Meta on the Menu ☕️
This Week in Review ☕️: The Metaverse goes to Europe | Budweiser Pub Crawl | The Most Wanted Sneakers | Zara launches first Chinese collaboration | England scraps mandatory testing | A Remote Future |
Quick Bites:
Metaverse 🚀 : While concepts like "NFTs" and "Metaverse" have taken the internet by storm, it's exciting to see the moves big brands are taking towards virtual technology.
Companies investing in the Metaverse:
💡Nike: Nike did it ✔️
No more rough mornings for sneaker fans as they wait for sunrise, their morning expresso and the new Air Jordans.
Nike has filed trademarks for "Downloadable virtual goods" aka you can soon wear digital Air Jordans. Without the long queues.
PS. They say luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. Wrong. Getting lucky in the shoe game happens with a powerful sneaker bot, the eye of a hawk and when you go META 🚀
💡Budweiser: Let's not forget the Virtual Reality Pub Crawl! Last year, Budweiser dropped its 1st NFT collection, which sold out in an hour + 75% went up for resale.
Composed of 1936 NFTs, the American beer brand celebrated its heritage, dating back to 1936 with its 1st ever beer can.
💡Alibaba: The e-commerce giant has launched a new Beijing-based firm to “evaluate the gaming potential of the metaverse”
💡Walt Disney: Disney is creating a whole new, immersive 'Virtual World' at Disneyland which will enable users to "experience a 3D world without any glasses, goggles or digital devices"
💡Electronic Arts: The 2nd-largest video game company by revenue, has several IPs that would be ripe for the metaverses: Skate, Sims, SimCity, and even its sports franchises.
💡McDonalds: Giveaway of McRib NFTs for the iconic sandwich's 40th anniversary
💡Roblox: Videogame maker Roblox is already using the metaverse concept in videogames
Remote Work 💻 : Meta (aka the new Facebook) plans to go fully remote as it builds its metaverse.
Hmm.. if Zuckerberg thought living in the metaverse was so awesome, why would he just buy 110 acres in Hawaii? 🤔
The tech giant plans to hire atleast 10,000 remote workers in Europe in the next 5 years.
The new hires will be brought on to help Facebook build its VR-driven world and will be eligible to work from home in 8 countries in the continent, including France, Germany and Spain.
"The talent is out there. We want to tap into that talent."
Also, if someone beats Zuckerberg to the metaverse, who will sell our data to teenage crimean hackers?!
Dude's gotta protect himself 🙏
Other tech companies, including LinkedIn, Robinhood and Twitter have recently adopted flexible work schedules too.
This has amped up the fight for valuable tech workers.
Our Thoughts💡: Seems like #TheFutureOfWork is flexible indeed.. Which is AWESOME given there's nowhere we feel quite as home as from our bedroom👇🏻😴
Pandemic 🦠 : England cuts Covid-19 isolation to 5 days.
People will be allowed to resume normal life after a negative rapid test on Day 5 and Day 6.
Which also means the isolation requirement is "Whatever the f** your boss wants"
Covid is now harmless Mon-Fri 9am-5pm 🤷🏻♀️
"People can test twice before they go- leaving isolation at the start of Day 6. These two tests are critical."
-Health Secretary Sajid Javid
Smart distraction to move us all along from Boris Johnson partying. Nothing to see here @SajidJavid 👋
Our Thoughts💡: Moreover, the latest news is that pre-departure testing for travellers entering the UK has been scrapped. The new rule is meant to come into force this Friday which means its time to GET ON A DAMN PLANE ✈️
Ah how we've missed you London, even with your gloomy weather and love for tea over coffee! 🇬🇧
Fashion 👠 : Balmain x H&M, Jean Paul Gaultier for Lindex, Adidas x Stella McCartney, Puma x Charlotte Olympia, Missoni for Target and it goes on..
Seems like Zara is the latest to join the list as it finally ditches its non-collaboration policy.
The fast-fashion giant launches its 1st-ever Chinese Designer Collaboration.
Unlike competitors Uniqlo and H&M, Zara has long been known for its non-collaboration stance.
According to Business of Fashion, Zara changed this stance in 2021:
💡A collaboration with Everlast in January
💡Kassl Additions in September
💡Charlotte Gainsburg in October
💡Korean streetwear label Ader Error in Decemeber (a collection which sold out in a day)
When it comes to fashion, having Gucci tastes on a Zara budget can leave you wishfully flipping through the pages of Vogue.
But what if you could wear that pricey Blazer or new Yeezys you saw on the 'gram for a fraction of the price?
Fast forward to 2022: Enter "high-low" collabs; a comfortable detente between luxury brands and fast-fashion.
Art 🖼 : Sotheby's to go public later this year at a rumored valuation of $5bn.
The auction house, owned by French telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi, has picked Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to work on its IPO.
Background, according to ARTNews:
💡Drahi purchased Sotheby’s for $3.7bn in 2019
💡The deal took the 277-year-old auction house private
💡It had been a publicly traded company for three decades prior to that
💡Drahi's decision to go public follows a record $7.3bn year for the auction house
💡The art market has seen a bullish post-pandemic recovery (Omicron be damned)
Chris Hughes from The Washington Post called the potential IPO “opportunistic,”
“A stake sale could free up capital to deploy elsewhere,” Hughes wrote.
Quicker Bites:
Tesla’s Elon Musk to set up shop in India.
Prince Harry says It’s not safe to bring his family to the UK.
No vaccine, no French Open for Novak Djokovic, says French Sports Ministry.
Novak Djokovic deported from Australia after Federal Court cancels visa.
The US shatters global record, reports 1.1mn cases in a day.
North Korea fires two more missiles as 2022 barrage continues.
Tsunami strikes Tonga following underwater volcanic eruption.
Credit Suisse Chairman resigns over Covid-19 violations.
Peaky Blinders Season 6 is confirmed to return next month.
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