Glossier and the Sacraments of Commerce

Time’s Media Dominance in NFTs. The key takeaway of this report is that Time’s NFT dominance in the media landscape can be attributed to two factors: their early adoption (March 2021) and their focus on brand. The collection, called Timepieces, has sold $10M to date, with the bulk of that happening on Opensea. Timepieces? Like, c’mon that’s pretty good.

Pilfered Primates. The Instagram account of Bored Ape Yacht Club was hacked earlier this week, resulting in more than $13 million lost in stolen NFTs. No one ever pulls off a classic heist anymore in 2022, it's always “hackers this” and “hackers that.” 

More Sights & Sounds in Social Circles. Most everyone knows by now that Twitter’s board has approved its purchase by Elon Musk, resulting in Tesla stock dropping based on fears that funding for the deal may come from Musk’s shares. Amazon India is acquiring Glowroad, a social commerce startup focused on women users. Instagram is testing out a pinned grid post feature with a small group of users. And Meta is opening its first physical retail store this May in Burlingame, California.

“I Tried Today.” Tiffany & Co. and MSCHF have collaborated on a limited run of 100 handcrafted participation trophies. Now everyone can be a winner—well, at least a hundred people can be.

Bra-cquistions. DTC brand, ThirdLove, has made an initial step toward scaling with its first acquisition, Kit Undergarments. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed.

Say it with Chicken. At a loss for what to get mom for Mother’s Day this year? Well, if she loves fried chicken as much as we know she does, consider this floral arrangement featuring KFC’s chicken on a stick, more affectionately known as the Kentucky Fried Buckquet. And if you really love your mom, pair it with this red Italian Leather KFC bag, perfect for holding the new KFC Twister Wrap. 

Mom,

Have a finger-lickin’ Mother’s Day.

Love, 

Me and the Colonel

Artificial Ingredients. Jack in the Box is joining the ranks of restaurant chains testing out robots in the kitchen, with Flippy 2 and Sippy, who will be responsible for the fry and drink stations, respectively. The two robots will be attempting to achieve human glory at a San Diego location.

More Palate news. Starbucks has hired a new CTO out of McDonald’s. This will be the third executive hire under Howard Shultz as interim CEO. PepsiCo has reported an increase in Q1 revenue after increasing the prices of its products as much as 12 percent.

The Second Coming of Glossier. This profile of Emily Weiss, the founder of DTC giant Glossier, is worth a read. Of note is a theme that will be featured in our forthcoming VISIONS report, The Sacraments of Commerce. Religious and spiritual iconography has become more prevalent in modern branding. Weiss, a confessed Astrology junkie, thinks about Glossier’s growth in terms of building a cult or religion. FTA: “My head of comms will kill me because I’m going to say something really weird right now,” she said, opening her eyes wide and pulling a self-deprecating face. “But I think about it a little bit like, how are religions scaled?”

Russia’s Energy War. Russia has announced plans to cut off its gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria, beginning this week. The squabble? Paying in native currency, the ruble. Poland, in the midst of its Spring season, may be harmed less than Bulgaria, which depends on imports for 90% of its heating.