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Its not often that headlines about customer brawls end up morphing into good news for a brand. But thats arguably whats happened to Starbucks thanks to the bungled rollout of its limited-run Bearista cups becoming the first new craze of this holiday seasoneven including good-natured copycat tributes from the likes of Aldi and Walmart. At first, the Bearista debut on November 6 seemed like a black eye. The 20-ounce glass tumbler, shaped like a cute bear sporting a Starbucks beanie, sparked immediate viral demand, with customers at some locations lining up at 3 a.m. to score one. This apparently caught the company off guard, and supplies of the $30 object ran out almost instantly. Frustrated customers slammed the brand online (some claiming stores were woefully understocked), and in a few cases physically battled each other for what was available. ‘Bearista’ cups brew up brawls at Starbucks, Fox News reported. With fistfight accounts and clips circulating online, the fiasco took on a Waffle House vibenot exactly the community-centric third place experience the coffee giant tries to cultivate. Starbucks apologized for the disappointment. But the story didnt go away. It evolved. Of course the bear tumblers materialized on eBay, on sale for hundreds of dollars. But less predictably, a new round of social media videosand mainstream press coverage of themexplained how to DIY your own bear-shaped drinking vessel dupe by draining honey packaging and perhaps drawing on the Starbucks logo for fun. Aldi began winkingly promoting a $5 gingerbread-figure cup for those who missed out on that $30 bear; Walmart chimed in with its own version, a bear-shaped bottle of its Great Value brand honey filled with coffee. All of this has been lighthearted, and ultimately a tribute. Thus the Bearista mini-craze was pulled back from becoming a borderline squalid tale of corporate fumbling and manic consumerism. Instead, its as if the market has decided that thanks to this absurd incident, bear cups are, somehow, out of nowhere, now a Holiday Thing. And that works out rather neatly for Starbucks, which this week, in the direct aftermath of the Bearista freakout, began rolling out this years version of its traditional holiday-object lineup. On November 13 it started offering the new iteration of its annual reusable Red Cup promotiona free, limited-edition cup, in four design choices, for certain orders from its holiday menu. And it has teased new holiday merch additions to its lineup, including a collaboration with fashion brand Roller Rabbit slated for early December. Meanwhile, though Starbucks has declined to comment on whether the Bearista will return (a McRib-style mystery?), demand clearly transcends any ill will about the botched debut. We want the cup , reads the top response to one Starbucks Instagram post hyping the new Red Cup designs. Dont ignore our bear cup requests! echoes another response. We want more! In other words, what looked like a brand blunder is now arguably the happiest story of the early Brian Niccol eracertainly better than news of store closings or lagging earnings or union disputes. The Bearista tale, however chaotic, has ended up making Starbucks feel relevant, in a good way. If there is such a thing as the right kind of brand brawl, this was it.
