Last week, a private jet arrived in Zambia from Egypt. Sounds normal enough. But the cargo was far from normal: ~$5.7m in cash, 602 fake (!) gold bars, five pistols, and 126 rounds of ammo. Zambian authorities have arrested 12 people as they investigate what the heck was going on there. We look forward to watching this movie someday.
In today’s email:
No good news: Why does social media keep screwing up news?
Watch: The economics behind the pickleball phenomenon.
“Girl dinner”: From 1.4B+ TikTok views to Popeyes’ menu.
Around the Web: Your cat’s fave YouTube channels, the appeal of flavorless candy, tips to keep produce fresh, and more.
👇 Listen: The state of the news business sucks. Social media is a big reason why.
The big idea
Meta vs. Canada is a long pattern of dismantling news
Meta’s ban on Canadian news is part of a larger pattern of upending and preventing access to information.
2023-08-24T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Ryla
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Meta of “putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety” this week, after it blocked news from its platforms amid the nation’s wildfire emergency.
Canada’s new Online News Act requires tech companies to pay publishers for linking to or repurposing their content. Meta called the legislation “unworkable,” blocking news access for its Canadian users in response.
Google also threatened to remove news links, but intends to wait until the law takes effect.
Australia passed similar legislation in 2021, but tech companies were ultimately able to negotiate with Australian publishers.
Social media…
… has played a pivotal role in news, connecting outlets with audiences and offering real-time coverage from journalists and citizen reporters — even in countries with strict media censorship.
It has made itself a mainstay in news consumption, with more than half of Americans getting at least some news via social media. Canadians have been relying on social media less but 25% still consider it their primary source. Meanwhile:
A quarter of US adults under 30 prefer TikTok for news.
Younger audiences are more frequently turning to influencers and celebrities over journalists and traditional media.
But remember when…
… Facebook told everyone it got high engagement from videos, so newsrooms decided to lay off writers to “pivot to video,” but then it was… all a big lie that ended with Facebook agreeing to a $40m settlement with advertisers in 2019?
Those kinds of things seem to keep happening, diminishing our access to high-quality news while misinformation spreads.
X is planning to remove headlines on news links for “aesthetics.”
AI-generated content has only just begun to replace articles by humans — and it’s often full of errors.
Meta said…
… Canadians would still have access to government and emergency accounts.
But many Canadian organizations trying to spread wildfire resources felt hamstrung by the blocks, with some reporting confusion and mistrust among volunteers without the ability to share news, perThe New York Times.
More broadly, many US governments are banning TikTok, while the ever-in-flux X had to restore free API access to such agencies for public utility purposes.
Streaming platforms Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Max, and Peacock are pushing users toward their cheaper, ad-supported tiers, perThe Hollywood Reporter, as the margins are proving more lucrative. The future of TV looks like… old TV.
SNIPPETS
Peloton’s crisis team is getting a workout this quarter — down $37m in YoY sales, with 20k paused subscriptions, 750k requests for seat replacements, and a bigger-than-expected loss of $242m.
Happy Pumpkin Spice Latte Day to all who celebrate. Starbucks’ signature fall drink is back today, a boost for cozy autumnal feelings and for the chain’s bottom line — sales for the PSL juggernaut were up 17% last year.
Apollo, a 160-pound, 5’8” humanoid robot, may be coming to a warehouse near you. Robotics firm Apptronik is piloting Apollo, capable of lifting boxes up to 55 pounds, for a commercial release in late 2024.
US national parks have become a safe haven for the most precious animal: the cash cow. In 2022, tourists spent a record $24B in the gateway communities surrounding the National Park Service’s 424 sites.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon. India’s $75m investment in the spacecraft paid off, as it joins the US, China, and the former Soviet Union as the only nations to make a soft moon landing.
Calling out of work today? We won’t be surprised if that’s a yes.PTO-tracking app Flamingo found that Aug. 24 is the most common call-in-sick day for US workers. But don’t ask why — nobody knows.
