TR.BIZ: 7.9.2026

From World Cup political dramas to Peppa Pig on Pitchfork, this is your late-mid-week check-in 💫

Welcome to The Trend Report: Business Edition™, a midweek look at top stories, trends, and more of what’s happening online and off by Kyle of The Trend Report™. Today, we’re exploring the latest World Cup dramas, luxury gas stations as performative class, why Matthieu Blazy is driving Jonathan Anderson insane, and a savory summer treat that I will eat in winter.

OUT NOW: The Q2 Trend Report: Trend Report™

How is it July? And what actually happened in the last three months? We explore, in the latest Trend Report: Trend Report™, where we dive into the rise of sports culture, the need for greater niches, why “ugliness” is about to have a breakout, what anti-AI sentiment is actually getting at, and who to watch as we enter the latter half of the year. Grab your copy here, and check out a preview here or a business-wide edition here. And see you tomorrow as I’ll be doing a walkthrough of it!

---

🏛️ Politicultural: Is the World Cup rigged?

The final World Cup games are coming at us fast, with the final slated for July 19. But some real big dramas have been brewing that have made real the politics of this moment despite the ongoing “We Are The World” vibe that has thus far transpired. First, none of the the North American host countries are in the final — but this wasn’t for a lack of trying, as there were some political manipulations afoot to try to make USA keep a foot in the door thanks Trump trying to manipulate the tournament. “[Folarin] Balogun received a red card during the previous US match against Bosnia and Herzegovina,” FT explains, “but Fifa reversed the one-match ban sparked by the expulsion following a direct appeal from Trump to Fifa president Gianni Infantino.” This inspired backlash, which has many — The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post — questioning the ethics of the game and Infantino’s legitimacy. It gets worse, as Trump is the first leader since Mussolini to intervene publicly in his team’s favor, a connection that was made for weeks leading up to the games. Second — and of much greater gravity — is how Egypt lost to Argentina, with the North African team appealing the loss as the game was manipulated to favor Argentina. This is being connected to a few very disturbing things that are all of-a-kind: an Argentine fan waved an Israeli flag likely in response to Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan’s support of Palestine ahead of this game, which aligned with an Israeli strike in Gaza aligned with a viewing party of the game that targeted a Palestinian aid official who had organized public screenings. Two children were killed in this bombing too. Rightfully, very viral edits of the game’s rigging and this news are making the rounds on TikTok, which are connecting Argentina’s Messi to many controversies with Israel. The games were so good and so pure but, as seems to always be the case in this era, the United States and Israel’s imperialism have come to cloud a good time. Don’t let anyone tell you that sports aren’t political! Such games are very influential, which is why this renewal of relevance got a whole section in my latest quarterly report.

😋 Eat Me: Here come the luxury gas stations

I saw a generally insufferably TikTok recently that drew attention to something obvious: luxury gas stations, which sees the appeal of places like Wawa and gives it the Erewhon treatment. The spot in question is Maggie’s, a forthcoming revamp of the iconic Crescent and Santa Monica Beverly Hills gas station. The concept has been kicking up buzz recently, as it’s technically an LA nepo situation given the person behind it is the Canter’s heir. What’s interesting about this situation is, like the gourmet grocers trend, gourmet gas stations portend a near future and likely present where there is a “gourmet” everything. Sounds cute, but it isn’t really — and this is happening for two reasons: this is a great Millennial and Gen Z “revamp” of anything that hasn’t been repainted with our gloss, a “rethinking” of sites like the gas station in the same way that coffee shops and movie theaters were rethought in the 2000s and 2010s; this is also another great symbol of the K-economy gone wild, that “luxury” gas like “luxury” grocers are not a sign of actual wealth but a way to squeeze normies who perform wealth, offering them the comfort of being connoted as rich when the only one benefitting is the Canter family. Given the location of this station being steps away from Rodeo Drive, a high street that is no longer really to “buy” fashion but to be seen being seen there, this is what it looks like when the world has become a giant commercial Museum of Ice Cream for people who have no taste or culture. Will there be beautiful artisanal beverages and snacks here? Of course! But this is a gas station we’re talking about and, while I know people mumble about front-of-grocery store restaurants being “local scenes,” this continues a MAGA-lite little treatification of everything, where gas stations and grocers are “nice” again, just like the old days of full service to nice white people by hired help. Again: who really benefits from this? Not you, who is wasting what little money you have for a quick fix of performed class and bad values. What do the actually rich think of this? They don’t care, as they’re infrequently food shopping and getting gas and, if they are, they’re not going out of their way for this shit. Welcome to the era of performative luxury everything.

👠 Aesthetically Pleasing: Matthieu Blazy has Jonathan Anderson worried