Category:
E-Commerce
With over 800 student organizations on campus, the University of Pennsylvania already seems to have a club for every interest, from investment banking to beekeepingeven cheese. Now, add AI to the mix. In September, dozens of Penn students gathered in the engineering school auditorium for the debut of the Claude Builder Club, sponsored by AI company Anthropic. Over the course of this semester, the Builder Club has plans to host a hackathon, demo night, and other opportunities to create projects using artificial intelligence. I need the Claude premium for a year, says Crystal Yang, a freshman who attended the first meeting. Claude, she had heard, is better for coding and sounding more human in writing. Like Yang, many attendees were interested chiefly in the free Claude Pro and API credits offered. But according to their responses at the first meeting, a number of attendees also wanted to spend the semester working on problems with climate, healthcare, and manufacturing. Hearing other Penn students stand up and share what problems they were working on solving with the help of AI was genuinely inspiring, says Alain Welliver, one of the Builder Club ambassadors leading Penns chapter. As an ambassador, Welliver is responsible for promoting the club and developing programming. Hell receive a $1,750 stipend for his work. Welliver, an engineering student, saw the ambassadorship opportunity this summer on LinkedIn and was quickly interestedhe had considered creating a similar club before. To land the role, he completed a written application form about projects hes built and his perspective on AI, and did an interview. The Builder Clubs are part of Anthropics broader Claude for Education initiative, which also includes a Learning mode in Claude and free campuswide access for partnering universities. Drew Bent, the education lead on Anthropics Beneficial Developments team, suggests that economics students who take part in the Builder Clubs could, for example, use their Claude app to create an interactive simulator for a macroeconomics concept in minutes. The first iteration of Builder Clubs debuted this fall semester; there are now over 60 participating universities. Theyve launched at seven of the eight Ivy League schools, SEC schools like the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University, and international universities like the London School of Economics. According to Greg Feingold, who leads the Builder Club program for Anthropic, over 15,000 students have signed up. More than 25 of the chapters exceed 100 members. By the end of the semester, Feingold hopes to empower students to build projects theyre interested in, especially those who have found AI tools too costly or otherwise inaccessible before. I really want us to find those students who are not technical students and have them participate, Feingold says. I just know that were going to get some really amazing stories of people who have never written a line of code but were able to make an app for the first time. A certain type of agency Victor Lee, a professor at Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Education, says tech companies have launched similar programs in the past, pointing to Apples Swift Coding Clubs as an example. A lot of groups are trying to jockey for position and recognition, especially amongst a user base that is likely to be core to them, he says. Across college campuses, AI companies are everywhere. During the last finals season, OpenAI offered free ChatGPT Plus. At Penn, students recently waited in line for over an hour at a Google Gemini pop-up eventwhich included free Gemini-branded Owala water bottles. This has created concerns for educators, who worry many students are using AI to cheat. In addition to being a Builder Club ambassador, students can apply to be a Campus ambassador and promote Anthropic products directly to peers. Anuja Uppuluri, one of the first ambassadors, shared on X Anthropics $1/month Pro subscription deal for Carnegie Mellon University students this spring. Her post received tens of thousands of views, and in the comments section, multiple students asked for the offer to be available at their schools too. Uppuluri feels thankful that she took her introductory computer science courses before LLMs got popular: The temptation to use an AI tool would have been all too alluring. Theres some type of agency about Claude Code that makes it different, Uppuluri notes. It doesnt make it a tool. I think it makes it more like a pair programmer. Welliver finds Anthropic to be one of the few AI companies with an approach that fully aligns with his values. Part of the Builder Club programming that Anthropic has developed is education about AI safety and the societal impacts of AI. If you ask my friends, theyd probably be like, Alains the last person to become a brand ambassador, Welliver says. Anthropic, though, is really intentionally trying to do an ethical approach to advancing AI. I think those values transfer over to the club.
Category:
E-Commerce
