Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

By now, anyone who follows major brands has seen it or heard of it: The small bite that went ‘round the world. McDonald’s CEO and chairman Chris Kempczinski recently posted a video of himself on Instagram trying the brand’s newly launched Big Arch burger. It was basically the golden arches version of a dorky corporate unboxing. When he got the Big Arch into his grips, he took a reasonable, if small, bite and said, “I love this product. It is so good.” Cue the online mockfest. Kempczinski didn’t deliver the news like an amphetamine-laced nano-influencer. No, here he was eating like some quarter-zip normie on a first date. On a scale of 1-10 in exec…

Scotch powerhouse Johnnie Walker recently launched the first permanent addition to its main range in 15 years—and it’s aimed at bourbon drinkers. Called Johnnie Walker Black Cask, the new blended Scotch whisky is aged entirely in American white oak barrels that once held bourbon, a choice meant to make the whisky feel more familiar and approachable, especially for U.S. drinkers who may be new to scotch. (If it’s from Ireland and the U.S., it’s spelled “whiskey.” If it’s from Scotland and most other countries, it’s “whisky” without the “e.”) The launch arrives as parent company Diageo looks to strengthen its position in the U.S. at a time when spirits sales have s…

Few media brands scream “straight” quite like Playboy. Since the 1950s, the men’s lifestyle magazine has been best known for its photos of nude and scantily clad women (aka Playmates)—and, of course, for its iconic bunny mascot. But those who’ve been paying attention, Playboy has quietly undergone an editorial transformation. Since November, the magazine has relaunched its print edition (previously halted in 2020), started a Substack newsletter blending archival material with original writing, and introduced new Playmates to the world. It’s all been under the advice of Phillip Picardi, who was announced on March 11 as Playboy’s new chief brand officer and editor-in-ch…

Usually the epitome of good humor, my friend was seething. She had devised a zany and creative marketing idea for her firm. Securing the budget, designing a content strategy, hiring a creative agency, and then doing all the related work had consumed Alex and her team for a full six months. This was on top of their already demanding jobs. And then the unthinkable happened. “Before the idea was announced, one of my coworkers, a PR guy, shared the idea—my idea—with the CEO and CMO.” I watched her pace around my kitchen, her face getting redder and redder. “While he didn’t exactly say he’d done the work himself, how he talked about it made it seem like it was all his.…

Being seen is a fundamental human need. We all can recall a moment when we truly felt “seen” by someone for who we are, and how good and empowering it made us feel. When this happens, it deepens our sense of belonging and makes us more connected to our work, and to others. And today, with so much of our attention being scattered and superficial, being truly seen is as surprising as it is refreshing. Research supports this: a sense of social belonging is one of the strongest predictors of engagement and performance at work. According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report, 79% of organizations say that creating a sense of belonging is important or very import…

A recent class-action lawsuit against David Protein, filed in January, alleges the company misrepresented the amount of calories and fat in its popular, healthy-branded bar, claiming that it had “way more” of both than customers were led to believe. Now, in response to the lawsuit, social media is having a field day with comparisons to the 2004 movie Mean Girls, with one TikTok user and apparent David Protein customer posting, “I have been Regina Georged.” Here’s a quick brief on what’s happening. Wait, remind me, what’s the ‘Mean Girls’ plot again? If you’re like me, you’ve seen Mean Girls a dozen times. The plot is a hilarious and biting commentary on the…

It’s possible that the IRS may owe you some money from the Covid era. Last month, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims decision broadened the interpretation of a particular part of the tax code, IRC Sec. 7508A, which concerned the postponement of tax deadlines during disasters, such as the Covid pandemic. Specifically, a February ruling in Kwong v. United States (2025)—a lawsuit concerning a plaintiff’s attempt to get a refund for tax penalties—decided that deadlines for filing tax returns, paying taxes, or filing for refunds needed to be completed by July 11, 2023. So, if a taxpayer was supposed to file their 2020 tax return by April 15, 2021, the date was shifted to …

Would you consider tying your shoelaces an achievement? If you’re able-bodied, probably not. Now imagine doing it with one hand, or no hands at all. Suddenly it is. Fewer than 10,000 people have stood on the summit of Everest. It takes months of training and tests the limits of human endurance. However, if you helicoptered to the top, stepped out for a photograph, and flew back down, would that be an achievement? The outcome is the same. Same summit. Same view, but most of us would not consider it an achievement. A new kind of helicopter has now arrived. Artificial intelligence can draft reports, write software, compose correspondence, and generate ideas in a matter o…

