Good morning. Neutrogena issued a statement yesterday following the death of Hayden Panettiere, who served as a brand ambassador for the company for nearly a decade. Her passing brought renewed attention to past comments she'd made about the company wanting to let her go after she spoke publicly about her postpartum depression, and the backlash on social media was swift. Comments on the statement itself are turned off. In the days before Neutrogena spoke, the silence said as much as the backlash. For comms teams watching this unfold, the timeline matters as much as the words: how fast you respond is its own message.

In today’s edition: Excel power users turn spreadsheets into an esport, and workers say the pressure to upskill for AI is here to stay.

Campaigns

Earned-friendly campaigns & clever moments

‘We want people to feel something’: Why Nuuly is taking a chance on microdramas

The rental company’s fall microdrama, 12 episodes on social, aims to build brand awareness and emotional connection with shoppers.

By Jennimai Nguyen | Marketing Brew

Newman’s Own bets on its purpose-driven heritage to engage millennials

Years after Paul Newman’s death, the brand’s new CMO sees opportunity in amplifying its use of good ingredients and that profits go to charities.

By Danielle McLean | Marketing Dive

Also, Lucky Charms joins Bid Day, Liquid Death x Garage Beer’s data centers solution, Cup Noodles x Dash’s Dorm Survival Kit, Pizza Hut’s rebrand for football season and A&W’s pledge of allegiance.

Culture

Snackable bites of consumer culture

Gen Z friendships have entered their nickel-and-diming era

Despite apps built to simplify splitting the bill, friends still can’t agree on what they owe each other after a group outing.

By Amanda Yen | Business Insider

LinkedIn Has Accidentally Become a Dating Site—Despite Its No-Romance Rules

Exhausted by dating apps, singles are turning elsewhere for clear headshots and informative profiles the apps seem to lack.

By Celia Bernhardt | The Wall Street Journal

'Polyester’ is Gen Z’s newest viral insult. Here’s what it means.

The familiar fabric has a new, unfavorable meaning as Gen Z allocates it as a dig towards anything deemed low-quality or inauthentic.

By Rachel Hale, Owen Carry | USA Today

Corporate

News impacting business & the workplace

Meta glasses are a workplace menace

Public-facing workers are being filmed, harassed and creeped out by AI-powered smart glasses.

By Mia Sato | The Verge

Workers report ‘FOBO’ — a fear of becoming obsolete

Workers say adapting to AI is now mandatory, but without employer time, money or guidance, that burden falls on them alone.

By Kathryn Moody | HR Dive

Glassdoor’s Best CEOs Ranking Shows Why Trust Matters More Than Technology

As AI transforms workflows and career paths, employees are experiencing record levels of workplace anxiety, and trust in leadership is fraying.

By Ash Kumra | Inc.

Commerce

Shopper society snapshot

Retailers face a big challenge this fall: figure out what ‘value’ means for shoppers

Retailers like Target and Walmart are learning value now means quality and convenience, not just price, as cash-strapped shoppers get pickier.

By Dominick Reuter | Business Insider

Americans have more money. They’re done eating and shopping at places that suck

Americans with more spending power are ditching low-quality chains, rewarding brands that invest in better products and service instead.

By Nathaniel Meyersohn | CNN

While luxury struggles, Ralph Lauren is selling more at higher prices

Analysts believe the retailer’s mix of aspirational price points, brand heritage and lifestyle marketing is helping it outperform.

By Jeena Sharma | Retail Brew

Connections

Feed intelligence & AI tips

‘Your Excel Skills Suck’: The Power Users Turning Spreadsheets Into a Spectator Sport

Excel has become an unlikely social media phenomenon, with creators turning spreadsheets into a competitive online community.

By Miles Klee | WIRED

Is the grid dead? How young people are changing the feed

Gen Z is “ghost-posting” - archiving photos, then quietly unarchiving them later - to curate their feed without the pressure of being seen.

By Isabel Bekele | Dazed

How PR Helps Brands Stay Credible As AI Reshapes Discovery

As “AI slop” floods answer engines with content built for crawlers, PR’s earned credibility becomes the raw material AI models actually trust.

By Amy Packard Berry | Forbes

Media Moves & Intel:

Lizeth Beltran, formerly news editor at The Wall Street Journal, is now global business editor at Bloomberg News. She will continue on the healthcare beat and expand to transportation, consumer and aviation coverage.
Naomi Nix, formerly tech reporter at The Washington Post, is now senior tech correspondent at TIME.
Thibault Spirlet, formerly business reporter at Business Insider, is now tech reporter at the same outlet, covering AI’s impact on cognitive skills, AI’s impact on the workforce, Mistral and Lovabl.
Nick Summers, formerly acting Sunday business editor at The New York Times, is now features editor at The Atlantic.
Harry Rabinowitz, formerly tech reporter at NBC News, is now commerce editor at WIRED.
Emil Protalinski, formerly executive editor at VentureBeat, is now founder at Hard Coded, a weekly newsletter about tech news on Substack.
Rachel Askinasi, freelance food and restaurant writer, is also now things to do editor at Time Out New York.
Madison San Miguel, formerly associate editor at Shop TODAY, is now commerce editor at Allure.
Katie Mogg, formerly editorial assistant at Women’s Health, is now wellness editor and writer at CNN.

Also... spin the Internet History Roulette, a tribute to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

Thanks for reading.

If you need help accessing the full text of any of these stories, drop your team a line and we'll send it right over.

—The Editors

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe to The Zeitgeist by Catamaran here.

The Zeitgeist: Excel Obstacle Courses and FOBO