Realistic toys are letting kids play grownup, Millennial experiences taken to the extreme, the green Birchbox competitor, how many young voters <3 socialism, and more to catch up on this Friday. Don’t miss it!
1. Kids Are The New Tesla Drivers
This week we had our playdate with the New York 2016 Toy Fair and told you the next big trends in the industry, including 3D printing and foodie-influenced playthings. Don’t miss another trend that’s giving kids the opportunities to play mom and dad: realistic grown-up toys. The digitally upgraded Cabbage Patch doll gives kids “a true baby experience,” with a feeding app and LCD screens that portray moving eyes and a variety of emotions. If dolls aren’t you thing, there’s also the $500 scale model of Tesla’s popular electric sedan the “Model S for Kids.”
2. Millennials <3 Socialism
For the first time Millennials have the same electoral share as Baby Boomers, and their radically different opinions and ideas have shaken up this election cycle. We’ve covered how recent data from Pew Research Center shows Millennial Democrats are most likely to identify themselves as liberal, and their formative years have made Sanders’ message especially appealing. Now don’t miss a recent poll that found 43% of American Millennials are favoring socialism, and less than a third favor capitalism—“No other age or ethnic demographic preferred socialism over capitalism.”
3. Thank You For Being A Friend
Dating apps have worked out well for Millennials, so why not an app to find friends? Finding a platonic companion IRL can be challenging for the generation who lives in the digital world. One of our surveys uncovered that 53% of 13-32-year-olds said it’s difficult to make new friendships, and new apps are hoping to remedy that situation—especially for those who have uprooted into new cities. Don’t miss the tale of one 23-year-old who moved to New York City and managed to find the friends she was looking for—on dating app Tinder.
4. The Green Birchbox Competitor
We’ve talked about how Millennials have transformed food, media, and fashion—and the beauty industry is no exception. The generation is all about innovation over brand loyalty, and many new beauty brands (that are not Birchbox) have been bringing their A-game, and tapping into invention and trends to appeal to young consumers. One Millennial-friendly trend going across industries is clean living, so don’t miss new beauty start-up Love Goodly. They plan to be the “Green Sephora,” by “taking the Birchbox model of a box plus e-commerce and adding a wellness spin to it.”
5. Links We Are Passing
We know Millennials are all about their experiences—and some are taking those experiences to the extreme. Don’t miss the story of how one 22-year-old decided to play Robinson Crusoe for her “vacation,” by being left alone on an island in Indonesia for 19 days with very limited survival knowledge. The “desert island experience” is being offered to all adventurous travelers by the company DoCastaway. Should make for a great Facebook album.
