“Barbenheimer” is a hard act to follow. But as Hollywood enters another summer movie season, armed with fewer superheroes and a landscape vastly altered by the strikes, it’s worth remembering the classic William Goldman quote about what works: “Nobody knows anything.” Four decades later, that still may be true. Yet one thing Hollywood has learned in releasing films through the pandemic and the strikes is how to pivot quickly. The summer of 2023 brought a new enthusiasm for moviegoing, with the fortuitous counterprogramming of “Barbie” and ” Oppenheimer,” and surprise hits like ” Sound of Freed ..read more

Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture. Love him or hate him, Elon Musk attracts as much attention as any CEO in memory. The latest example: this week’s Tesla earnings call, an obligatory event that at times seemed to be anticipated as a borderline cultural happening. Of course, a public company with a whopping market cap like Tesla’s will draw plenty of investor interest in its latest numbers. Of course, there were the usual preview roundups from financial media like CNBC and DealBook, offering urgent speculation about what Tesl ..read more

Caitlin Clark appears to be on the cusp of setting another record. The most prolific scorer in NCAA Division I history and the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft will continue her association with Nike by signing a $28 million contract that spans eight years and includes a signature shoe. The Wall Street Journal and The Athletic reported the pending deal, citing unnamed people familiar with the negotiations between the sportswear giant and Clark’s agents. Excel Sports Management, which represents Clark, declined to comment. Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Th ..read more

Emma Chamberlain was 18 when she founded Chamberlain Coffee, a “coffee snob approved” company focused heavily on the caffeinated beverages that appeal to Gen Z consumers, who tend to favor iced coffee over hot, and sweeter blends instead of unflavored roasts. The brand’s packaging is brightly colored and adorned with cartoon animals—cold brew single packets, matcha latte kits, and flavored blends feature names like “Sweet Otter Cake Batter” and “Fluffy Lamb Vanilla.”  Today, the company is maturing its marketing strategy by launching an espresso martini kit in partnership with 818 Tequila ..read more

For the past four years, New York City’s streets have become the unexpected site of a grand architectural experiment. I’m referring to the thousands of outdoor dining structures that have cropped up since the pandemic. They started out as temporary lifelines cobbled together from whatever restaurants could find—think plywood, corrugated polycarbonate, and the occasional garland of fake flowers—and eventually became as creatively designed as the city’s restaurants themselves.[Image: WXY/SITU] It’s rare for an entirely new structure to suddenly be everywhere, and watching them evolve has been de ..read more

It turns out there are some benefits to having a smaller social media following. According to a new study published in the Journal of Marketing, influencers with fewer followers have a little more leeway when it comes to the language they use to shill their wares. Researchers found that followers on social media reacted more positively to sponsored posts from influencers who used exclamation points, emoji, and “high-arousal language”—or words like “amazing,” “sensational,” and ”superb“—if they had fewer followers. Researchers at LUISS Guido Carli University in Italy surveyed 20,923 sponsored I ..read more

It may seem like music fans today have a choice between two extremes: the beloved yet laborious ritual of listening to vinyl—or the convenience of streaming platforms, where instant gratification (and often subpar audio quality) is just a click away. As a result, if you’re like me, that CD collection now languishing under your bed has become an irrelevant audio vessel. So what is Danish electronics innovator Bang & Olufsen doing releasing a $55,000 CD player today?! [Photo: Bang & Olufsen]A history of relaunches In 2020, Bang & Olufsen released a beautiful record player, the Beogra ..read more

On her new album, Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé puts a new spin on Dolly Parton’s classic song, “Jolene.” Though the album has achieved critical acclaim and commercial success from the start, it has also attracted some pushback. It’s only natural that Beyoncé’s cover version would be compared to the 1973 original. Some people commenting online were vocal about not liking Beyoncé’s version, often citing its lack of vulnerability when compared to Parton’s version. But is vulnerability essential to the tale of “Jolene”? There are upwards of 80 covers of “Jolene,” but Beyoncé’s is a departure from the re ..read more

It’s no secret that the narrative around the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been decidedly bleak since last fall when the release of The Marvels inspired major headlines like “How Marvel Lost Its Way,” “In Marvel we no longer trust,” and “The MCU isn’t dead but it’s hurting.” Now bringing two of Marvel comics’ most controversial and beloved characters into the MCU together may just turn the tide. And who better to market this Hail Mary than Ryan Reynolds, who’s created his own genre of advertising over the past decade? This week, Reynolds dropped the first full trailer for the upcoming Deadpool ..read more

When renowned industrial designer Ray Eames sat down to conceptualize a new piece of furniture, often alongside her husband, Charles, she used her background as a painter to imagine all the different color palettes that might work. The duo’s playful, artistic take on the craft is part of what made the most iconic Eames designs so timeless.  But while many of their initial sketches went on to become real products, many more ideas stayed inside their sketchbooks. Today, Herman Miller is hoping to change that. The furniture manufacturer is releasing two beloved Eames designs in new colorways ..read more