Marcus Smart: The basketball player has announced that he will be leaving the Boston Celtics to join the Memphis Grizzlies. Twitter users are celebrating the player's time on the Celtics and expressing their feelings on him joining a new team.
How brands can jump in: If your brand is a basketball fan, here's your chance to share thoughts or prompt conversation with your followers. Best to play it safe, though - don't mention any players or teams directly!
Hurd: Former House Republican Will Hurd from Texas has announced a presidential bid. Twitter users are discussing their stance on the politician.
Zuck: Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Meta, has expressed that he would like to fight Elon Musk in a "cage match." Twitter users are discussing who they think would win.
Missing Titanic Submersible
What it is: The internet is currently watching for updates on a missing Titanic submersible that disappeared during it's voyage on Sunday morning. This story has the internet divided as some people are making memes of the situation and others are feeling uneasy on the rush to save billionaires who made a choice to enter this vessel willingly (even paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so), overshadowing a deadly shipwreck full of migrants looking to seek refuge that occurred recently in Greece.
What brands can learn: Not every trending situation needs to be meme’d or jumped in on, especially when it is making light of serious situations. It is important to read the room and extensively review content from all angles to avoid appearing insensitive or ignorant to a major news event.
Examples: 1, 2, 3
Gen Z Mocking Millennial Humor on TikTok
What it is: For a long time, the baby boomer generation was consistently the one mocked on comedic social media accounts. Recently, Gen Z has taken to TikTok to mock their perception of "millennial humor," denoting that it comes off as highly manufactured and "trying to hard to be quirky". Gen Z points to the abundance of comedic sketches presented in the form of songs as well as the "millennial pause" as prime examples of "millennial humor." Generational discourse is nothing new to the internet, and has become widespread on TikTok. However, it is interesting to see the shift in conversation as Gen Z increases their online presence - what was once the internet norm is now the butt of the joke.
What we can learn: As Gen Z (and each generation after) ages into the consumer space, it is important to think about how your brand is speaking to them as they gain more buying power. Gen Z's version of brand loyalty differs from previous generations in that there is a greater level of skepticism that comes with being digital natives, as they can verify all the information that brands are putting in front of them in real-time. Whether your brand is directly marketing to this generation or not, it is important to consider how your brand shows up for a variety of audiences. What works for one might become a joke for another!
Rare sketches by Leonardo da Vinci have made their way to the States. 🎨
Move over, red lipstick: the "cherry cola lip" is TikTok's latest beauty obsession. 💋
Thanks for reading! Today’s issue was created by Samantha Lurie and Gianna Barone. Want to subscribe? Reach out to Steph Caruso and Shelby Jacobs.