Balenciaga & Black Friday 🖤
This Week in Review☕️ : Luxury fashion giant slammed for BDSM ad campaign | Thanksgiving sales hit new record | Big Tech bets on robots replacing humans | Mental Depression worsens in the UK | Wealthy
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Quick Bites:
Fashion x Culture 🧦 : Balenciaga slammed for controversial ad campaign that depicted kids in BDSM-style attire.
The average person can't afford Balenciaga anyway, so this is a rich people problem. Unfortunately, the rich who spend $$ on the brand really dgaf- as seen by Kim Kardashian's weak response.
Kim divorced Kanye over a MAGA hat but is trying to work it out with the pedophiles at Balenciaga
Scary times
Balenciaga's response💡: “Our plush bear bags should not have been featured with children in this campaign. We are taking legal action against the parties responsible [..] “We strongly condemn abuse of children."
The fashion giant has also sued the production company for $25mn.
Balenciaga wants you to believe their child-porn campaign was an "accident"
This is Lotta Volkova, their Chief Designer….👇🏻
Our Thoughts💡: Balenciaga is very much done in our eyes. We don't care what apology they come up with. You don't f**k with children. Period.
Also, our of pure curiosity.. Should Balenciaga have all their assets frozen, their IG banned, stores shut down and all celebs slam them publicly first? Or is that only for Black designers?
E-commerce: Black Friday online sales topped $9bn in new record, CNBC reports.
Black Friday: Because, only in America, people CLOBBER each other for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have lmao
Some of this year’s hottest items included Apple MacBooks, Dyson products, drones and gaming consoles, CNBC reports.
In addition:
💡Electronics online sales were up by 221% from last year
💡Toys were up by 285%
💡Fitness equipment was up by 218%
Those are some serious numbers guys .. We've witnessed stores left looking more like battlefields when Black Friday frenzy takes over.. Those sale shoppers ain't messin'
Buy-Now-Pay-Later payments also increased significantly, as consumers continue to grapple with high prices and inflation, CNBC reports.
Soooooo.. paying on credit? Imagine that lmao
However, the 'Buy-now-Pay-later' concept has faced criticism from consumer bodies who fear it could lead to young shoppers piling on debt, The Times reports.
Borrowing from the future to fund today's Yeezys? This is why GDP can no longer be a reliable indicator of our economy.
It's gonna come crashing ANYTIME folks🙈
The truth is that the face of online addiction has become far less about the bored suburban housewife, and more about anyone who can't help themselves away from that one-click ordering button
Why else would Amazon give you 20% off Vaseline and thermal leggings and you buy.
But, the S&P 500 is giving you 20% off to financial independence but you still don't buy... ?
It's called: The Unsettling Psychology of an ONLINE SHOPPING ADDICTION
AI 🤖 : Will robot eliminate jobs entirely in the future?
Artificial intelligence systems are getting more competent with every passing day. Not only are they now capable of beating the world's best humans at complex mind games like Chess but they can also cook, paint, write and code, Business Insider reports.
💡“Google has a secretive new project that teaches code to write itself. The project is part of a broader push by Google into "generative AI"- and it could have profound implications for the company's future and developers who write code.”
-Business Insider
💡You may also be aware of “Sofia,” the human-like robot that guest-starred on the Jimmy Fallon show. She held basic conversations with Fallon and even displayed emotional reactions.
💡Elon Musk also revealed his newest humanoid robot called “Optimus” on Tesla’s 2022 AI Day. The robot only walked, waved and danced in front of its audience, but Musk promisesd that this robot will replace "hard, dangerous and repetitive" jobs.
Our Thoughts💡: As labor wages rise, it had already been increasingly tricky for big tech to justify humans with their never-ending demands & whatnot.
AI-powered Robots work 24/7. They don't need a toilet break, they can't catch the flu since they don't have an immune system- let alone a weak one, they don't need Maternity leave & they definitely don't need vacation time to go skiing in Aspen.
They really are coming for ALL of us
Mental Health 🧠 : UK faces a deepening mental health recession, Financial Times.
Employees are seeking additional help. Not only did the pandemic take a toll on people’s mental health, but it also disrupted the public health services on offer in this area, with them continuing to struggle to keep up with growing demand, Financial Times reports.
Key Highlights, according to Financial Times:
💡Last year more than 8 million people were prescribed anti-depressants in the UK
💡This figure has grown every single year since 2015- with women almost being twice the number of men
💡The cost to employers of poor mental health has increased, to upto £56bn in 2020-21 compared to £45bn in 2019.
💡A likely recession in the UK could worsen the situation further, with new data highlighting the link between economic insecurity and increased mental distress.
Our Thoughts💡: This is the time employers proves they have real skin in the game by actually practicing the commitment they preach.
Real support is a serious call to action. Not just a one-time facade In October on Mental Health Day.
The truth is that there is no wealth without help. Companies need to provide help, not because it's the right thing to do, but to also improve their bottom line.
Their is NO choice but to prioritize this anymore.
Quicker Bites
Monkeypox virus will be renamed “Mpox” to avoid stigma, WHO says.
Elon Musk says “Apple has threatened to hold Twitter off its app store.”
Snapchat CEO tells employees to be back in office 4 days a week starting February.
The US to face Iran in a politically charged World Cup.
Greta Thunberg sues her native Sweden for failing on climate.
The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season is underway.