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Back to school, changing leaves, cooler weather… Fall is almost here. And while we wait for all the changes that come with the season, we bring to you another Pulse Capsule. It’s our curated snapshot of stories in culture from the previous month that are driving conversations, all through the POV of our strategy team. This month, we cover Lin-Manuel's latest project, what "the twisties" means, and what NFT’s can do for women artists in Cuba.
Let’s jump into August, which is, as always, a highlight reel of stories we share in client newsletters throughout the month —
Lower-case representation
Lin-Manuel has done it again. His latest project, Vivo, hit #2 on Netflix just days after its release. For those who haven't seen it, it's an animated movie taking place in Cuba and featuring a singing and dancing kinkajou (click the link below to learn what that is). It's always great to see Latinx content reach a big audience, as the mass appeal is an important part of normalizing the experiences of people of color. While it's true that we need more content that dives deep into Latinx identity and pits characters directly against harmful stereotypes, we also need content that allows multicultural characters to just be. As we push for better representation, how do we make sure to leave room for characters who aren't defined by their Latinx-ness? Read more from Remezcla, here.
Can the twisties happen to you?
We've all seen the headlines about Simone Biles at the Olympics, but many of us still have no clue what "the twisties" means. In simple terms, it's when your body and mind aren't on the same page, which is literally life or death in gymnastics. If you can't tell up from down in the middle of a triple flip, well, it's pretty obvious how that could go badly. For the rest of us, a mind-body disconnect isn't as serious, but it's still something we can experience. Like when we snack mindlessly or when we slouch in our work chair for 8 hours a day then have no idea why our back always hurts. While our society is becoming more mental health aware, many still think of the mind-body connection as new-age nonsense. How can brands help people understand this idea in our increasingly non-physical world? Read more from Time, here.
Re-painting the NFT picture
Many of us still haven't bothered to learn what the hell an NFT is. After all, it feels like a silly tech fad for "crypto-bros." But it seems like there's more to these things. For example, Cuban women artists have started selling out NFT drops, creating a much-needed revenue stream in a country where the monthly minimum wage is the equivalent of 20 bucks. Are we being open-minded enough about the kind of uses certain technologies can have and the kind of people they can be for? Read more from Refinery29, here.
And that’s our latest edition of Pulse Capsule—thanks for reading. We’ll see you next month for new trends, content, and perspective on interesting things happening in culture.
