Upstream #183
hermits, platform guardrail compass, bell ringers, monstrous, the cerulean sweater.
Well. Winter is still wintering isn’t it. Still, watched some singing, hung out in a cabin, ran the 1st race of the year and went mountain biking. Hope you’re well. Right, let’s go.
“The disease of our times is that we live on the surface. We’re like the Platte River, a mile wide and an inch deep. I always say, 'If you want to become a billionaire, invent something that will allow people to indulge their own Resistance.' Somebody did invent it. It’s called the Internet. Social media. That wonderland where we can flit from one superficial, jerkoff distraction to another, always remaining on the surface, never going deeper than an inch. Real work and real satisfaction come from the opposite of what the web provides. They come from going deep into something—the book you’re writing, the album, the movie—and staying there for a long, long time.”
Steven Pressfield in Tribe of Mentors
culture // hermits
Something's happening. Young people are drinking and going out less. We’re now in danger of raising reclusive hermits, that can shop, socialise and play, at home. 1 in 3 young people in the UK socialise less and in Ireland, half of us socialise less than we did pre-pandemic (esp 25-54 yo’s). In the US introverts are also taking over. Single people are now less likely to approach each other in public, preferring online and spend more time at home, watching TV or gaming. This piece on why Americans suddenly stopped hanging out, goes deep on falling socialization and rising loneliness. In 2003, the typical female pet owner spent much more time socializing with ppl than pets. By 2022, this flipped. We’re becoming socially unfit. Less time out in bars may be physically healthier, but not mentally. Ireland's already the loneliest country in Europe. WFH compounds the issue. We need to remember that we’re social creatures. And our lives our richer together. PUT THE F’ING PHONE DOWN.
brands // platform - guardrail - compass
Change is dizzying. It’s easy to get lost in *waves arms around* all this. So brands, have never been more important. Good brands are platforms. Value creation platforms. To create, and build, on. They should direct a business. Direct product, services and experiences. They should be transformational. In this piece on how can brands embrace transformation in 2024. Richard Huntington describes the shift Saatchi & Saatchi made with the EE brand as “a fundamental shift from trying to win a greater share of the market to serving a greater share of the lives people lead. And, this transformation into a share of life business was only made possible by entirely rethinking the EE brand.” It’s why Diageo are looking past NPD for new breakthrough innovation. It’s why Disney bought a $1.5 billion stake in Fortnite's Epic Games. Where can value be created? And good brands are also, as Jon Steel reminds us, creative imagination subjected to critical control. The simple stuff. This. Not this. And a compass too. Towards this. Which, in a world of boundless possibilities, is more important than ever.
creativity // bell ringers
As a director, Mel Brooks faced a fair bit of push back. I mean, srsly and sweet Jesus. But he also famously said “when you go up to the bell, ring it”. I think one of the issues creativity faces is, not ringing it enough. Blandification is everywhere. And as AI already outperforms human generated advertising visuals, average is now easier. So committing to creativity is really important, to stand out. This Super Bowl work from Dunkin Donuts and Ben Affleck and Michael Cera and CeraVe rang the bell. They pushed to ring it. Which is fun. And useful if you want to get attention. Just like the rat boots from Uncommon Studio in New York, which they launched around fashion week to get attention for the agency. 117 million views and counting. Yeah. Ring the f’ing bell.
technology // monstrous
Technology is weirdly paradoxical. A horrible gift. It gives, but takes, so much. It creates so much economic value that The Magnificent Seven of Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Tesla and Meta now represent 30% of the S&P 500. Look at just one quarter for Apple ffs. Microsoft added nearly $1.5 trillion to their value in a year, while Meta added three Netflixes and on a single day, it added the value of Shell Oil. And yet, Meta laid off 1/4 of its workforce in a drive to extract more value. Much of this is being driven by AI, which is having a Ferris Bueller “things move pretty fast” moment. Open AI just launched an amazing text to video product, Sora. In 12 months things have accelerated. While Google just launched Gemini 1.5 (1.0 launched in Dec), which can now devour and understand whole books and movies, and spew out sense. And all the while, spatial computing (vr) slowly gains momentum, spawning new wandering glassholes but equally cool applications. Christ, it’s hard to catch a breath isn’t it. An accelerating tidal wave, demanding you surf it, like it or not.
five random (ish) things:
Interactive world weather map 🗺.
This is an insight 👨🏻🚀.
The drug Olympics is coming 💊.
Berlin’s AI cyberbrothel 🤖.
The last repair shop 🎻.
watching // the cerulean sweater
The powerful forces that shape culture are mostly invisible. But it’s difficult to escape them. Nicely articulated here. Enjoy the weekend!