnson: crazy but onto something
Travel is full-sensory
Design shows like Maison & Objet are staging a comeback
As always, this pod dives into the biggest trends, shifts, and brands. Diving deeper and unpacking our favorite bits of the Sunday letter.
CULTURE
00:35 — BRAND ACTIVISM’S REBOOT // Brands are wading into political waters once more. The Skimm brought ReproductiveRights.gov back online. Others, like e.l.f and Costco, are pushing back against DEI’s demise. Creators are ending relationships with misaligned partners. And, as
said in her 2025 predictions: “What people choose to eat, where they shop for groceries, and the wellness practices they follow will be more politicized than ever.” Time to have some very tough internal convos.04:24 — FRIDA’S MISBEHAVING // Brands misbehaving went from emerging to epidemic overnight. On Sunday, I shared DrSquatch, a smoking-coded golf brand (that I found through the amazing, Haruko Hayakawa), and Nike. This week, Frida Baby debubbed a snot-covered OOH campaign and whole series of ‘misbehaving’ posts. Even kid brands are going ‘bad’. Brands are behaving like people—and people like it.
F&B
11:56 — METAMUCIL’S MISS // Psyllium husk is nothing new, but the growing interest in fiber, especially in the menopause space, is something to track. Brands like Metamucil, with existing shelf space and relationships, should be perfectly positioned for this moment. Except, like so many brands with large Silver audiences, they seem afraid to upset an existing customer to get a new one. I argue that if they updated their view of Silvers, we wouldn’t need to even have that conversation.
SILVERS, ALPHAS & ZS
16:47 — INGREDIENTS STILL MATTER // We start with short segment on brands, like The Whats Supp Co, paying attention to trending ingredients. And, naturally, end up discussing NADs. Which Jenny Evans predicted would be a huge conversation. And
flagged as ‘discussion worthy’ in her interview with Monastery’s founder, Athena Hewett.RETAIL
19:08 — AI & RETAIL // If you aren’t educating yourself on the future of AI and retail you are asleep at the wheel. Generative search will be a very different landscape and will be ubiquitous within 2 years. I’m not even that passionate about AI, but I can’t say this loudly enough. I have many, many thoughts in this interview. But in the pod, we get to the 3 big (bare minimum) things brands need to do to prepare.
SPORT
25:16 — PHOTOGRAPHY’S REVIVAL // Between Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari pics and this beautiful Vibram shoot, we ask: is great photography back?
WELLNESS & BEAUTY
27:34 — BRYAN: CRAZY OR CLEVER? // Say what you will about Bryan Johnson (this interview is a good primer) but he has good timing. The increasing awareness and concern around heavy metals, forever chemicals, etc, in everything from vitamins to baby food is growing. Bryan’s ‘Don’t Die’ certification initiative feels timely. That said, building a brand for certifications is surprisingly hard. Many, from B-Corp to LEED have struggled to manage it—a whole podcast for another day and a non-desired future career for Kirsten.
TRAVEL
30:36 — FULL SENSE EXPERIENCES // Travel is becoming more and more about activating every sense—from cold plunges to ‘olfactory journeys.’ One-stop, full-sense, always-on is the future of travel.
FUN FOR THE WEEK
32:22 — DESIGN SHOWS ARE STAGING A COMEBACK // Monoprix’s enormous (and cool) list of collabs announced at Maison & Objet is something to behold. But so is the revival of the good, old design show. Maison & Objet has been all over my feed in much the same way Salone Mobile was last year. Something is happening here.
Missing the letter this all ties back to? This way:
That’s all folx.
-Chris
If you read this and liked it, that little heart is there for that. The algo and I appreciate it.
PS. If you prefer Apple, Spotify, or YouTube you can listen there too.
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