For years, weve treated confidence in the workplace as something that rises with seniority. The longer youre in the game, the more secure you should feel, at least in theory. But new data is telling a different story. Confidence is quietly increasing among early and mid-career employees, while many senior leaders are facing a growing sense of doubt. The emotional center of the workforce is shifting, and it says a lot about how work, identity, and leadership are changing. The View from the Ground Glassdoors latest numbers show something many leaders might not expect: Confidence is rising among those at the beginning and middle of their careers. Entry-level confidence ticked up 1.9 points and mid-level roles rose 2.3. After several years defined by layoffs, volatility, and reorganization, youd think this group would be the most anxious. But instead, theyre slowly stabilizingand in many cases, feeling more empowered. One possible explanation is that younger employees, particularly Gen Z, have grown up in uncertainty. They graduated into disrupted schools, unpredictable labor markets, and news cycles dominated by instability. Adaptation became the norm. So rather than viewing change as a threat, many see it as the default environment, something to work within rather than fight against. Hybrid work and flexible career pathways also matter. Many early-career professionals now build identity and stability not from a single employer, but from a mosaic of work, skill-building, networking, and side projects. They have learned to diversify not only their income but their sense of purpose. This gives them a form of psychological safety: When your career has multiple anchors, no single wave capsizes the ship. And importantly, younger workers are redefining what it means to succeed. Its less about climbing a ladder and more about gaining agency, having influence over how, when, and why they work. Even small signals of autonomy can boost confidence: the ability to negotiate schedules, contribute ideas early, or move laterally to explore new roles. So, while the headlines focus on uncertainty, many early-career employees are quietly reframing it. Theyre not waiting for perfect stability to feel secure. Theyre building confidence through adaptability, community, and self-direction. The Shifting View from the Top While those in the frontline are earning their sea legs, it seems executives and their peers are losing their footing. Many aspects of workforce management stabilized post pandemic, but confidence in executive leadership teams abilities to manage their teams, responses to critical issues, and readiness to address technical disruptions has trended downwards. From board members to C-suite team members themselves, there is an increasing belief that leadership teams are unable to withstand the demands of conflicting constituents and put the interests of the company above their own. These votes of incompetence are taking their toll in the confidence of those at the top. For a long time, it seemed the era of grey-haired expertise was impenetrable. The sentiment was that having seen it before, you would be trusted to resolve any problem and people would trust you. The Boomers and even Gen Xers who would fit that mold, however, are not perceived to be able to keep up. In some instances, it is made explicitly obvious that their value is waning. But regardless of age, leadership is exhausting. In the face of technological advancements and AI, topics that any employee may grapple with, executives are too often seen to be out of touch. It seems that the complexities of leadership are taking their toll. There are endless questions about the pros and cons of remote, hybrid, (or return to office) work modalities; international economic instability and politics are impacting trade and augmenting cost pressures; and retention is still a problem that has not fully recovered from the Big Quit. While leader responsibilities are not new, there do not seem to be right answers or resolutions to strive to achieve. Decision fatigue, and constant uncertainty may be eroding their sense of control. As a result, senior level employees have seen employee confidence fall month over month, a concerning trend as it may impact hiring and investment plans. In addition to task-related burnout, senior leaders are also unsure of how their reactions to colleagues and direct reports are measuring up. Many feel the weight of being both empathetic and decisivea balance thats emotionally taxing. This dip may reflect a growing leadership gap: leaders caring deeply, but struggling to sustain optimism. Despite moving in opposite directions, both groups reflect the same reality: The workplace is changing faster than people can adjust. For younger employees, that change still feels full of possibility. For leaders, it feels like exhaustion. Understanding both sides could be key to rebuilding trust and confidence across the organization.
Category:
E-Commerce
