TRENDING NOW
In this edition of Trending Now, we’re sharing the latest updates on Gen-Z’s Thanksgiving plans, why popcorn and hoodies are hot right now, and how the Twitter platform—and its users—capitalized on Facebook’s global outage earlier this month.
Thanksgiving Gets a Reboot | A recent report from YPulse finds that the number of Gen-Z and Millennials who will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends this year is showing a slight increase from 17% to 22%, including those who say they’ll be travelling to be with family at the holiday. At the same time, more than half of 13 to 39-year-olds say they’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving with fewer people because of COVID, including a portion whose usual Thanksgiving plans may be cancelled altogether. While Gen Z and Millennials’ Thanksgiving plans haven’t necessarily gone back to “normal,” there are signs of progress, especially in plans for Black Friday shopping, with more than a quarter of young consumers planning to shop the deals in person on Thanksgiving Day itself.
Popcorn and Hoodies on the Hot List? | Arby’s “smoked meat” sweats, Kanye West’s Gap hoodie, and the Jonas Brothers’ popcorn brand launched this month—and ALL sold out immediately. Arby’s new smoked meat loungewear set sold out the first day it was launched, signaling how in demand the scented apparel truly is. Similarly, when Kanye West’s Yeezy x Gap hoodies dropped, they, too, sold out, and then quickly appeared on resale sites like eBay for up to $400 each. Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers’ new popcorn brand, Rob’s Backstage Popcorn, sold out within a day of launching. When Nick Jonas shared a TikTok video of the trio testing their new popcorn flavors, mass groups of people showed up “demanding” popcorn (and photos with the Jonas Brothers, of course).
Twitter Wins with Facebook’s Outage | Along with Facebook’s global outage earlier this month, which took down all connections to the tech company’s products including Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, came a social media frenzy on Twitter. Brands quickly flooded to Twitter to resume normal programming while Facebook and Instagram were down, lead users to poke fun at how Twitter became everyone’s saving grace. Netflix, Snickers, Pizza Hut, Adele, and Gordon Ramsey were among the brands and personalities who didn’t let the moment go unnoticed.