Greetings from LHC HQ, where our European clients are on holiday and subway ad copywriters remain hard at work. We wish you good air conditioning and cooler climes ahead.
Now on to the #content:
Gen Z’s AI problem
Kranzberg’s First Law posits that technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral. Gen Z would like a word.
For all of the business efficiencies that AI promises to unlock, there are just as many macro concerns to grapple with. And while younger generations are usually the quickest to embrace new technologies, AI is facing an existential backlash from its would-be native users. Recent polling from Gallup shows that Gen Z has soured on AI significantly in the last year alone. Excitement has faded and, among respondents, 31% said AI made them feel angry; 42% said they were anxious about its rise overall. The vibes are dubious, at best.
Across a series of interviews with Wired, Gen Z respondents really got to the core of things and described how AI is making them stupid. It’s harming the planet. It’s coming for their (future) jobs. And, perhaps most grievously, it’s cringe and boring.
This all comes in stark contrast to their boomer counterparts, who are double-fisting AI slop and slop-bowls unscrupulously (more on salad later). The all-in-on-AI attitude spans crass Facebook memes and a new form of C-suite psychosis, with symptoms including token-maxxing and mandates requiring employees to use AI for the sake of, uhhhh, using AI. If you or someone you know is suffering, there is help.
So why can’t we all just be normal about it? Should we even want to be normal about it? That’s where the generational divergence truly comes into focus. Young people will be forced to reckon with how AI is upending their economic and social lives head on, while it’s mostly fun and games to those who already sit near the top of the corporate ladder.
LHC Editorial Director and card-carrying zillennial Langa Chinyoka puts it like this:
Millennials are anxious about being uncool. Gen Z is anxious because they know everything is, in fact, uncool and bad. Boomers don’t have to care. Gen X is [rest of statement redacted to preserve collegial sentiment].
Fast casual in crisis
The standard press release is, more and more, a relic of the past. But its original purpose remains — especially in times of crisis.
The crisis du jour? Lettuce, America’s kind-of-favorite healthy thing to consume (each year, we eat 18.3 pounds of it per capita). So when an outbreak of cyclospora linked to contaminated greens landed this summer, purveyors of slop bowls and their fast food counterparts alike had to spring into action. As it happens, sorting out temperature-controlled supply chains may be easier than winning back headline-wary consumers.
The modern playbook is less PR Newswire, more TikTok and in-app purchasing enticement. Employees from Little Leaf Farms shared videos of themselves happily chowing down on salads. Gotham Greens showed off their facilities on Instagram (and left the comments on).
But the goliath with the most at stake is, of course, Taco Bell, whose business model hinges upon customers not becoming seriously ill (or worse) directly after consumption. While they did issue public safety assurances, Taco Bell’s primary tack came from good old-fashioned deals and a ceaseless commitment to innovation.
According to reporting from the New York Times, they turned to big-time promos including a $1 lettuce-free Enchirito — that’s a burrito and an enchilada smashed together, for the uninitiated — and a Mexican Pizza that’s doing serious numbers. Parent company Yum Brands expects its stock to rally.
What’s the lesson in all this? Putting a human face to a brand matters, we as human beings can’t resist a good deal, and reputation is earned (lettuce be damned).
The latest and greatest from LHC HQ
Is hospitality the biggest — and most human — competitive advantage in advertising? Heather Freiser, our VP of Client Services, makes the case in Ad Age.
Catch our Co-Founder Sam Slaughter on the Agency Business podcast talking AI, sustainable growth, Philadelphia sports mascots, and much more.
Until next time,
The LHC crew