More than two decades of researchfrom Harvard professor Amy Edmondsons pioneering studies to Googles landmark Project Aristotlehave found that the strongest predictor of high-performing teams isnt talent or strategy, but psychological safety. As Edmondson defines, its a shared belief held by team members that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Its what gives people the confidence to speak up, take creative risks, and learn from failureand its foundational to innovation. But one critical truth is often overlooked: Leaders cant create psychological safety for others if they havent first cultivated it within themselves. I learned this the hard way. While earning my MBA at Stanford, I cofounded Embrace, a social enterprise that created a low-cost, portable incubator for premature babies in underserved communities. Our device has now helped to save over 1 million newborns. As CEO, I was praised for my vision and tenacity. I moved to Indiahome to over 20% of the worlds premature babiesand routinely worked 80 to 100-hour weeks. Over the years, we saved thousands of lives. We were recognized by President Obama, received funding from Beyoncé, and were featured in media around the world. On the outside, I appeared unstoppable. On the inside, I was running on fumes. One day, in the middle of a team meeting, amid an endless string of fires, I broke down in tears. Mortified, I thought I had failed as a strong leader. But the next day, my head of operations pulled me aside and said: Thank you for being so open yesterday. You seem superhuman to us. You never sleep. You never stop. Seeing you be vulnerable allows us to be, too. He went on to share how exhausted the team was. By hiding my own fatigue and pretending to have it all together, I had unknowingly created a culture of burnout. My team didnt feel safe to speak up or admit strugglebecause their leader didnt either. That moment cracked something open in me. Achievement as currency Raised in a first-generation Taiwanese-American household, I had learned early that love was conditional and achievement was the currency that earned it. When I failed to meet expectations, I was punishedsometimes violently. So I became a perfectionist. I learned to work harder, aim higher, and never show weakness. As a leader, I held my team to the same impossible standards I held myself to. I avoided discomfort, rewarded overwork, and unintentionally reinforced burnout and emotional suppression. When Embrace nearly collapsed after a decade of challenges, I was forced to confront the pain that had long driven me. I finally realized that feeling so powerless throughout my childhood had driven me to help the most powerless people in the world. But my drive was also fueled by fear. Fear of not being enough. Fear of letting others down. Fear that if I stopped striving, I would lose my value. Many high-achieving leaders are driven by a deep desire to make an impactand an equally deep fear that they are not enough. From an early age, we learn that achievement earns approval, so we keep raising the bar. But the very qualities that fuel success can also become liabilities: overwork that burns out teams, perfectionism that stifles innovation, control that suffocates creativity. Over time, these behaviors create cultures where exhaustion and disengagement take root. The antidote is not more strategy. Its self-awareness. As I began doing my own inner workthrough leadership coaching, therapy, and mindfulnessI started to recognize the unconscious patterns that had long gone unquestioned. I learned to honor my emotions, listen to my body, and lead from a place of balanceone that makes impact not only meaningful, but sustainable. When leaders build inner safetyby acknowledging emotions, setting boundaries, and extending compassion to themselvesthey make it safe for others to do the same. Thats where empathy and authentic connection begin. Its how trust takes rootand how cultures of innovation and resilience are built. In a world of accelerating change, where AI is transforming industries, the leaders who will build lasting impact arent those who power through at all costs. Theyre the ones who pause, reflect, and build safety from the inside out. The Action Plan So what can leaders do? Feel your feelingsand listen to your body. Leaders often suppress uncomfortable emotions to appear strong or composed. But unprocessed feelings dont disappearthey resurface as tension, anxiety, or burnout. When you pause to fully feel your emotions, you can lead from awareness rather than reactivity. Your body often signals what youre feeling before your mind catches up. Tight shoulders, shallow breathing, or fatigue are quiet cues that something needs attention. Learning to notice and respond to these signals with care strengthens emotional intelligencethe ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and others. Practice self-compassion. Research shows that self-compassionnot self-criticismis what fuels resilience and growth. Treating yourself with the same understanding youd offer a friend allows you to recover faster from setbacks and lead with greater empathy and authentic connection. Cultivate self-awareness. A powerful tool for this is parts work, which helps you identify the different inner voices that drive youthe perfectionist, the critic, the people pleaser. When you begin to understand these parts, you can lead from your center instead of your fears. This awareness helps to cultivate inner psychological safety. Download a free parts work exercise here. Model vulnerability. When leaders are open about mistakes, fears, uncertainty, or difficult emotions, it creates permission for others to do the same. This builds trust and encourages psychological safety at every level. True leadership is not about control or perfection. Its about the courage to face discomfortin ourselves and others. Let go of outcomes and focus on values. Were conditioned to define success by results. But outcomes are not always within our control. Leading from your valueslike compassion, service, or growthkeeps you grounded and connected to why you do the work. Outcomes may change, but values endure. Theyre what sustain both purpose and mental well-being over the long run.