19 April 2023

Hi folks,

Coachella may be underway right now, but some of us are tactically saving up to get our festival kick – if the reports are true, Fyre Festival II is in the pipeline. Pass us a soggy cheese sandwich.

Scroll down to read about monks, mental health, and Montana.

Stats to power your week

🌲 We hear a lot about how important the environment is to young audiences, but it’s always more complicated than you think. Since 2021, 12-15 year olds have become less concerned about recycling (-9%), but more interested in having the latest fashion and trends (+10%). Now they’re no longer stuck at home, wardrobe bragging rights are back. (GWI Kids)

🧠 Another lockdown legacy includes a number of trends around mental health. As an example, the number visiting a counselor, psychiatrist, or psychologist has increased 13% year-on-year. All that extra demand for mental health services is an interesting one to think about as AI chatbots become surrogate therapists. (GWI Core Plus)

😩 Last week junior doctors in the UK went on strike, and the RCN’s leader said nursing strikes could last “until Christmas”. What does the data say? Not only are the UK’s healthcare workers the most likely to say they feel overworked, they feel more overworked now than during the peak of the pandemic. (GWI Core)

🎮 If you close your eyes and imagine a gamer, who do you see? You might not expect the biggest console gamers to be found in Saudi Arabia. Gaming is big business there, and as part of the country’s Saudi Vision 2030, it’s investing 38 billion to become a gaming hub. (GWI Core)

☕ We can’t quite believe it either, but it turns out Italians aren’t the biggest cappuccino drinkers – they’re actually beaten by the Germans. The word “cappuccino” comes from the German word “kapuziner”, referring to an order of monks who wore a dark brown habit. Those of us in the UK enjoy a milkier drink too – ours is a latte, thanks. (GWI Core Plus) 

What’s on our radar

Amazon and Twitter are arriving at the generative AI party.

We might have our first properly viral AI song. Drake’s voice is used but, given his thoughts on the technology, Drizzy is unlikely to be impressed.

As the technology develops, so does the pushback. An Australian mayor is threatening the first defamation lawsuit over ChatGPT content, while Universal Music Group is asking streaming services to block AI tools from using its data to train their technology. Will this go the same way as sampling, where a copyright lawsuit changed the game completely?

Meanwhile the EU is preparing to go further with AI legislation, and the Biden administration has dropped hints it will follow suit. 

One of China’s biggest marketing agencies will “indefinitely” suspend working with third-party copywriters and designers to focus on AI tech, while Insider is testing its capabilities with a special pilot group. 

Another AI first: an AI-generated image won a category in a prestigious global photography competition. And more wins might be on the way with the latest Stable Diffusion release, which “excels at photorealism”. 

The first ever AI Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow, showing off the latest and greatest designs. 

Some big changes are also coming in retail: Primark is now making clothes that can be recycled, while Amazon is clamping down on free returns. 

Wendy’s had its annual Roast Day. But this time it was hosted on TikTok, not Twitter – aligning with something our research has often found – humor is less important on Twitter than you might think.

But people in Montana might miss next year’s Roast Day as its state legislature just voted to ban TikTok from operating there. And Arkansas became the second US state to require parental consent for teens to use social media.  

More signs luxury brands are riding out the bad vibes economy? LVMH and Hermes posted good results. For the rest of us, we can add candy and bowling to our list of affordable treats. 

The EPL is withdrawing gambling sponsorship from shirts, starting from the 2025/26 season. 40% of teams currently have a gambling firm as their kit sponsor.

Chart of the week

Barbie may end up being #1 in the cinema when Margot Robbie plays her in the upcoming live-action film (thanks to hype around the movie trailer), but back in toyland, her crown is slipping a little. 

In the US, Barbie’s dropped down behind two toy lines benefiting from current trends. LEGO is a good fit for kids into virtual building (think Roblox), while L.O.L Surprise! has piggybacked off the rising popularity of unboxing videos. 

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