What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01Why Millennials Hate The Doorbell
Story 02Why Leica Thinks Brand Transformation Is Overrated
Story 03Two Women Create Fake Male Co-Founder For Startup To Avoid Sexism
Story 04Canada Offers Third Gender Option Of "Intersex" For Passports
Story 05Japan's Hottest Wedding Photo Trend: Couples Sealed In Airtight Plastic
Story 06How Libraries Might Save Humanity's Soul (Or At Least Preserve It)Why Millennials Hate The Doorbell
When you ask Millennials to describe the doorbell, a surprising number use phrases like "panic-inducing," "hateful" and "terrifying." Sound overblown? It turns out many millennials see the doorbell as an unwanted intrusion much like a phone call during dinner from an 800 number. Friends or family don't show up unannounced and ring the doorbell. They send a text or Whatsapp message. As author Jean Twinge explores in The Atlantic this week, this reliance on smartphones may bring the unintended side effect of losing the opportunity for serendipitous social interaction with strangers.
Why Leica Thinks Brand Transformation Is Overrated
I once heard a CEO describe the mentality of many new marketing executives as similar to a dog peeing on a fire hydrant: they are both too focused on engaging in mostly futile attempts to establish ownership. The analogy is slightly offputting, but not all that inaccurate. In that context, this unearthed print ad for Leica from several years ago shares a message marketing leaders could certainly stand to hear far more often. The most underappreciated brand strategy in the world might be knowing what not to change.
Two Women Create Fake Male Co-Founder For Startup To Avoid Sexism
To combat early sexism, the co-Founders of ecommerce art site Witchsy invented a fake co-founder aptly named Keith Mann and started communicating with developers and partners through his virtual personality. To their surprise, the ruse was sadly successful. Keith would often be treated with far more respect by men and women in the tech industry alike. The story should inspire all of us to consider the bias we might have when emailing or communicating virtually with people who we assume to be men versus those we assume to be women.
Canada Offers Third Gender Option Of "Intersex" For Passports
On August 24th the Canadian government approved a provisional measure to allow individuals who identify as neither male nor female to select a gender neutral "intersex" option on official documents. While the US government continues to head in the opposite direction by reducing gender inclusiveness, in Canada this measure will already take effect as of August 31 - just a week after it was approved. Now they just need every country's visa and immigration form to be updated to offer that same third option for traveling Canadians ...
Japan's Hottest Wedding Photo Trend: Couples Sealed In Airtight Plastic
Nothing says forever like getting vacuum sealed in plastic to be photographed with your newly beloved. Tokyo-based photographer Haruhiko Kawaguchi describes his quirky portrait idea as "a way for people to express how close and in love they are. " At the end of the day, everyone wants to have that unforgettable wedding photo so there is clearly a market for this. And yes, in case you were wondering, the couples are actually sealed in plastic for the shoot. Which is sort of the perfect analogy to illustrate unwavering trust ... if not in one another, at least in the photographer taking the photo.
How Libraries Might Save Humanity's Soul (Or At Least Preserve It)
We expect libraries to maintain an archive of humanity's best thinking, but what if a library decided to put so-called "pulp fiction" on the shelves? The term refers to a category of cheaply printed books from the early 1900s about lust, sex, theft, betrayal and degradation that were so lowly regarded that most were "pulped" (destroyed) within a few years of printing. Yet this throwaway category of fiction does offer unique insights into our own "messy, fascinating and appalling" history worth preserving. Our world probably needs more courageous libraries to understand that.