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its an experience almost everyone is familiar with: that moment after youve been mindlessly snacking on a bag of Cheetos, when you realize that your fingers are now coated in a gritty, fluorescent orange dust. The finger dust phenomenon is so ubiquitous that Doritos and Cheetos have each run their own ads centering on the topic. Now, PepsiCo is debuting a version of both iconic snacks that come sans artificial orange. PepsiCo recently announced a product line called Simply NKD, a new sub-category of Doritos and Cheetos that come with no artificial flavors or dyes, rendering them completely colorless. The collection will include orange-dust-free versions of Doritos Nacho Cheese, Doritos Cool Ranch, Cheetos Puffs, and Cheetos Flamin Hot, set to arrive on shelves starting on December 1. [Photos: PepsiCo] PepsiCo already sells a line of Cheetos and Doritos called Simply that are made with no artificial colors or flavors, but they come in separate flavor offerings like white cheddar. Simply NKD, on the other hand, are supposed to taste exactly like the classic Doritos and Cheetos you know and love, just with a less vibrant appearance. [Photo: Brielle Patton/D3 Studio/PepsiCo] For PepsiCo, the Simply NKD line is part of a larger effort to expand the companys focus on health and nutrition, as a growing number of customers (especially young people) become more invested in wellness. It also signals a broader trend across the snack and beverage industry, as major corporations rush to replace artificial food dyes amidst new legislation from the Trump administration designed to phase out certain artificial dyes. PepsiCo’s next move PepsiCo has recently been on a mission to shift its brand toward a healthier product lineupincluding, most recently, by rebranding its corporate identity to resemble stalks of grain and a droplet of water. In a February earnings call, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta explained that the company has seen a higher level of awareness in general of American consumers toward health and wellness, which he said was driving shifts in how consumers approach snacking. PepsiCo has followed that trend by pouring more investment into health-conscious moves, including by acquiring the grain-free, healthy tortilla chip brand Siete Foods and the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, as well as prepping to launch its own prebiotic cola brand this fall and introducing Lays and Tostitos with no artificial colors or flavors by the end of the year. Meanwhile, PepsiCo is facing another external pressure to change some of its core offerings: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s plan to phase out eight petroleum-based artificial colors from the nations food supply. Already, many major companies have pledged to remove synthetic dyes from certain snacks and candies, including Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Nestlé, and Campbells. PepsiCo announced in April that it would accelerate a planned shift to using natural colors in its foods and beverages. As of now, about 40% of its U.S. products use synthetic dyes, including Doritos and Cheetos, which both rely on a combination of Yellow 6, Yellow 5, and Red 40 to achieve their iconic hues. Right now, PepsiCo is actively working on finding natural alternatives to color its core products like Gatorade and Cheetosa process that could take several years. In the meantime, the company is betting that some customers will prefer a new version of their favorite snacks without any color additives at all. [Photo: Brielle Patton/D3 Studio/PepsiCo] How PepsiCo designed dust-less chips Simply NKD are Doritos and Cheetos as youve never seen them beforeboth in and out of the packaging. Compared to their electric orange original counterparts, these naked versions of the snacks are both a light yellow hue. In an interview with Bloomberg, Rachel Ferdinando, CEO of PepsiCo Foods U.S., said that expert tasters tried the chips under special red lights that prevented them from seeing the chips color in order to ensure that the NKD versions are just as tasty as the orange ones. The chips packaging has similarly lost its quintessential color. Both the Cheetos and the Doritos bags are mostly white, with pops of orange, red, and blue depending on the specific flavor. To communicate that the new products are free from artificial flavors and dyesmaking them colorlesswe intentionally stripped away the classic bright hues that consumers expect, starting with a blank canvas, a PepsiCo Foods U.S. spokesperson told Fast Company, adding that the design differentiation is enhanced by incorporating elements like a matte finish, metallic accents, and a simplified presentation. And in case anyone is still confused, every bag comes with the phrase, Naked of dyes alongside an arrow pointing to an image of the chip. When you see the Simply NKD bag on the shelf against the sea of colorful bags, its hard to miss, the spokesperson says. The visual identity is obviously walking a fine line between communicating the nakedness of the chips while also steering clear of any visual signals that would consign them to the health food category. In other words, these arent healthy Cheetos and Doritos; theyre just colorless.
Category:
E-Commerce
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