An alien at the Super Bowl
I said yes to free food and a primitive human display of rage and ecstasy
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In today’s issue:
Apple Watches on the wrong body part
The $1.85 billion soda brand
91% of Gen Z want to do this with their coworkers
I’m launching something soon…
Notes from a messy desk
I have landed in an unfamiliar terrain called New Orleans, where thousands of earthlings gather inside a massive, glowing structure, called the Caesars Superdome, to engage in what appears to be a ritual of simultaneous disagreement. The event is called the Super Bowl, though no one is using an actual bowl, which is confusing. Instead, they fixate on the cadres of brutish men colliding into each other at high speeds, while emitting synchronized roars of what seems to be existential agony. It’s what I imagine the Roman Colosseum was like, but with numbered jerseys in place of togas.
A man called Donald Trump is one level above us and as soon as one earthling notices, everyone in the rows ahead turns around to catch a glimpse (and to my horror, with glee!) of an old, orange man with what looks like an apostrophe of crispy hair atop his block head.
I’m not just at the Super Bowl, but am rolling with royalty as the guest of Anthony Noto, the CEO of SoFi and a friend, who not only has the naming rights to a football stadium but was once the CFO of the NFL. Just prior to the big game, we attend the tailgate party and rub shoulders with legends I didn’t know existed. There is an infinite supply of food, none of which I have to pay for, and admittedly a big part of the draw. I sit down with my buffet steak and creamy corn and am informed by a very nice lady that I am crashing the Green Bay Packers table, not realizing it was designated for them. I find out she’s their Chief Marketing Officer. We talk. Everyone I meet has kids in college.
Back to the game. While I struggle to understand the appeal of mass communal screaming, I do understand the gift that is Kendrick Lamar, who put on one hell of a halftime show.
I have always wondered what it was like to be in a Heironymous Bosch painting, and last weekend I got more than a taste.
But really, attending the Super Bowl was an unforgettable experience that I’m so grateful to both Anthony and SoFi for, and Kendrick’s performance was sick. A fitting farewell to my time in the United States (at least for now).
Wheels Up,
Sophia
Collabs on my radar
Motorola is dropping a limited-edition razr phone with Paris Hilton – it’s pink and says “THAT’S HOT” on the back. RIMOWA and Rick Owens collabed on a luggage collection, and no two pieces are the same. Mark & Graham partnered with English design house Sanderson on a floral-forward home decor line, and most products can be monogrammed. A personalized jewelry trunk or ruffled dog bandana are the sweetest gifts. Interior designer Brigette Romanek dropped a cookware duo for Our Place in Espresso. Lucky dropped a Mickey & Friends collab, including a varsity jacket for cool Disney adults. Stella McCartney and maude partnered on a creative campaign with vibrators posed alongside the brand’s iconic purses. Two of maude’s pleasure products will be offered as a gift with purchase at some Stella McCartney stores. This is so fun: Dream Baby Press and Valentino teamed up on custom love letters penned by contemporary literature and culture writers. You can stop in at select Valentino boutiques to get one of the hand-written love letters addressed to the lover of your choosing. The White Lotus marketing team continues to go hard on collabs – you can now get a White Lotus-themed Away luggage or poolside tote. Also, you can now shop Juliana Salazar’s Asics sneaker online, though it’s selling out fast.
Collab report: Last week, subscribers were most into Ariana Grande x Swarovski ear cuffs and Ray-ban x Meta smart glasses.
Shop my chronic airport look
I’ve been on ten flights and away for 27 days this year. Here’s what I’m wearing, using, and wanting.
Links to make you smarter and more interesting
There’s a market for Apple Watch anklets. Influencers are showing off the new corporeal real estate for the smartwatch – the ankle – because they believe it better tracks steps and other movement versus the wrist. In certain cases – if you have a walking pad or are pushing a stroller and your arms aren’t moving with your steps – that could be the case. Either way, Apple should take note and consider the Apple Anklet. Cute.
Reformation announced Pete Davidson as the brand’s “official boyfriend” to sell limited-edition sweatshirts and boxer briefs. It’s also Davidson’s shirtless debut after getting 200+ tattoos removed.
There’s a 500% spike in mentions of “high agency” across X, Reddit, and other social media platforms. It’s supposed to describe someone with an entrepreneurial spirit. Someone that goes after what they want. It’s basically the new “disruptor” in Silicon Valley.
