Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

A new ad from the Coca-Cola Co. opens with a shot of a typewriter clacking out Stephen King’s The Shining. The viewer follows a passage being written in an old-timey typeface until there’s a reference to a bottle of Coke. Suddenly, the type appears as the cola company’s script logo. The ad is part of a new campaign called “Classic” running in Spain and the U.K., in which Coca-Cola highlights instances when its brand name appears in literature by rendering them in the books’ original first-edition typefaces. The passages are printed in black, and references to either “Coke” or “Coca-Cola” in passages from King’s The Shining, J. G. Ballard’s Extreme Metaphors, and V. S.…

Instagram has begun testing AI-powered technology designed to proactively identify accounts it suspects belong to teens—even if the user has listed an adult birthdate—and place them under special “Teen Account” settings. This move is part of Meta’s broader effort to strengthen parental controls following criticism over the impact its platforms have on young users. “The digital world continues to evolve and we have to evolve with it,” Instagram said in a press release. “That’s why it’s important that we work together with parents to make sure as many teens as possible have the protective settings that come with Teen Account.” Instagram will also begin sending n…

The The President administration is loosening rules to help U.S. automakers like Elon Musk’s Tesla develop self-driving cars so they can take on Chinese rivals. U.S. companies developing self-driving cars will be allowed exemptions from certain federal safety rules for testing purposes, the Transportation Department said Thursday. The department also said it will streamline crash reporting requirements involving self-driving software that Musk has criticized as onerous and will move toward a single set of national rules for the technology to replace a patchwork of state regulations. “We’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” s…

The year is 2014, and I’m stuck in Ukraine. I have a particularly antsy mother who wasn’t keen on me visiting the country just weeks into Russia’s attempted invasion, and she is expecting me back home. In Odessa—hundreds of miles away from the Maidan and the nascent conflict—the worst example of war I’d seen was a heated snowball battle between those who wanted to remain Ukrainian and those who wanted to be Russian. The reason I’m stuck has nothing to do with Russia: It’s bad fog grounding flights at the tin hut airport I’m due to fly out of. But with no reliable phone communication back home, I know my family will put two and two together and make five. The probl…

In recent months, the New York City subway system has seen a string of shocking and deadly incidents of violence, including several passengers who have been shoved from the platform into the paths of moving trains. A recent report finds that misdemeanor and felony assaults within the subway system have tripled since 2009. For everyday riders and visitors alike, there is now a lurking fear that their next trip on the subway could be dangerous. Many, including the governor of New York, are seeking solutions, which range from adding more police presence to increasing surveillance to installing more lighting to combatting fare evasion. But there’s another approach that co…

European Union privacy watchdogs fined TikTok 530 million euros ($600 million) on Friday after a four-year investigation found that the video-sharing app’s data transfers to China breached strict data privacy rules in the EU. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission also sanctioned TikTok for not being transparent with users about where their personal data was being sent and it ordered the company to comply with the rules within six months. The Irish national watchdog serves as TikTok’s lead data privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU because the company’s European headquarters is based in Dublin. “TikTok failed to verify, guarantee and demonstrate that the personal data of…

When the Ring Pop factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, unexpectedly shut down last summer because of a shaky floor, it abruptly halted production of tens of millions of the iconic oversized candy bauble lollipops that come attached to a cheap plastic ring meant to be worn on a finger. It was a shocking moment for an American candy brand whose enduring popularity spans at least five generations of consumers. “Everyone knows Ring Pop. All I have to do is put its shape in front of somebody and they know immediately what it is,” says Tony Jacobs, CEO of Ring Pop maker, Bazooka Candy Brands. After seven months, a new Ring Pop factory opened in Pennsylvania in Ma…

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: Help! None of my coworkers have kids and don’t understand what it’s like. A: No two people’s lives are the same and people with all kinds of family structures have issues that pull their time and attention away from work. That said, few things in life are as schedule-disrupting as being a parent. In an ideal world, your boss and coworkers wouldn’t need to be parents themselves to understand things like needing to miss work when you have a sick kid or hav…

