GOOD EVENING!

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LUNCH BREAK

five consumption recs for the time between meetings

1. I, INFLUENCER. The story of computer-generated “robot influencer” Lil Miquela, as told from the perspective of her ghostwriter.

2. FOIA-4 MEDIA. 404 Media is suing ICE for the scoop on a government spyware contract. 

3. YOU CAN'T SPELL KENDRICK LAMAR WITHOUT KLARNA. Klarna may be “10 years behind Revolut”, but has anyone considered that the real metric of success is the aplomb with which your CEO can deliver a rap parody?

4. NEXT TOP MACRO. Move over protein, we’re fibermaxxing. 

5. AND FOR MY NEXT TRICK... Magic is apparently the cure to our generation’s so-called ‘whimsy deficiency,’ which is a great news hook for the corporate magician/mentalist who pitches HL’s office manager every once in a while. (Sorry, guy - corporate magic and mentalism is already what we do here).

is the ragebait working?

A New York commuter is no stranger to horrors. Descend into the subway system and you will inevitably be forced to reckon with something deeply troubling: is that a rat, or is it big enough to constitute some kind of an evolutionary offshoot? Maybe it’s just a black-mold-induced hallucination? 

But over the past few days, the most unsettling presence hasn’t been something skittering under a bench, or a smell wafting from a grate, or your fellow man warning of the end times. It’s been minimalist typeface. 

"I’ll never bail on our dinner plans.”

"I’ll never leave dirty dishes in the sink."

They’re ads for Friend, a wearable AI device that promises reliability where humans come up short. 

The messages are set in an expanse of whitespace that practically begs for a Sharpie-wielding commuter to scrawl their indignation. New Yorkers have obliged – and that was seemingly the point. 

Here's the tell: Friend's CEO acknowledged that “people in New York hate AI." So, why drop your ad dollars into a market you know is hostile? Why go with copy that inspires ire and design that demands defacement?

Because in an attention economy, ragebait just might be more valuable than goodwill. Every vandal is a pro-bono copywriter, every "so Black Mirror-coded” tweet boosts your SEO, and every thinkpiece about dystopian loneliness tech is free PR. These ads aren’t designed to persuade – they’re designed to provoke.

For decades, advertising followed a fairly straightforward logic: make people like your product. Be aspirational, persuasive, and emotionally resonant. Create something that appeals to the widest audience possible and trust it will convert. But in a digital environment where hate is inevitable and visibility rules, you don’t have to be liked – you just have to be noticed.

Friend doesn’t need to convert every commuter into a customer, but it can certainly use their quote tweet. Skeptics and haters might not add to cart, but they can help you reach the people who will. 

And, in the current media environment, that might be enough. If your product finds a buyer because a subway ad triggered viral vitriol, that’s a win.

Friend trusts that maximum exposure – even if rage-fueled – will bring it to the few who understand it. It may feel like a gamble, but in an oversaturated attention economy, activating trolls and haters might be safer than being invisible.

TREND RAPPORT

viral vocab of the week 

RAGEBAIT (n.) –  Content designed to intentionally provoke outrage in order to generate engagement.

WHISPER NETWORK (n.) –  A covert information ecosystem, typically established among women. The term is currently being used to describe the IYKYK vintage resale backchannels cropping up across Whatsapp, Instagram, and Substack.

LORE (n.) –  Background information. The term was popularized in online vernacular by gamers, who use it to refer to the body of information required to understand the world of a game. Lore can be disseminated as a lore drop (a tastefully-seeded snippet of personal information that hints at an expansive backstory), or a lore dump (an overwhelming flood of background information).

SEE YOU NEXT MONDAY!

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