Dinner is served at 5 pm 🍜
This Week in Review ☕️ : More people are becoming introverts | Dry January boosts Cannabis sales | GenZ is the most sober generation in history | Gyms are emptying out | Soup thrown at the Mona Lisa |
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Quick Bites:
Culture🍴: Earlier dinners, staying in more, less boozing and less socialising.. Welcome to the "introvert economy", writes Bloomberg.
Young people were already heading in this direction pre-Covid but the experience of staying home during that time has accelerated that shift.
Coming to the realization that if we drop our house temp to 50* F, our guests will finally go home 😈
Us complaining that we have no social life when in reality we love staying at home and not talking to anyone for several weeks in a row 🙄
PS. Some people don't understand that sitting in your own house alone at peace, eating snacks and minding your own biz is effing PRICELESS 💯
Take New York City for example, known as the city that never sleeps with its late-night cocktail bars and posh restaurant goers who don’t dare arrive at their tables before 8 pm.
Since the pandemic, however, 5:30 pm, is a more popular time for a reservation than 8 pm.
And it’s not just New York; data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, people under the age of 50 in the US, are starting their evenings earlier.
According to Bloomberg, Gen Z is shaping up to the most sober generation in US history.
The older generations are still drinking more, which likely explains why spending on alcohol is still rising.
In addition, single people are also less likely to approach strangers, establishing clear social boundaries in public settings.
Our Thoughts💡: All this chat about the 'introvert economy' but what about those of us who are partying 10x harder to make up for the past 3 years ??????
Also, us hibernating for 6 months after going out one Friday night 👇🏻
Fitness 👟: The fitness industry faces an uncertain year.
We're almost in February so, if you're like us, that motivation to hit the gym more in 2024 has already gone to shit.. 💩
Infact, according to statistics, 43% of people reading this have already ditched their New Years resolutions by now.
Weight-loss drugs, Peloton and the pandemic have shuttered gyms worldwide.
While, some chains survived, they're still being hit hard by inflation and high interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Planet Fitness' CEO told investors in November that the cost of building a gym is up almost 70% over a decade ago.
Despite an uncertain future, what the industry is seeing is a strong demand for community.
Community-driven classes are still contributing to growth boosting franchises like Soul Cycle and Pure Barre, WSJ.
People are gravitating towards working out with others in a supportive environment to achieve their health goals.
Our Thoughts💡: This is why we didn't make any NYE resolutions on January 1st this year.
Community is good and all but let's not pretend this 'New Year, New Me' motto isn't just an annual subscription to an impossible exercise routine and a diet that lasts until the first chocolate chip cookie comes your way 🍪
Consumer Trends🍁: Dry January boosts cannabis sales.
What may be tequila’s loss, has quickly become marijuana’s gain, Bloomberg reports. Infact, recent data showed cannabis compounds even prevented Covid infection.
Like Jimmy Kimmel said: "All this time we've been listening to the C.D.C, we should have been eating CBD!"
“So, are you gonna be a productive member of society today?!”
Us: After ripping a bong at 8 am👇🏻
Nearly one-third of people under the age of 25 who did Dry January were still using cannabis products, research shows.
With companies cashing in on the new trend, revenue at cannabis giants including ‘Curaleaf’ and ‘Green Thumb’ are set to rise by roughly 6% in Q1 this year.
Our Thoughts💡: Personally, we feel the people who don't smoke pot create 95% of the world's problems.. just sayin 🤷🏻♀️
Us: No appetite all day
Also us: 3 minutes after we light up a doob👇🏻
Art 🖼️ : Environmental protestors throw soup at the Mona Lisa.
Protesters involved with the group 'Riposte Alimentaire' hurled soup at the iconic painting in Paris on Sunday. The artwork was protected from damage by its glass casing.
UMM HOW IS SAUCING A WOMAN IN TOMATO PUREE MEANT TO IMPROVE THE CLIMATE?! 🤔🤔
The protestors shouted:
“What’s the most important thing? Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?”
“Our farming system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work,” they added.
Umm protesting about the lack of food while wasting food. Guess they don't care about hunger. People could have eaten that soup🖕🏻
Reminds us of a similar incident in 2022 when 'Just Stop Oil' protestors threw soup over van Gogh's iconic Sunflowers painting hanging in London's National Gallery.
Like what do sunflowers and the Mona Lisa have to do with global warming and capitalism guys… 🤯
Entertainment 📺 : "Suits" becomes the most-streamed show of 2023, racking up 57.7 billion viewing minutes.
“Suits” set a viewership record, dethroning previous record holder “The Office” which generated 57.1 billion viewing minutes in 2020 amid pandemic lockdowns, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Us every night: "A 2-hour movie is too much of a commitment, so instead we'll take a 25-minute TV show and watch 19 episodes of it"
PS. Netflix originals are great until you binge watch the whole season in one day and then have to wait a whole damn year for the next season😩
Key Highlights, according to Nielson:
💡In the US, overall time streaming shows and movies was up 21% last year in comparison to 2022
💡Viewers had 90 different streaming services to choose from at the end of last year, up from 51 at the start of 2020
💡The most-watched original series was “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+
💡Amazon Prime Video has joined the likes of Netflix and Disney+ in displaying ads unless users pay extra for an ad-free version.
Market researchers expect streaming services to generate $6 billion with ad-supported subscription plans this year alone. That figure is expected to hit $20 billion by 2029, Fast Company reports.
Our Thoughts💡:
Create a Netflix account on February 1 (tomorrow) so you can get the free month trial which is supposed to end on 29 Feb, BUT the thing is 29 Feb only comes once in 4 years, so BOOM you get free Netflix for 4 years 😈
Work Smart Think SMARTER 😎
Quicker Bites:
Las Vegas Super Bowl is most-expensive ever at $9,800 a seat.
Elon Musk says Neuralink implanted a device in a patient’s brain.
UK to ban disposable vapes in plan to combat use by children.
Amazon drops $1.4 billion deal to buy Roomba maker iRobot.
EU to force beauty companies to pay to reduce plastic pollution.
Heavy rain and cold worsen conditions for Palestinians in Gaza.
France tries to contain protests by farmers as outrage spreads.