We’re writing a story about corporate swag, AKA all the free junk you’ve got with some company’s logo on it. Have you ever left a conference with a suitcase full of branded stress balls? Wowed a grocery clerk with your collection of promotional tote bags? Zipped into the embroidered fleece jacket your company gifted you in place of a holiday bonus? Please take our quick survey here.
In today’s email:
Everything old is new again: Cool.
Electric shock?: Utility bills continue to rise.
Around the web: How to listen to dirt, a tough numbers game, and more.
👇 Listen: How much do we really trust chatbots?
The Big Idea
Marketers are turning to old tricks
Life cereal rides the nostalgia wave by bringing back Little Mikey.
2024-09-17T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Rylah
You may have heard the urban legend that Little Mikey, the adorable boy featured in Life cereal ads in the 1970s and ‘80s, died after consuming Pop Rocks and soda.
That’s not true. The actor, John Gilchrist, is alive and well in New York.
But his character — a picky eater who ends up enjoying Life cereal — has been revived myriad times, including in the ‘80s with an adult Mikey, and in ads where Mikey is a young girl.
Most recently, Life’s new ads are minimusicals starring Hudson Uebelhardt as Mikey.
Is everything a reboot?
Seems like it, doesn’t it? The Mikey campaign is considered one of the all-time greats, so it’s no wonder why Life owner Quaker keeps coming back for more.
And perFood Dive, several brands are reverting to what worked before, but repackaging it for consumers using streaming services and cellphones.
Maybelline brought its 1991 “Maybe It’s Maybelline” slogan to TikTok influencers. That slogan has 84% brand recall, unlike “Make It Happen,” the meh slogan Maybelline introduced in 2015.
Kellogg’s released limited-edition packaging of its cereals’ iconic mascots — Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, etc. — last year.
McDonald’s revived its Halloween Boo Buckets in 2022 and highlighted one of its OG mascots, Grimace, with a new shake last year, spawning a viral trend.
After an unsuccessful attempt to promote healthier grilled chicken, KFC revitalized its brand by bringing back mascot Colonel Sanders in 2015, featuring the character in marketing, cross-promos, and even licensing his look as a Halloween costume.
Quaker, owned by PepsiCo, has seen sales drop in North America amid contamination issues, but maybe Mikey will renew interest in the cereal many of us probably enjoyed as kids — or at least interest in whether you’ll die if you combine Pop Rocks and soda. (BTW, you won’t.)
Toolbox
You’re going to want to click these helpful links very, very fast, but please stretch first.
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💰 Supplement that wallet: Ready to start up a side hustle? Here are a few tips for finding the right customers to fuel it.
TRENDING
Rupert Murdoch’s succession trial began this week in a Reno, Nevada, court. Murdoch wants to amend his trust to give full control of his media empire — which includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, among others — to his eldest son, while his other children oppose the change.
SNIPPETS
Harland & Wolff, the 163-year-old UK shipbuilding company that constructed the Titanic, said it’s insolvent after a request for $264m from the UK government was rejected.
Apple Watch’s sleep apnea detection feature received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. The tool requires data from 10 nights of sleep over 30 days to diagnose the condition.
No thanks: to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s AI-surveilled utopia. During a company meeting, the billionaire advocated for a Big Brother-esque system of AI-powered cameras and drones that’d record and report crimes.
Synchron, a Neuralink competitor, announced that its brain implant allows users to control Amazon Alexa with their thoughts. The first user is an ALS patient who cannot use his arms or hands.
Amazon is changing its tune on remote work, requiring corporate staff to work in the office full time starting in January. It currently requires at least three in-office days per week.
Gold prices hit a record high of $2.59k per ounce Monday. Bullion value often spikes during periods of volatility and, well, would you just look at the world?
For job-hunting devs: Here’s Tech With Tim’s checklist for landing a developer role in the age of AI.
Don’t miss this…
If sales is the art of building trust in a tight window, you can’t afford to screw up on the credibility front. See 11 key mistakes experts say will make you seem uncredible rather than the much preferred incredible.
Data Point
Bad news for your utility bill: There’s about to be a power surge. US electricity demand is skyrocketing, with demand expected to increase by an average of 9% by 2028, according to new research from consulting firm ICF.
Peak demand for electricity is projected to increase by an average of 5% during the same period; and meanwhile, demand in the mid-Atlantic region, in particular, is estimated to increase 68% by 2050, compared to the country’s 57% average.
Unsurprisingly, a little concept known as supply and demand means prices will also soar. The report estimates that electricity costs could increase by an average of 19% by 2028.
Why the sudden hunger for electricity? You can blame technology: Innovations in EVs, data centers, artificial intelligence, batteries, and crypto are all to blame for our stressed-out grid.
Fit The Bill
Can you identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
This disruptive tech company was founded in 2008 by three Bay Area roommates.
They famously funded $30k by selling politically themed cereal.
As the company has scaled, so too has the controversy, with many jurisdictions — especially peak tourist destinations — banning or limiting its services.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
Weird Patents
A rock star inventor: Sometimes a patent drawing is just too good. This is one of those times. Edward L. Van Halen — yes, that Van Halen — patented a “musical instrument support” in 1987. The device could be used to prop up string instruments like guitars, banjos, and mandolins on a player’s leg, allowing for full use of both hands to “play the instrument in a completely new way.”
AROUND THE WEB
📚 On this day: In 1996, Oprah Winfrey launched her influential book club, beginning with Jacquelyn Mitchard’s The Deep End of the Ocean.
