Kellogg’s Times Square cafe wants to serve fancy cereal to Millennial foodies, what it’s like to go completely unplugged at a summer camp for grownups, new entertainment about binge watching entertainment, and Xer’s take on the new Millennial Whole Foods,and more links for you to read and share before the holiday weekend. Have a happy Fourth!
1. Kellogg’s Wants Millennial Foodies to Visit Their Cereal Café
Millennials’ breakfast preferences are being blamed for the grim future of cereal, but that doesn’t mean brands are giving up. Kellogg’s and General Mills are both innovating the classic milk and cereal breakfast to cater to the new generation with new ingredients, portable options, and social media campaigns. Now don’t miss Kellogg’s latest play for Millennials: a 24-hour cereal café launching in Times Square on July 4th. Kellogg’s NYC will feature a menu of cereal created by Momofuku Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi served with an “at-home” feel. The Instagrammable bowls include the “Life in Color” sundae with Froot Loops, lime, marshmallows, and passion fruit jam.
2. Going Phone-Free At Adult Summer Camp
No, those aren’t our weekend plans. Reality bites, and Millennials are finding ways to temporarily unplug from adulthood, and adult summer camps have become increasingly popular as they try to recapture their carefree childhood days. Don’t miss one woman’s account of reluctantly attending a phone-free camp, so she can step out of her comfort zone. Participating in ice-breakers, yoga sessions, and “choreographed bunk cheers,” she ends up finding solidarity with fellow campers who have been “thrust into weird, uncomfortable circumstances with other humans.” Despite the life-altering feelings about being unplugged, she admits to feeling “a deep sense of relief” upon reuniting with her beloved phone.
3. The Hilarity of Binge Watching
In our most recent trend report, we explored The Binge Effect, finding that 95% of 13-33-year-olds binge watch, and 54% are binge watching multiple times each month. Don’t miss Comcast Xfinity’s new branded series that takes a “hilariously honest look” at the binging phenomenon. Glued is made up of five-minute episodes about a couple and their binge watching addiction. It’s already earned hundreds of thousands of view on YouTube for episodes like “The Betrayal,” which shows what happens when one half of a couple commits the mortal sin of watching ahead in a series without the other. (Gasp!)
4. The Imperfect Selfie
Young consumers have become experts at carefully crafting the image they send out into the world, but some are fighting back on the pressures of online “perfection.” Don’t miss how one beauty influencer called out Samsung for a lens that wiped away her imperfections. The “Beauty Level 8” lens on the Samsung Galaxy phone prompted Mel Wells to post a before-and-after selfie for her 20,000 Instagram followers. Her caption blasted Samsung stating, “I think I’ll keep my freckles and imperfections since this is how I look in 3D and this is how all my friends see me in real life.” The post has so far drawn in 1,500 comments with mixed reactions.
5. A Gen Xer Explores a Millennialized Whole Foods
As Millennials steadily exert their spending influence, we continue to see the rise of Millennial-focused brands—and “Millennialized” spin-offs from established brands. Whole Foods has officially launched their spin-off chain 365 by Whole Foods, created to appeal specifically to young grocery shoppers, so don’t miss a Gen Xer’s rundown on what the new venture actually looks like. Noting “there were no employees in sight,” Joel and his Millennial sidekick explored the L.A. location that’s “a third smaller than Whole Foods.” With Instagram-worthy décor, prices displayed on digital tablets, a TeaBot and Allegro Café that serves beer and wine, the shopping trip was more of an experience than an errand.
