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Each week, Padilla’s Insights + Strategy team stands at the intersection of people, culture and brands to bring you five stories that you can read in five minutes.
1. Log-off incentive
Facebook will pay users to log off before the 2020 election. Why should you care? For once, it’s pay NOT to play. In an effort to assess the impact of social media on voting, Facebook will pay U.S. users up to $120 to deactivate their Facebook or Instagram accounts leading up to the very contested November Presidential election. Here’s hoping you’re one of the lucky ones selected to participate to get a much-needed screen break while getting paid. [NYPOST]
2. Meals on heels
Drag queens deliver dinner and a show in San Francisco. Why should you care? Anything goes in the age of COVID and that includes bringing drag to the people since the people can no longer come to see drag. D’Arcy Drollinger, owner of San Francisco cabaret Oasis, had the idea for drag queens and kings to deliver dinner, drinks and a curbside performance for around $100. Appropriately dubbed ‘Meals on Heels’ – this concept is sure to bring folks that have been in isolation or glued to their screens in meetings, a boost of morale and just a bit closer to our former normal. [NYT]
3. Zoom towns
Vacation destinations like the Hamptons, Cape Cod and Aspen – and basically anywhere but San Francisco and Manhattan – are booming as remote work becomes a permanent fixture in our lives. Why should you care? This “Zoom town” trend represents two sides: the boom and gloom of the current housing market. The boom includes Americans with stock portfolios, retirement funds and good jobs that enable them to work remotely and safely. While on the gloom side, we have Americans that rent, carry huge student loan debts, no retirement savings and now are dependent on the government/family for an affordable place to live. Once again, just another way 2020 is exposing America’s increasing inequality. [NPR]
4. Away messages
In a new normal that requires us to be totally online all the time, we’re hearing a call for the return of away messages. Why should you care? Maybe this is the ongoing trend of nostalgia creeping up on us again – but those AOL (America Online) away messages circa early 2000s sound really good right about now. For those unfamiliar, they worked like Post-it notes stuck to your digital door letting people know you were unavailable to chat at the moment but would BRB. In today’s world which favors constant connection that can end up being stressful and distracting, we need a way to politely disconnect, so here’s our vote for the return of away messages. [Medium]
5. McDonald’s x Travis Scott
There’s now an explanation for McDonald’s cryptic Twitter statuses filled with cactus emojis: the unveiling of their latest partnership with rapper, Travis Scott (whose record label is Cactus Jack, hence the emojis). Why should you care? You can now order a Travis Scott Meal which consists of his go-to order of: a quarter pounder with cheese, bacon and lettuce, medium fries with BBQ sauce and a Sprite. The partnership also includes McDonald’s themed merch in collaboration with his record label, Cactus Jack that includes a nugget body pillow and t-shirts. 2020 will be the year of a lot of things, one of them being: unlikely collaborations – and to that we say, keep it weird 2020 and keep ‘em coming. [BuzzFeed]
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