Only 11% of female founders feel supported by investors. On top of that, 30% experience mental health challenges.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti wants the publisher to make a joyful, fact-based social network, “especially for women who are left out of this vibe shift to ‘masculine energy’ from Trump, Musk, Zuck, Rogan, et al.” The intention is to cater to BuzzFeed’s existing audience who might be dissatisfied with the decisions of current social media executives. It’s an illuminating stance, given the company just laid off journalists, that they’re toying with a pivot to Tech Company.
Coach CEO Todd Kahn predicts the brand will build a billion-dollar footwear business over the next few years. The “accessible luxury” brand is killing it right now, and a lot of that success can be credited to the team’s Gen Z strategy – they’re looking at the data, but they also have 150+ Gen Zs giving them feedback through their Coachtopia co-design initiative. It’s why the brand plans to focus on their upcoming $145 Soho sneakers. Last season’s shoe charms were a strategic move.
Consumers are really not feeling Poppi’s vending machine influencer campaign. The probiotic soda brand sent vending machines filled with their products to content creators as part of a publicity stunt last weekend, and the reaction from a lot of people was: this is too much. We’re seeing the tides turn when it comes to influencer marketing – consumers are less interested in rich people getting free shit and posting about it. We’re entering the age of mindful consumption, and sustainable and ethical influencer gifting is part of that.
Olipop, Poppi’s gut health soda nemesis, is now valued at $1.85 billion. The company just raised another $50 million, which it plans to invest in growing the product lineup, marketing efforts, and distribution.
Female-focused search engine Diem just closed their Seed+ round funding. They saw 40% growth around Trump’s inauguration. CEO Emma Bates shared a few updates Diem released to the app on Inauguration Day: Updates to anonymous mode to protect searches for things like reproductive health and gender affirming care, updates to their privacy policy to resist subpoenas for a user’s personal data, and updated abortion resources in search results. It all ties back to the platform’s mission to create a search engine that keeps everyone safe.
You can now join the waitlist for the Selleb app, “where you can see what the coolest people on the internet are actually buying through their receipts.” The sisters behind the brand have been using their Substack to share what influential tastemakers are buying. It’s a smart lead magnet for their product, and it’s also a lot of fun.
A dark day for millennials who grew up watching The O.C. All Quicksilver, Billabong, and Volcom stores in the US – over 100 total – are closing after the parent company filed for bankruptcy.
Hundreds of trust fund babies head to an annual conference to figure out how to get rid of their wealth for the greater good. The young people at the Making Money Make Change conference have a combined net worth of at least $246 million – plus around $1.5 billion they’ll inherit from their families. They attend workshops and panels on things like housing justice and reparations, and learn how to redistribute their wealth.
"I was watching Disney Channel movies in that era of 'Richie Rich,'" Meg, the daughter of a billionaire, told Business Insider. "And I was like, 'They're the bad guys. We're the bad guys.'"
People are using ChatGPT to write their wedding speeches, obituaries, and “I can’t come to your bachelorette” texts to friends. I think this is fine, as long as it’s to help with writer’s block and not to fabricate your humanity. That being said, too much AI could be atrophying our brains.
AI consultants share best practices for writing good chatbot prompts. If you are going to use AI (you probably are if you’re not already), your results are only as good as your prompts – what you ask the chatbot. These are helpful tips on how to get really good at them. A few favorites:
“I'll give some context about what I'm trying to do, a short, punchy question, and then ask follow-ups that make them increasingly specific, and then you can adjust based on what you're seeing.” – Dan Priest from PwC
“I also give the AI clear instructions about the style and depth of response I want, like ‘Provide a concise, bullet-point summary,’ or ‘Act as a finance expert,’ or ‘cite credible sources or references and provide links.’” –Matt Barrington, Americas chief technology officer at EY
“The trick is to have a dialogue with it and to get comfortable building agents that can execute simple tasks. Let AI handle the 80% of tasks we're mediocre at, so we can excel at the exciting 20%, as one of my colleagues likes to say.” –Rodney Zemmel from McKinsey
91% of Gen Z want more opportunities to connect with their coworkers IRL. I don’t think this means it’s time for your company to institute a forced relocation/in-office policy, but there’s never been a more urgent time to find creative ways to bring your workers together, in the flesh.
Last week, you were really into the Otessa Moshfegh Prada campaign and Plot’s fundraising news. They were the most clicked links.
More from my rich universe of endeavors
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yes to tabio socks, nili lotan, AMZN teardrops, and super bowl! i went the year bruno mars did the half - even if it's not your fave artist, the show is spectacular
is your friend, ceo of sofi, the person we can thank for the lawsuit against the biden administrations pause & attempted relief of student loans? dropped only when they got a timeline for when payments & interest accrual would continue?