May 16, 2021

building it so they will come

Hey friends, thanks for opening! This week, we’re talking about the heat, gay commercials, and geriatric millennials. Hope you find something useful here. -K

God, how is it already mid-May! How’s the temp where you are? The heat has been extra punishing these days, and our electric fans are seemingly having identity crises lately and masquerading as stoves lol. I hope wherever you are these days you’re keeping cool and hydrated!

Anyway. Have you gotten wind of that pizza ad from the other day? The one where the punchline goes, “Hindi mahal, parang ikaw” Admittedly, that earned a quick laugh, but as a friend pointed out, the material offered nothing new nor insightful, and has instead chosen to cash in on the worn-out strategy of playing gay romances for laughs and pitting them against the narrative/plight of single women looking for love (also a worn-out trope that’s primarily used as comedy fodder). To sell budget pizza! I have no quarrel over budget pizza, but I do get where my friend is coming from, and I agree with him.

C and I got to talking about wlw commercials and the utter dearth of local wlw representation. I mean, do you remember this Renault Clio ad from 2019 that summarized all of our holy grail childhood friends to lovers tropes in 130 seconds?

Or this tearjerker of an Oreo ad:

Anyway, I’m not asking for any of that, not, like, immediately haha. But I think I do deserve lesbians on my shampoo and napkin ads! There is no better time to market a coming-of-age lesbian-led napkin ad to high school students than in the middle of a pandemic, while our younger sisters are not under direct contact with possibly homophobic school administrators in their respective all-girl schools.

Just saying! Give me femme cheerleaders and butch athletes dancing on a field with napkins in their hands for all I care. Soft high school girlfriends sharing headphones AND their napkin stash in their lockers HAHA I don’t know I haven’t been in high school for twenty years. Hell, give me all that slowburn, painfully off-tangent flirting via Spotify playlists and Netflix bingeing and BTS, because today’s budding lesbians are probably just as helpless (BRB making a presentation for pitching???)

I mean, we already have Pearl Next Door, I think we could do some more stuff? (Pagagalitan na naman ako for not being the change I want to see in the world, etc. haha.)

ANYWAY. Sabi nga nila, just put it out there, build it and (perhaps?) they will come. I mean, my wallet and Lazada cart will definitely show up! Make it happen, ahensya friends with napkin brands! lol.

Book-ending this segment with a Barbie’s Cradle - Belinda Bye Bye throwback video because why not, show some respect hahaha.

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Speaking of showing some respect: Before this weekend, I have never been called ‘Geriatric Millennial’ before haha

Don’t get me wrong, I am completely in this cohort, and I’m into it, though I won’t question it when they try to call us Millennials Emeritus lmao

I know people are thinking of trying to sell new things when they try to make up new segments for them sksksks WE WILL BUY THOSE COMFORTABLE SEATS don’t worry our backs are so shot we need them.

After getting over the initial shock of the title, I think the thesis of the article is something worth looking into: Those born in 1980 just turned 40 during the pandemic year, and my friends who did are especially sad that they were not able to mark such a milestone year in style. More often than not, these friends are already in some position of leadership in their respective teams–my own manager is one of them. And let me tell you, she has exhibited extraordinary leadership, especially through these turbulent times, which required extraordinary amounts of agility, open-mindedness and empathy, especially for younger teammates.

I think that’s something that gets easily lost, the more you go up and associate with veterans–empathy, especially for newcomers. As pointed out in last week’s letter, it helps to remember that it is unfair to immediately expect someone to mirror your level of expertise or familiarity when they’re new.

Hence, this cohort in particular has been traditionally burdened with the extraordinary task of being inter-generational go-betweens: They are the bridge between your fifty-something top management team members and your twenty-something new hires.

Nothing complicates this more than the pandemic, which has rushed the digital pivot of entire organizations: Even the most ardent supporters of the Office Work Should Be Done in The Office school of thought had to learn how to hold virtual meetings, and colleagues previously unreachable via email had no choice but to respond, and with much faster turnaround times, too.

And then we have pandemic hires who never got to experience the pre-pandemic culture of their workplaces - this goes not just for fresh grads but for virtually everyone who got hired in new jobs and were onboarded in their respective organizations between March 2020 and today.

Nothing makes me yearn for the office more than the thought of working with my teammates in the flesh again and meeting those who just joined us last year, but I know the nostalgia is misplaced, because nothing will likely be the same. There is simply no going back, and it is up to us to define how moving forward is going to be.

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Recs from around the Internet

• Austin Kleon hates the word languishing. He prefers dormant.
• Si mama pag dala mo barkada mo para makikain ng meryenda sa bahay lmao
• The newsroom is dead. Long live the newsroom! via Nieman Reports.
• In lieu of finishing Hotel del Luna (last two three eps huhu ayaw pa namin), we are watching new anime on Netflix instead: Fruits Basket (!!!) and Food Wars (????). Going in, I had NO IDEA what these shows were about, which made them such a (confusing, befuddling) joy to behold haha. If you’re watching too come yell!
• Lastly: I am reading this Bangtan fic for style, language and structure purposes. Really.

Lastly, my favorite meme this week:

Hope your weekend is going well!

XO,

K