Bobby sat at his desk, rewriting the same email to his manager over and over. His boss had just announced a major reorganization without acknowledging how it would impact several critical projects Bobby led. Bobby knew he needed to address the issue, but he didn’t want to seem difficult or negative. But staying silent didn’t feel right either. Bobby found himself in a situation many professionals face—unsure about how to bring up frustrations and disappointments to those in charge. It’s tempting to avoid these tough conversations. You don’t want to damage the relationship, but it’s hard not to be upset by sudden changes or what you see as poor choices. While it m…

Enthusiasm peaks in the early days of a new job. New hires are creative, motivated, and often, a fresh dose of optimism compared to their more tenured teammates. Yet, in a matter of weeks, that initial enthusiasm plunges by an average of 22%. The innovation and discretionary effort that comes with new-hire enthusiasm are a strategic advantage for any organization. But to be impactful, new-hire energy must last beyond the first few weeks. Here are four tips to preserve that early days’ enthusiasm: 1. Give Context, Not Just Content Too often, new teammates find out “how it works here” through pushback, sideways glances, and a slap on the wrist over …

Those who work a 9-to-5 know nabbing one of the few available weekend slots with your hairdresser or nail technician requires a huge amount of forethought. Or how time-consuming it can be to get your oil changed, buy your groceries, or wait in line at the post office. The two-day weekend is simply too short to squeeze in all the errands and life admin that builds up throughout the week. So rather than wasting precious leisure time—or worse, PTO—some workers are going ahead and scheduling their appointments on company time. “A little reminder to everyone who works in corporate that no one at work actually needs to know what your appointments are for,” one viral T…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. The influence of millennials and Gen Z on B2B purchasing decisions is undeniable. As these generations continue moving into leadership roles, their approach to decision making, especially in B2B environments, is shaping how brands leverage various marketing and sales strategies.  While today’s B2B brands are aware of social media’s role in engaging these decision makers, many fail to fully …

The social media platform X said Thursday it has blocked access to jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu ’s account in Turkey, complying with a Turkish court order — the latest measure targeting a key rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, Elon Musk‘s X said that while the company abided by the order, it disagrees with it and is legally challenging it. It said X complied to avoid severe punishments, such as the throttling of the whole platform in Turkey. “X has been and will continue to object to removal orders including government requests in courts to protect users when those requests do not align with principles of free expression, due process, or oth…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. There’s a Japanese proverb that perfectly captures what resilience means to me: “Fall seven times, get up eight.” Not just bouncing back after setbacks, but actually finding ways to advance despite them. Resilience has been on my mind a lot lately. Between the inevitable aging parent health concerns, making sure “the kids are all right,” and navigating the constantly shifting business lands…

In the three months since Target overhauled its policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the retailer has faced an onslaught of public criticism and a boycott that has carried on for weeks. There has been a clear impact on its business: Foot traffic has reportedly dropped for the last 10 weeks, and Target disclosed that sales had dipped in February. The company’s stock price is the lowest it has been in four years. Now CEO Brian Cornell is meeting with Al Sharpton (at Target’s request) to discuss the company’s DEI stance and commitment to the Black community, according to a CNBC report. As the head of civil rights organization National Action Network, Sharpton h…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Leaders at the McKnight Foundation, the Freedom Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation released an open letter in early April calling on the philanthropy community to stand in solidarity with each other and resist the onslaught of executive orders, funding freezes, and investigations that threaten to hobble the independence of the nonprofit sector and reduce trust in c…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. While talent intelligence platforms (TIPs) serve an important purpose in identifying skills, they are inherently limited and never designed to address the fundamental question: How is work itself structured and how is it changing? AI has dramatically magnified and accelerated those pre-existing limitations. It’s not just creating new skill gaps—it’s redefining work at its core. Yet most org…

It’s never been a more complicated time to be a marketer, but connecting with consumers in a meaningful way is as important as ever. For brands like Liquid Death, GoDaddy, and Taco Bell, that sometimes means embracing another product or experience entirely—think: an adult diaper for concerts, celebrity-created goggle glasses, or a live experience for taco fans. Of course, not every risk pays off. But when a weird idea works, it can really work, as marketers from the three brands shared during a panel discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. “The power of an idea that can transcend channels and reach and connect with consumers is really important,” said T…