TL;DR,
WELCOME TO THE·BY·PRODUCT. A WEEKLY RECAP OF WHAT IS GOING DOWN & WHAT IS COMING UP ON THE INTERNET. THIS WEEK SPANS THE WORLDS OF TAYLOR SWITH AND HER METAVERSE, THE SLOW PAINFUL DEATH OF THE GIF, THE TENSION BETWEEN ART AND INDUSTRY, AND A FEW A.I. ADJACENT THINGS ALONG THE WAY. CLICK, SHARE, AND SUBSCRIBE.
THIS WEEK’S HOT TAKE
Everything in the right place.
CATEGORY: HOUSING MARKET
Gen Z can't afford to live on their own, but they're keeping the dream alive by incessantly watching apartment-hunting videos. There's something deeply enjoyable about getting an inside look at how other people live, about tapping into a lingering dream that seems increasingly out of reach for many young people — living on their own. / Via Insider
CATEGORY: METAVERSE
Taylor Swift has released a new album called Midnights. Over the past several weeks, Swift has presided over a meticulous online rollout: Ahead of the album’s drop, she launched “Midnights Mayhem With Me,” a TikTok video series wherein she released the 13 track names one by one via bingo.
This week, she went as far as to release a full launch schedule for fans via Instagram that detailed exactly what would happen at which times and where online—including a “special very chaotic surprise” at 3 a.m. ET last night. To call what Swift is doing with this album release “online savvy” or “audience engagement” or “marketing” is to undersell it.
She has, in a way, created a virtual universe in which fans can experience the launch. As The Washington Post’s Emily Yahr recounts, Swift has left puzzles and secret messages for fans for more than 15 years, embedding them in her album liner notes, music videos, and social-media posts, and even (if the theories are right) in the clothing she wears. The result is a near-year-round ecosystem that’s pretty much constantly bubbling away online. Via / The Atlantic
CATEGORY: END TIMES
Millennials are seeing their version of the internet slip away and even be dismissed as “cringe.” Kaitlyn Tiffany and I discuss the GIF, the Millennial pause, and how Gen Z has changed the way we communicate online. Also read a more morbid take of the matter here. / Via The Atlantic
CATEGORY: TO BE OR NOT TO BE
As they rush to launch Discord servers, more fashion brands are learning managing a community and keeping it safe from hacks is no small task. / Via BoF
CATEGORY: ARTIFICAL ADS
A few months ago, when artificial-intelligence services that generated images based on text prompts started taking over the Internet, Heinz decided to test just how much its brand was synonymous with ketchup in general.
Working with the agency Rethink, Heinz asked AI image-maker DALL-E 2 to render “ketchup” and variations with different aesthetic modifiers (“renaissance,” “impressionism,” “street art,” etc.). The results, though varied in style, were all unmistakably Heinz-centric—notably referencing the unique shape of the Heinz label. Apart from being a fun stunt, it was a mighty flex, demonstrating the power of the Heinz brand. / Via FastCo
CATEGORY: ART OVER INDUSTRY
The relationship between art and capital feels more toxic than ever. How can we build a world that supports meaningful and subversive work?
From the dawn of digital technologies to the hype-driven digital art world of the present, the history of art and technology tells the same story over and over again. Artists are often faced with a choice: Carry on making subversive work with little financial return, submit to the pressures of market forces, or act as R&D for a corporation. / Via FWB
CATEGORY: DESIGN
Saatchi & Saatchi UK’s latest client is none other than the NBA. In what is Saatchi & Saatchi UK’s first collaboration with the basketball league, the ad agency has produced the identity for Hoop Cities – a new eight part, in-language docuseries exploring “the culture, history and connective power of basketball in Europe”, a release states. To encapsulate the plethora of elements that feed into the game, Saatchi & Saatchi looked to one unifying symbol for inspiration: the court. Via / It’s Nice That
CATEGORY: TRENDS OF CULTURE
Two of my favorite writers on this platform have converged on the 3 Trends series.
Casey Lewis (CL) is a writer, brand consultant, and creator of After School, a newsletter about youth consumer trends and generational shifts. She was formerly an editor at New York Magazine and Teen Vogue. Check out the convo with Matt Klein here. / Via