Welcome to the Monday Memo — your pop culture snapshot from Manifesto.
Hey, friends. Mondays can be tough. Here are 7 things to make October 17, 2022 a bit better.
1. Artist of the Week: Priyamvada (@knitsanyasini) It's sweater weather, people. Priyamvada is the New Delhi-based artist behind KnitSanyasini, a sustainable knitwear company. She first learned the art of knitting as a child, watching her mother and grandmother knit for their family. KnitSanyasini is a continuation of her knitting story, and she upcycles all the yarn collected over the years to make sustainable and unique hand crafted wearable art.
2. What we're listening to: The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen You may know her as the girl behind, "Call Me Maybe," but if you haven't seen her incredible evolution since, you're missing out. The full album comes out next week (spoiler alert: the same day as Taylor Swift's Midnights), and Carly has released a few singles ahead of the wider release. Our favorites are "The Loneliest Time" and "Beach House."
3. What we're watching: Rosaline (Hulu) A comedic retelling of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," told from the point of view of Romeo's jilted ex, Rosaline, the woman Romeo first claims to love before he falls for Juliet. For those who love a twist on a classic tale, this one is for you.
4. Trend & Advertising Highlight: At Burger King, 'You Rule!' Burger King is launching a new brand positioning and campaign that is very close to their roots. The new platform, “You Rule” is rooted in their previous one, “Have it Your Way” but comes at a time when the brand has undergone major shifts, known as their “Reclaim the Flame” plan. From voice and tone to their visual overhaul, they have put millions of dollars into revitalizing their brand and paid advertising. Maintaining the idea that their guests are royalty, while celebrating their individuality and freedom, 'You Rule' is a brand platform that leverages existing brand equity while bringing the brand into the future. The 'You Rule' platform was rolled out with a music video featuring ’90s style rap remixed over the “Have it Your Way” jingle, and it follows the trend of retro becoming new and cool again. To match the throwback visual ID, Burger King is spending $250 million on a restaurant overhaul plan called the “Royal Reset” which intends to bring digital initiatives into the ordering and kitchen experience.
5. Cognitive Bias of the Week: Omission Bias The omission bias refers to our tendency to judge harmful actions as worse than harmful inactions, even if they result in similar consequences. Maybe you are familiar with the famous trolley problem. If not, it goes as so: You are on a walk when you see a runaway trolley car barreling down the railroad tracks. A group of five people are in the path of the trolley, and are unable to move out of the way in time to escape. You see there is a lever close to you that can switch the direction of the trolley onto another set of tracks. However, you notice one man standing on the other tracks that would also be unable to escape if you pulled the lever. You find yourself in a moral dilemma with two options. You can A) do nothing and have the trolley kill five people or B) pull the lever and kill one person in order to save five. What is the right thing to do? While neither option is optimal, most people would agree that option B is the most morally sound. However, you might feel like the action of pulling the lever and killing one person would instill more guilt than the inaction resulting in the death of five people. Even though the consequences of choosing option A are worse, our desire to abstain from any harmful actions (and the subsequent blame) can override the more ethical choice.
In this case, love truly did weather the storm. Ashley Garner's lost wedding ring lying in a brush pile after Hurricane Ian passed through Fort Myers.
6. Good News of the Week:
7. Bonus: Stick Season (The Album) by Noah Kahan A couple weeks ago we suggested the viral hit "Stick Season," a beautiful song about the devastation of feeling stuck in your life and haunted by memories of lost love. Noah is following up this sensation with an album of the same name, and man does it just sound like Fall.