New tech news: Journalists from Vice’s tech vertical, Motherboard, launched their own publication, 404 Media. Vice filed for bankruptcy in May, but still paid execs bonuses of up to $900k.
Of the 90% of startups that fail, 82% go under due to running out of money. Securing series funding can keep a business afloat. Here’s how it works.
Video
Watch: The economics of pickleball, America’s fastest-growing sport
It’s about time we add “Being asked if you play pickleball” to the list of life’s inevitabilities alongside death and taxes.
Once a niche sport for retirees, pickleball has exploded over the last decade.
In 2022, 8.9m Americans played the quirky amalgam of badminton, pingpong, and tennis regularly, while another ~27m played at least once.
That means more people picked up a paddle than dribbled a basketball or swung a golf club last year. The sport is now nearly as popular as running.
Today, there are 10k+ known places to play pickleball in America, and that’s apparently still not enough — perAxios, there’s “a critical shortage of pickleball courts.”
Developers across the country are becoming increasingly aware of this, and the staggering economic potential of pickleball.
In Florida alone, investors have poured ~$200m into 15 private, indoor pickleball clubs.
But courts across the country are facing noise complaints that could threaten the sport’s prosperity and its cult following.
The game’s pwock sound is almost as loud as a vacuum cleaner (Why? That’s a whole other story.)
In the latest “Hustlenomics” video, we look at how much it costs to quiet the game, and the role it’ll play in the growing pickleball economy.
Stop writing every damn email from scratch. That’s essentially the opposite of self-care, and we can’t bear to see you suffer.
Here’s a pack of proven sales letters for first-touch, follow-up, and break-up communications — including a “last call” email that attained a 33% response rate, and a drip campaign that closed $100k in a month.
Use what already exists before you hit another inbox.
When TikTok says ‘jump,’ restaurants fling themselves right off a cliff
Social trends like TikTok’s “girl dinner” are changing the way the restaurant business works.
2023-08-24T00:00:00Z
Ben Berkley
Admittedly, I’m all too familiar with “girl dinners.” Sometimes (often) after a long day, the last thing you want to do is cook an elaborate meal — and that’s where girl dinners come in.
The term took off on TikTok this summer after creator Olivia Maher used it in a video. The New York Timesdescribes it as a meal “akin to an aesthetically pleasing Lunchable: an artfully arranged pile of snacks that, when consumed in high enough volume, constitutes a meal.”
The trend, which has racked up 1.4B+ views, is already old news on social media, but its impact continues to reverberate in the restaurant business.
Enter Popeyes…
The fast-food chain was quick to hop on board, launching a limited-edition “Girl Dinner” menu in July.
The menu combined all of the chain’s side dishes, like coleslaw, biscuits, and mashed potatoes, into a makeshift meal.
Opportunities like this are a marketer’s field day — and major brands with resources to quickly implement viral trends can take advantage.
Case in point…
Earlier this year, Chipotle added fajita quesadillas to its official menu after the TikTok hack blew up.
McDonald’s boosted sales last year by adding social-favorite menu hacks to its menu.
Upscale LA grocery chain Erewhon has partnered with celebrities to launch custom ($17+) smoothies.
Come November, Popeyes’ quarterly sales figures will reveal how its “Girl Dinner” stunt performed, but if history is an indicator, expect to be wowed: social media stunts have been core to the chain’s success.
Popeyes was famously behind the 2019 “tweet [that] changed the restaurant industry,” perRestaurant Business, igniting a chicken sandwich war — and its sales.
AROUND THE WEB
🪐 On this day: In 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted to remove Pluto’s status as a planet.
🐱 That’s cool: The best YouTube channels for your cat, which, yes, contain a lot of birds and fish.
🥕 How to:Keep produce fresh, which sometimes means keeping certain items away from each other.
🍬 That’s interesting: Why people like Japanese candy that tastes like nothing.
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