My desk is a disaster. Cold brew from this morning, now room temperature. A stack of unopened mail that’s been piling up since the holiday break. Outside my window: rain. Not the romantic kind. This downpour is more Mary J. Blige and Ja Rule than Soul for Real. When I log on to my first video call of the day, I see the same gloom in everyone else’s backgrounds. Well, everyone except Sam. Unlike most people at the Seattle-based organization, Sam, a content strategist, has been working remotely from Mexico for the past four months. His Zoom backdrop almost looks virtual. The solar glare on his forehead makes questions about the weather seem rhetorical. His floor-to-…

It’s a familiar frustration for car owners: Before heading to a meeting downtown, you open a navigation app to ensure you’ll get there on time. Driving takes about as long as predicted, but you hadn’t planned for the hassle of parking. The closest lot turns out to be full, as are two others nearby. Anxiety rising, you finally find a spot further away and race several blocks to your appointment. When you arrive, you’re embarrassingly late. Popular navigation apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps have given little guidance about parking, leaving users to fend for themselves as they decide where to hunt for a spot and how much time to budget for the search. New resear…

When Andrey Khusid cofounded Miro in 2011, the idea was simple: bring a whiteboard into the browser, and let people collaborate visually, not just with text. Now that digital canvas is evolving into what the CEO calls an “AI Innovation Workspace.” More than 100 million people use Miro these days, so the company’s ventures into AI are quickly reaching more than 250,000 organizations, including GitHub, Prudential, and Cisco. To serve those Fortune 500 companies, Miro now offers a platform for collaborative AI workflows with Sidekicks that work alongside teams on the canvas, and tools for turning rough sketches into clickable prototypes. The company, which sported a $17…

Attention Costco members: If you recently stocked up at Costco, you’re going to want to check your fridge. The warehouse club retailer is recalling select packages of its popular Meatloaf with Mashed Yukon Potatoes and Glaze meal kit. According to a note to members, the recall was announced after food supplier Griffith Foods Inc. recalled an ingredient that may be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported. Here’s what you need to know. What products are included in the recall? Costco has recalled its heat-and-serve Meatloaf with Mashed Yukon Potatoes and Glaze meal kit. The meal kit contains meatloaf, Yukon mashed potatoes, and glaze …

It’s one of the trickiest questions for any leader, especially in times of transformative change: when to follow the herd and when to go it alone. Since taking the reins as CEO of Tubi in September 2023, Anjali Sud has been finding a unique path for the Fox-owned streamer. The biggest streaming services in the world—Disney+, Netflix, Prime—battle for premium content and subscription dollars. Tubi, meanwhile, has gone all in on free, with its on-demand streaming app and library of more than 300,000 movies and shows. Tubi was the first streamer to add a TikTok FYP-style video scroll to its mobile interface to help users discover new shows by replicating the UX of th…

Everything is bigger in Texas, they say—including an economic boom there in recent years. Austin, in particular, consistently ranks among the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, and is vying to become one of the top startup hubs. Meanwhile, the state has successfully lured hundreds of companies to relocate to Texas in recent years. In 2024, Texas surpassed New York as the top employer of workers in the financial services industry, and it will up the ante with the opening of the Texas Stock Exchange later this year. This is the latest sign that the state, the eighth-largest economy in the world, is becoming a global financial and business powerhouse. “E…

Fire officials and pro-density urbanists are often at loggerheads. This is especially evident in notoriously car-centric Los Angeles, where a firefighters’ union spent six figures opposing active mobility measures. The two camps can have different ideas of acceptable risks and priorities. But Matthew Flaherty, a firefighter who has lived in L.A. his whole life, bridges the two worlds. He’s an advocate for affordable, transit-friendly housing. His struggle to find an apartment in a walkable neighborhood led him to become a member of the Livable Communities Initiative, a nonprofit group advocating for more walkable neighborhoods in L.A. “Cities shouldn’t be designed…

Enterprise AI spending hit $37 billion in 2025—a 200% jump from the year before. The message from the C-suite couldn’t be clearer: AI is no longer a competitive advantage. It’s table stakes. So why are three-quarters of enterprises still stuck in pilot mode? Budgets have been approved, platforms deployed, and centers of excellence stood up. Yet few AI initiatives meet expectations for revenue impact. The technology isn’t the problem. The problem is that no one actually taught your people how to use it. The knowledge gap is enormous Enterprises are running an average of 200 AI tools. However, only 28% of employees know how to use their company’s applications…

