Live To Tell | May 17, 2019

Talk About It

Fantastic: Tamagotchis Are Back

Every ‘90s kid can recall at a moment’s notice the craze that was Tamagotchis—and the agony of discovering your digital pet had died after a day of inattention. After multiple previous iterations targeting nostalgic millennials, toymaker Bandai has reimagined the Tamagotchi for today’s youth, retaining the toy’s original simplicity: it still operates on AAA batteries and doesn’t require WiFi. The Tamagotchi On ditches today’s trends of touch screens and in-app purchases, but does include modern updates like a color screen, an accompanying app and a critical new feature that prevents your digital pet from withering if you’re unable to play with it all day.

Celebrity: Rihanna’s New Luxury Label

Pop culture icon Rihanna has expanded her business enterprise into the luxury space with the launch of a new fashion label, Fenty. The new venture is in partnership with the famed LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Dior, Dom Pérignon, Hublot and TAG Heuer, among other luxury brands. LMVH billionaire chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault acknowledged that while the world may know Rihanna as a talented musician, “I discovered a true entrepreneur, a real CEO and a terrific leader,” he said.

Cash Money: Chick-fil-A Considers a Vegan Menu Option

With the rise of Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat paving the way for more and more restaurants to add meatless options, Chick-fil-A may join the list of chains updating their menus. The wildly successful chicken chain is reportedly considering adding a vegan option to its purposefully limited menu, a big step for the brand that’s been telling us to ‘Eat Mor Chickin’ forever. With the market for meatless options projected to reach $2.5 billion by 2023 and Chipotle, Burger King and Taco Bell already in on the action, it’s clear that Chick-fil-A wants a piece of the impending payout.

Forward Thinking: Wanted: Natural Light Summer Intern

Man, if only I were back in college. Natural “Natty” Light, an Anheuser-Busch beer brand, turned its summer intern search into a marketing campaign, seeking an individual whose skill set transcends traditional job parameters to be uniquely “Natty Qualified.” An entertaining YouTube video invites of-age college students to apply for the internship program, so long as they meet application bullet points like “be able to spell ‘Protractor’” and “just be cool.”

Friend or Foe: Facial-Recognition Technology

San Francisco, a formidable global technology hub, has become the first U.S. city to ban its local government from the use of facial-recognition technology. The ban is included in a larger anti-surveillance ordinance approved by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors that outlaws the police department and other city agencies from using such technology. Is this new measure to the detriment of public safety or to the benefit of privacy?

Heating Up

With great amounts of content comes great responsibility. Scrolling through any newsfeed, we are bombarded by news and advertisements that are almost indistinguishable from one another, making the need for a critical eye that much more important. In his latest column for 1851 Franchise, No Limit Agency* CEO Nick Powills explores the necessity of being research-oriented in the current media landscape, from both a personal and business standpoint.