SHA’CARRI RICHARDSON, SNAP MINIS & WHOLESOME BEARS

Sha'Carri Richardson will not be competing in this year’s Olympics (which had a tepid kick-off this week amidst rising infection rates in Japan, with no spectators in the stands, and broadcasting in the middle of the night, West Coast time). Everything about that sucks, and doesn’t make total sense to me. But no matter, she’s still finding interesting ways to shape culture. Beats’ powerful and poignant new commercial depicts Sha’Carri preparing for a run, and promotes Kanye West’s upcoming album DONDA with new track “No Child Left Behind.” This is Kanye’s 10th album, and he was supposed to drop it last night after a listening party in Atlanta, accompanied by a digital live-stream of the event on Apple Music. DONDA, named after Kanye’s mom, is a follow up to his 2019 gospel album JESUS IS KING.

HBO Max is putting some of its most Gen-Z-forward content on Snapchat. For free. Users can now use Snapchat’s “Snap Minis” feature, which allows Snapchatters to watch full-length episodes simultaneously with friends. Available titles include GOSSIP GIRL, EUPHORIA, THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, LOVECRAFT COUNTRY and GAME OF THRONES. According to Variety, “HBO Max is the first major streamer to build a Snap Mini co-viewing experience to bring full-length episodes to Snapchat.” To me, this is an interesting idea because bringing co-watching content to a space where users are already interacting with each other seems much more intuitive compared to a traditional streaming platform, where users are used to insulated experiences. Plus, the Gen Z-heavy Snap audience is probably the least likely to already be paying for a service like HBO Max, so the efforts probably pays for itself in user acquisition benefits.

And finally, an easy way to improve your weekend vibes is to simply take a few moments to enjoy these lovely bears chilling in a river, doing as bears do. And if that’s too wholesome for you, check out this camel channeling Donkey from SHREK with his family of horses instead.

—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist