CATCHING FIRE: A $170k Labubu, standing on business and the king of trolls faces the music
Do keep up!
Greetings from Capri, Italy, where I’m trying to take a vacation but the trends just won’t stop trending.
It’s a briefer-than-usual update so that I can get back to eating in spots like Lombardi a S. Chiara in Naples. I went for their best-in-town pizza but left with a whole new obsession - frittatine di pasta napoletane, aka deep fried macaroni.
Brace yourself for a super sized trends round up when I return. Before that you’ll get a guest post from the fabulous Nicole James who’s just launched the insanely excellent
. I think you’ll love it.In the meantime let’s get into what’s blown up since the last time I sent you a CATCHING FIRE…
Going viral
“It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business”… after Justin Bieber was filmed remonstrating with photographers over their constant invasions into his privacy.
During the long exchange he said: “It’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business”. That moment blew up because Bieber’s choice of words, which originate from black and queer communities, came off as a cringe misuse and thus it quickly became a meme.
For those needing an explanation of the phrases… “clock it” means to notice or pay attention and “standing on business” is used to say how serious a person may be and to convey their unwillingness to back down.
The Bieber soundbite has become such a joke he’s even acknowledged it on his own Instagram by positing a remix of the argument.
Fridge Cigarette… is the new name for a Diet Coke according to TikTokers after reallyrachelreno posted about a chilled one being the equivalent of lighting up.
Commentators ran with the analogy and shared their own takes on what their “take the edge off” beverages were. Mine is a full fat Coke, Mexican preferably.
RELATED: Following the mass adoption of nicotine pouches from brands like ZYN and Velo, caffeine-packed ones are now on sale. Feed Me’s
flagged that Wip is trying to grab a slice of the multi-billion dollar caffeine industry. Watch out Starbucks.The Sabrina Carpenter feminism discourse… is everywhere and a Rorschach test for your views on female sexuality.
Carpenter’s saucy, with-a-wink style and her music’s focus on disappointing men, has left acres of space for others to muse over whether she’s a champion for women or a scourge. But it was the release of the artwork for her new album, Man’s Best Friend, that sparked the latest round of hot takes…
Many were deeply offended by the submissive, male gaze of it all, with some going as far as to suggest it endangered women. Others said Carpenter, 26, was empowering women and questioned whether everyone had forgotten that Madonna existed and broke down barriers in the 1990s by celebrating her sexual agency.
Amongst the noise the real winner is Carpenter herself. As commentators hit publish on their think pieces she scored her first number one debut with Manchild, which isn’t even close to her best track.
So hot right now
A calm nervous system… and enough money so that bills aren’t a worry. That’s what this year’s American college graduates are considering as “success” as they make their way into the world of work.
Students are leaving education at a time of unprecedented turmoil with AI upending industries, a cost of living crisis and an unpredictable global stage. According to listening sessions conducted by the Gen Z researcher
, it’s meant that the Class of 2025 have swapped big dreams about their futures in favour of save-yourself-from-disappointment realism.Trends, trends and even more trends
Anti-tourism… after local protesters took to the streets of Barcelona, San Sebastián, Majorca, Ibiza, Minorca, Genoa, Venice and Lisbon to pressure governments into taking action against visitors who they blame for spiralling housing costs and negative impacts on the environment.
Need to know
A reckoning for trolls and the website Tattle Life… An internet forum loved by critics of social media stars has been forced to pay damages to a couple who had their reputations trashed.
Neil and Donna Sands were awarded £300,000/$403,000 following their legal fight and during the proceedings managed to expose the identity of the secretive owner.
Tattle Life, which makes around £320,000/$430,000 a year in advertising revenue from around 12 million monthly visitors, is owned by Sebastian Bond who had pretended to be a woman named Helen McDougal on his gossip website.
Lydia Millen was one of many creators who celebrated the legal victory. In a statement she said Tattle Life, “very nearly destroyed my mental health”. It’s now expected that dozens of social media stars who were torn to shreds online will also sue.
Meanwhile the Sands’ aren’t finished with their fight. They plan to go after the individuals who spread lies about them too.
Karen Read… was cleared of charges relating to the death of her partner John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, after a blockbuster retrial that divided the local community.
The key role played by online commentators to draw attention to the case will almost certainly change how defence teams tackle future trials. I’ll write a full post on this soon.
Wisdom signalling… Once you see it you can’t stop seeing it.
Someone paid $170,000 for a Labubu… The four-foot-high doll was sold at the world’s first auction dedicated to the uber-popular collectibles.
Meanwhile The New York Times think that the enormous demand for the monsters are a sign of China’s growing cultural power. I think they’re spot on.
This week I’m…
OBSESSED WITH
Pitbull fans - again. Back in March I shared a video from his O2 show where many in the crowd came in bald caps in honour of the bald headed singer. When he returned for another concert almost everyone got the memo.
READING
All the discourse about how a new Ryan Murphy drama about Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has butchered her famous style, but
had the best take in Brain Matter, posing the broader question: “Is it the case that she is truly fashionable or, is she just thin, white and blonde?”Streaming overtook cable and broadcast TV use last month in the U.S. according to Nielsen, and written up in The Hollywood Reporter
Gen Z aren’t posting on Instagram, so Meta has responded with the “most expensive brand campaign in the app’s history” according The New York Times
An Axios report into the starkly different content a 30-year-old man and a woman of the same age were served after they set up new TikTok accounts
The Wing’s founder is back and she told The New York Times all about her new shoppable hotel venture
EXCITED FOR… The spectacle that will be Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s star-studded wedding in Venice, Italy. Celebrations start tomorrow according to reports. I will be watching.
highly flammable is produced and written by me, Rachel Richardson
I’m a content creator, commentator and a consultant for hire at Beginning, Middle and End
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Say hello at rr@bmend.com
Thank you for the explanation of Justin Bieber's standing on business meltdown 😂. I've spent the last week thinking of all the things standing on business could mean. I had very different theories
Thank you for sharing my research!