If you run into a moose today, think twice before feeding it snacks from your bare hand â Alaskan officials recorded North Americaâs first-ever rabid moose this month. In addition to the whole rabies thing, itâs worth noting that hand-feeding a moose is generally a terrible idea.
Also: Independence Day means youâll sadly have freedom from The Hustle as well. Weâre off for the next few days â see you back here July 5.
In todayâs email:
Rest assured: These late-night snacks really might help you sleep.
The big picture: How IMAXâs big screens reel in big bucks.
Watch and learn: The latest and greatest from our YouTube channel.
Around the Web: Fantasy ambiance, a Niagara Falls daredevil, a squeaky-clean skunk, and more.
đ Listen: Why you shouldnât snooze on the new âfourth meal.â
Midnight snack
The business of bedtime snacks
Businesses are looking to lure bedtime snackers with better-for-you, sleep-promoting treats.
2023-06-30T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Ryla
For as long as I can remember, the fourth meal has been Taco Bell. Specifically, a Crunchwrap Supreme at 2:15am after closing down a karaoke bar.
But now, thereâs a new fourth meal designed to give you a peaceful nightâs sleep at a reasonable hour.
Bedtime snacks
The global sleep aids market was valued at $67.5B in 2022, per Polaris Market Research. Meanwhile, interest in âfunctionalâ beverages and snacks, with special ingredients for things like focus, energy, and relaxation, has also taken off in recent years.
Thus, itâs not surprising that thereâs an emerging market of sleep treats, perFood Dive.
Examples include:
Nightfood, which makes cookies and ice cream
Nestleâs Goodnight chocolates
Postâs Sweet Dreams cereal
Nightfoodâs products are designed for people who already indulge before bed â containing less sugar, fewer calories, and sleep ingredients like tryptophan, which our bodies use to produce melatonin.
Postâs cereal contains lavender, chamomile, and vitamins that support melatonin production.
But do they work?
Weâre certain theyâre more fun to nosh on than melatonin gummies, and more satisfying than downing a couple valerian capsules. But can they replace them?
Itâs long been said you shouldnât eat before bed, but recent studies suggest that while a large meal hurts, a light snack could help. Thatâs especially true if itâs rich in nutrients, low in calories, and includes sleep-inducing ingredients â like tryptophan.
It may be a while before we get studies on these specific products, but theyâre probably better for you than chowing down on a Crunchwrap Supreme before passing outâŚ
⌠Though we canât guarantee we wonât do that again.
The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action yesterday, barring consideration of race in US college admissions. The decision is limited to higher ed, but expected ripple effects on business include: fewer grads from underrepresented backgrounds in the workforce, and more legal challenges for corporate diversity initiatives and equitable hiring practices.
SNIPPETS
TodAI in AI: Typeface, an AI-powered content creation startup for enterprises, must be feeling font-astic after securing $100m in funding â as should text-to-video AI startup Runway, fresh off $141m in funding.
Oh, and⌠topping them all: AIâs newest, most wild investment round comes from personal assistant maker Inflection AI, which raised â prepare a dramatic gasp â $1.3B.
Get ready for more like this: Microsoft is rolling out AI-made shopping guides â e.g., if you search âcampingâ on Bing, expect it to generate a product list recommending things like tents and sleeping bags.
High hopes: Virgin Galactic safely completed its first commercial spaceflight, and has sold ~800 tickets for future flights. Wanna join them? No problem â just pony up the required $450k.
Scratch that: The US economy actually grew at a 2% annualized rate in Q1, per the Commerce Department â a revision from the previous estimate of 1.3%.
This sucks: In a new survey from the Anti-Defamation League, 52% of US adults reported experiencing hate or harassment online, up from 40% last year.
Going extinct:National Geographiccut 17 editorial roles, including all of the magazineâs staff writers and its entire podcast staff â the end of an era for the 135-year-old publication.
Donât remind us, Linda: Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino warned her team itâll require âhand-to-hand combatâ to bring advertisers who fled Elon Muskâs brand of chaos back into the fold. Not wrong, but some real funny word choice while her boss is training for a needless potential bout with Mark Zuckerberg.
Generational differences can be tricky to navigate, especially now with five different generations in the workplace for the first time ever.
Chart
Olivia Heller
How IMAX keeps reeling in the big bucks
The company is so popular, even Tom Cruise canât get in on the action.
2023-06-30T00:00:00Z
Jacob Cohen
The real âmission impossibleâ is getting Mission: Impossible onto bigger screens.
The situation: Tom Cruiseâs Mission: Impossible â Dead Reckoning Part One opens July 12. Christopher Nolanâs Oppenheimer blasts into theaters July 21.
Oppenheimer has an agreement to play on every IMAX screen in North America for three weeks upon release â meaning the Cruise camp only has IMAX screens for about a week, which will likely impact the movieâs bottom line.
The big picture
In case it wasnât clear, IMAX screens reel in eye-poppinâ profits. Per Variety, Sonyâs latest Spider-Man film earned an average of $34.2k per IMAX screen throughout its opening weekend, versus $19.7k on standard screens.
Last year, Cruiseâs Top Gun: Maverick earned $100m+ from IMAX alone.
While movie attendance is still down 33% from 2019, per Variety, demand for IMAX-style moviegoing is booming. Globally, IMAX accounted for ~1% of screens showing Avatar: The Way of Water, but generated 11.3%, or $250m, of the filmâs box office sales.
Though IMAX saw revenues plunge throughout the pandemic, the company projects ~$1.1B in global box office sales this year, returning to 2019 levels.
Rewinding the tape: IMAX has come a long way since 1994, when current CEO Richard Gelfond took over. For an interesting look into how the company swapped business models and cut costs, check out Gelfondâs take here.
Listen Now
How Google built an accessible brand
Accessible, as in, also made for those with disabilities â which affect way more people than youâd expect.
This episode of Inclusion and Marketing breaks down Googleâs quest for universal access, and how to apply those lessons to a budding brand.
Listen below for a better understanding of accessible branding.
Grab some corn (pop is fine, we prefer bread), find that perfect position on the couch, and enjoy the latest from our channel:
Do you, in the presence of YouTubeâs vast library, filled with cat videos and epic fails, solemnly swear to watch our clip about Las Vegasâ $2B wedding tourism industry? (Nowâs when you say, âI do.â)
Many of you probably work 40 hours per week, on the dot. If youâre Elon Musk â if so, uh, hello? â youâre probably putting in more like 80-120 hours. If youâre Icelandic, it might be closer to 35. What if weâre all getting it wrong?
Thatâs just showbiz, baby. No, literally, we made a video about the biz of shows â as in the economics of Broadway â an industry that draws in 14m+ people a year and produces multibillion-dollar megahits like The Lion King.
Whatâs causing mayhem in the housing market? Is buying a home a good investment right now? We talked withThe Psychology of Money author Morgan Housel to find out.
AROUND THE WEB
đ˛ On this day: In 1859, Jean Francois Gravelet, AKA Charles Blondin, became the first person to tightrope across Niagara Falls, balancing 160 feet above the Niagara gorge in pink tights and a yellow tunic.
âď¸ Useful:Background ambiance and music for your next âD&Dâ campaign. Or, if youâd like to listen to âFriendly Landâ music with some nice rain sounds.
đ§ Blog: A deep dive on mental health in the workplace.
If centaurs were real, the bottom half would start walking around immediately after being born, while the top half would be all floppy for the first two years.SOURCE