Welcome to The Trend Report: Business Editionâą, a midweek look at top stories, trends, and more of whatâs happening online and off by Kyle of The Trend Reportâą. Today, weâre exploring LLM political bias, Zaraâs latest luxury-washing, a deep dive on luxury from a Semafor happening in NYC, and a surprising connection between a gunmaker and Napoleon.
đČ Tech Talk: âLake Americaâ hysteria is the littlest problem of consumer techâs political warping
There was a bit of hand-wringing earlier this week as Google jumped onto the Trump orders of naming Lake Ontario âLake Americaâ as a genuflection to the White Houseâs unreal demands. This was followed by Apple doing the same thing yesterday, which was new boy CEO John Ternusâ debut decree. (Meanwhile, MapQuest returned from the dead to not rename the Lake, earning them some press, making the move a #Resist win in the process.) This whole saga, an echo of last yearâs equally as humiliating âGulf of Americaâ standoff, feels less like a tech-fascism happening of note but more an example of the soft little ways these power players and their power tools manipulate truth. It directly proves a very right and very smart Conner OâMalley bit, where the comedian explains how Google manipulates maps according to who the audience is, which is matter of âa group of thirty people in the Silicon Valley went ahead and made a geopolitical decision that affects over two billion people with no political oversight: YES!!!!!!!!!!â Itâs a big little thing to be aware of and concerned by, but also eclipses the political manipulations that lie under cartographic choreography: large language models. There has been some mumbling about these tools being manipulated (See Israelâs attempts to turn the bots pro-Zionist.), which isnât in the sense of giving outright political advice but more a warping of information in the same way brands are warping information to answer chatbot queries. Two happenings of note, both of which were flagged by Ren Bee a little over a week ago â
As Notus reported last week, a Democrat investigation into chatbot political information revealed how subjects â not politicians â get skewed. Information about something like the economy is warped to favor the Republicans, which is an LLM issue but also a Democrat messaging issue: the tool reacts more to consistency than to disparate chatter, which is what the Democrat position has been. âThe study urged campaigns to clarify their own candidatesâ digital presence on issue-specific topics as a way to influence those answers,â Notus reports.
More concerning â and flagged on Tumblr â is a matter of identity: when searching on a platform like Google around dealing with people, the type of person greatly dictates the results. As the post shows and my own casual testing confirmed, searching something as simple as âa woman touched meâ on Google yields an LLM analysis about flirting. But if the woman is trans? The results urge you to seek help on being sexually assaulted. If itâs a Black woman? It questions your relationship.
These happenings are both very different but represent a warping of information that is much more concerning than a little map change to appease the ego of a dictator versus an information disseminator weeks before the midterms, which misrepresents key subjects that a less discerning voter may wonder about. These tools are not reliable and clearly the powers that be donât care to keep them in check or neutral. And why would they? Theyâre marching in line while telling you theyâre ânot the problem.â These issues wonât be addressed, but we certainly will hear more about this as this yearâs elections grow closer, and most certainly as we approach 2028. Someone with a working moral compass do something!
đ Aesthetically Pleasing: Ofr sells to Zara (not really but kinda)
For any Paris fans and fast fashion haters, something to pour your glass out for: acclaimed art-and-fashion bookstore Ofr announced a partnership with Zara that dropped yesterday online and in the French capital today. The collaboration spans men, women, kids, and home that mostly reflects the #Reading style of fashion slop, which is a tell that such a sellout isnât a small, site-specific something but a fat paycheck for the bookstore to lend its cool cred to thanks to the fast fashion giant. This move is in keeping with the brandâs recent work with Luca Guadagnino, Willy Chavarria, Bad Bunny, and â obviously â John Galliano too. Luxurywashing falls to a new low, taking with it one of Parisâ most beloved brands. I guess they had to pay for that new store somehow, as Bobby Aaron Solomon pointed out.
đ„ Soft Powers: Defining luxury, with Jenna Lyons
Last night I popped by a Semafor event on the business of luxury featuring EstĂ©e Lauderâs Lisa Sequino, Nespressoâs Jessica Padula, Genesisâ Amy Marentic, and FundamentalCoâs Jonny Bauer and Jenna Lyons. Obviously Jenna caught my eye, which is what inspired my RSVP â and it was an interesting happening! And I went with ANU, which was cute! It was very much an event where you listen to a few #Executives yap on subjects like brand building and luxury, which was largely aseptic brand talking points but there were some nuggets that made me go hmm. Here are for you to chew on chew on, or at least items for my marketing people to consider. Also? A few items of gossip from-the-ground â
Sequino explained how skincare marketing is changing because Sephora kids have really gunked up the space. This isnât necessarily bad, as it highlights how beauty items really have to zoom in on self-worth versus being âcorrective.â This is because, when both a ten year old and forty year old are looking at a product, that ten year old should feel like theyâre building themselves up and not fixing something fucked up. A message we all need to hear!
The skincare and makeup conversation wasâŠsurprisingly gendered? Or: it was very focused and narrow on who uses skincare, as only women were mentioned along with femme pronouns. Iâm not reading too much into this politically, but that did feel like a conscious choice. Hm.
Advertising beauty on a global market means less products differing by market and more the marketing changes: the same lipstick is sold everywhere but, as Sequino explained, it is framed as a bridal item in India while its marketed with Doja Cat in America. This speaks less to trends and more to community (and also American brain rot).
Padula had a very interesting explanation of why Nespresso stores are how they are: theyâre inspired by beauty stores, with the idea of less coffee-as-lifestyle but coffee as an accessory in the same way beauty and skincare items are accessories to living. Interesting. She also said the Nespresso pods were inspired by makeup too.
George Clooney was Nespressoâs brand mascot for twenty years â and that has only changed at the top of the year with the introduction of Dua Lipa in a similar role. Why the shift? This is generational, obviously, but George speaks to an enduring sense of quality while Dua represents exploration. Both are luxurious, but both approach the lifestyle from different angles.
Marentic explained how luxury now is experiential and not simply something-you-buy, which was about more the journey versus the destination. Sheâs a car person, yes, but also this speaks to luxury being in the little details versus specific objects. This was emphasized by something that kept popping up: luxury is privacy and keeping your time, the freedom to be unencumbered. We know this, but know that luxury is no longer objects but more qualities and abilities. If you can be secluded, without interruption, and away for a long time? That is luxury in the 2020s â not a Chanel bag.
