Strategy Roundup | 4.23.2021
Ellen Dollard
This week, find us pursuing passion projects, trying to save the Earth one house plant at a time & daydreaming about the next getaway.
Welcome to the YOLO Economy
“Something strange is happening to the exhausted, type-A millennial workers of America”
After a year’s worth of life lived on the laptop, a growing number of people are giving in to a new kind of professional fearlessness — leaving their stable climb of the career ladder to pursue passion projects, side-hustles, career changes. With shifted priorities stemming from the pandemic, more 40% of workers globally were considering leaving their jobs this year (Microsoft Survey). While promotions, raises, or extra time off might be enough incentive for some to say, for others status is the problem and radical change is the solution.
The Dark Side of the Houseplant Boom
“American culture is becoming more and more preoccupied with nature. What if all the celebrations of the wild world are actually manifestations of grief?”
We find ourselves confronted with evidence about a changing world — fires rage, sea levels rise, viruses spread. But feeling helpless, we buy houseplants and tend to them as the world burns. We check the weather app to see 70-degree days juxtaposed next to snow flurries and think nothing of it. We commercialize nature with “botanist chic” and “new naturals” home goods. But we’re essentially jet-lagged. We’ve already arrived on an inevitably warming planet, the Earth is already there. We just haven’t caught up. Because it’s terrifying & humbling to imagine the unimaginable.
Jump in further: Watch Forgetting Nature
“This is the crux of the environmental problem. You try to help people understand that things need to change. No one is feeling that the loss is as great as it is”
Don’t Drink & Start a League
It’s been a whirlwind few days for European soccer and Heineken, as the longstanding official beer sponsor of the UEFA Champion League decided to poke fun at the chaos.
Your Together Awaits
A beautiful new campaign from VRBO. Enjoy & daydream about your next together.
- Watching: I Care A Lot (Ps. Look for our Boston Office Building cameo at 1:36:04)
- Listening: Holly Humberstone’s EP: Falling Asleep at the Wheel
- Reading: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (Thank you, Lyndsey Fox 👏)