As return-to-office mandates tighten, many workers are reckoning what life in a cubicle looks like. If it’s up to the Swiss furniture and design firm Vitra, your next cubicle might not look much like a cubicle at all. Vitra partnered with German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic to create Scout, a family of minimalist office furniture built to adapt to the flexible ways people work today. Launched on March 19, Scout is comprised of five pieces that range in sizes, offering stationary and mobile workspaces with customizable options for workplaces and schools. Konstantin Grcic The tables feature trapezoidal desks that have metal tubular frames. Attachments tha…

A giant cheesesteak running through multiple terminals at the Philadelphia airport might not solve the world’s problems, but it will make people smile. It’s National Cheesesteak Day, after all, so a little joy is necessary. In honor of this unique day, here’s some history on this lesser-known holiday. We even threw in some ideas on how to celebrate and make Rocky Balboa proud. Brief history of the Philly cheesesteak The cheesesteak is an American invention that originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The desire for something new struck two Italian-American brothers, Pat and Henry Olivieri, one day in 1930. The brothers ran a hot dog cart, but were craving som…

At a recent retreat I was attending, I found myself in one of those “hallway moments.” Walking out of a lecture, I was engaged in conversation with a fellow attendee. Soon it became clear we had differing opinions about the topic. As I felt myself getting tense, formulating my response in my mind, I caught a glimpse of myself in a wall of mirrors as we walked by a pilates studio on the property. I didn’t like what I saw—it was not my best self. I did not look calm, cool and collected; instead, I looked tense and ready to charge. The exact opposite vibe that was the goal of this retreat. That quick glimpse of myself helped me to check myself, adjust my face, slow down my t…

When it was founded in 2017, the shoe brand Kizik was on a mission to bring hands-free shoe technology into the mainstream. It’s now taking two big steps to further that goal. The company is today announcing both a major partnership with New Balance and a new shoe, the $149.95 Kizik Freedom Run, which debuts on April 17. Together, the moves represent an expansion of its existing licensing agreements strategy and of its tech into the performance category for the first time. At its core, Kizik’s tech has always focused on the experience of putting on a shoe in the first place—the company designs slip-on models that cut lace-tying out of the equation through a varie…

Two decades after the original film, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep are returning to the world of The Devil Wears Prada for its long-awaited sequel. The Devil Wears Prada 2, which also sees the return of stars Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, follows Hathaway as journalist Andy Sachs and Streep as Miranda Priestly, the editor-in-chief of fictional fashion magazine Runway, crossing paths again 20 years after the events of the first movie. When Streep and Hathaway starred in the original Devil Wears Prada, it was an untested franchise that fashion houses hesitated to lend their clothes and brand names to. But the sequel is an entirely different story, with the fashion…

In 1966, Bruce Henderson, the founder of the Boston Consulting Group, articulated what would become one of the most influential ideas in the history of business strategy: the experience curve. Its origins date back to T. P. Wright’s original 1936 paper, “Factors Affecting the Cost of Airplanes.” Wright discovered a relationship between the cumulative production of a physical good and the costs associated with producing it. The breakthrough was that you could predict your future cost structure in a way competitors couldn’t. In 1966, BCG did a major study for a semiconductor firm and made a similar discovery. As Martin Reeves describes it, they found “that a company’s u…

With some of the largest and most influential tech giants planning to go public this year, 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the mega IPO. Stock listings from OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX could all potentially happen in 2026, and it is the latter that may make its market debut first. Here’s the latest on the potential initial public offering from Elon Musk’s space-tech company: When is SpaceX’s IPO? For some time, investors have expected, or at least speculated, that Elon Musk’s rocket and space technology company, SpaceX, would go public sometime in 2026. And it looks like that may finally be happening. Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street J…

Since Patrick Star first posed it to Squidward Tentacles, the internet hasn’t been able to get the question, “Is mayonnaise an instrument?” out of its collective head. Luckily, experts have finally stepped in to give us an answer. Those experts include Hellmann’s, the world’s biggest mayo brand, and researchers at Northumbria University, led by Dr. Rachael Durkin, its Head of Global Music Technologies, who employed fields like acoustics, musicology, and organology—the study of musical instruments—to put the question to rest. Their inquiry takes inspiration from one of SpongeBob SquarePants’s most beloved early episodes, “Band Geeks.” In a much-memed scene, curmudg…

Call it chic or call it cringe: Clothing that bears the name of a city near or far has become a closet staple for many consumers in recent years. Once mostly reserved for impulse purchases from kitschy tourist shops while traveling, now clothing with the name of far-off places is just as likely to be purchased at home. Consider the iconic “I love New York” tee, a favored souvenir for nearly 50 years. Gone are the days when you would need to brave the Times Square crowds to get one. You can buy a similar-looking version from Walmart for less than $10 or an embroidered crewneck version for $380 from Lingua Franca. Clothing makers and consumers alike are seeming…