Welcome to the Monday Memo — your pop culture snapshot from Manifesto.
Hey friends, Mondays can be tough. Here are 7 things to make April 24th, 2023, a bit better.
1. Artist of the Week: Erin Siney (@eggsdoodz)
Erin Siney is an English illustrator, designer, and small business owner. While she works in a number of styles, she has become known for her delightful colored pencil doodles. Her main inspiration is to bring people a little spark of joy whenever they see her art. She often combines her doodles with uplifting phrases and affirmations with the aim that it could brighten up someone else's day!
2. What we're listening to: Waffle House by The Jonas Brothers
Ever since The Jonas Brothers came back on the scene in 2019, they have been releasing songs that make us want to dance in our living room. "Waffle House" is an upbeat reflection of how far they have come, and is certainly in our running for song of the summer. Pass the syrup.
3. What we're watching: The Last Thing He Told Me - Apple TV+
Based on the acclaimed bestselling novel, “The Last Thing He Told Me” is a limited series that follows Hannah (played by Jennifer Garner), a woman who must forge a relationship with her 16-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (played by Angourie Rice) in order to find the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared.
4. Trend & Advertising Highlight: Got wood (milk)?
In a new campaign, comedian Aubrey Plaza announced the launch of the latest new milk alternative—wood milk. "Inspired by the idea that these days you can make milk out of anything – Aubrey looked at a tree and thought – could I drink this? And thus, Wood Milk was born,” the brand said in a statement. Back in ye olde times, there only used to be one type of milk—dairy milk. It was so ingrained in American culture that many of us may remember the days when we couldn't leave the dinner table unless we finished our glass of milk. Now, when you go to a coffee shop you have an endless list of options like soy, oat, almond, cashew—and the list goes on. This ad begs the question: Are those really milk? But, lucky for us, wood milk is a cleverly disguised campaign created by the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), a milk industry marketing organization and the group behind the iconic ‘Got Milk?’ campaign that ran from the 1990s until 2014. Yin Woon Rani, MilkPEP’s chief exec and chief marketing officer notes, “As the FDA recently ruled, not all milk is equal when it comes to nutrition – so while you may be able to make milk out of anything, it is important to understand when it comes to being a nutritional powerhouse, only dairy milk is real milk.” We love this campaign for so many reasons. First, casting Aubrey Plaza, the queen of deadpan sarcasm to star in this spot was genius. Next, the believability that wood milk is possible. They toe the line so perfectly between parody and seriousness that you end up asking yourself, "Is this possible?" This type of inventive campaign shows us that the minds behind 'Got Milk?' still, in fact, have got it.
5. Cognitive Bias of the Week: Region-beta Paradox The region-beta paradox is the phenomenon that people can sometimes recover more quickly from more distressing experiences than from less distressing ones. For example, say you hurt your knee playing basketball. It hurts but doesn't feel severe, so you just keep going about your life. Before you realize it, there has been a dull pain in your knee for years by the time you finally seek out a doctor. On the other hand, say you tear your ACL when playing basketball. The pain is absolutely excruciating, so you immediately see a doctor to get surgery. While the recovery takes months, the level of distress pushed you to seek out medical help. In the same way, sometimes a brand with a history of large failures can bounce back much quicker than a brand who had just had marginal success in the industry. Thomas Edison famously said about his trials in the creation of the light bulb, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." When some or even most things are working, it can be much harder to pinpoint the one thing that could create wild success for a brand. When campaigns receive backlash or fail on a massive scale, we are forced to confront our own shortcomings and develop a better understanding of our audience. Because, is it really a failure if we have learned so much more about what is important to our audience? In short, failure is often the greatest blessing of all for a brand.
A duo of third-generation Boeing engineers aimed a little lower than a 757, and designed the world’s best paper airplane. 6. Good News of the Week:
A doctor created a device that helps kids overcome their fear of needles by making the process pain-free (GGG)
‘End of the fossil age’: Wind and solar broke energy records last year, report reveals (EURO NEWS)
Bear Grylls’ new challenge: Helping Zelenskyy rebuild Ukraine (Politico)
Paper Airplane Designed by Boeing Engineers Breaks World Record–Nearly Flying Length of Football Field (GNN)
7. Bonus: One That Got Away by MUNA
MUNA debuted "One That Got Away" at Coachella a few weeks ago, and since then we have had it on repeat! Lead singer Katie Gavin notes, “It’s a bit vengeful and mean, but also fun." May we all be the ones that got away.