Black Friday vs. Propriety: Nothing Left to Sell

It’s a Black Friday special! Phillip and Brian explore how capitalism commercializes everything it touches, as exemplified beautifully by community-driven Buy Nothing groups facing trademark enforcement and Walmart's WhoKnewVille campaign, which misses the point of Dr. Seuss entirely. They examine Mariah Carey's evolution from background music to Sephora partner, the disturbing rise of skincare for toddlers, and why new media's infinitesimally short news cycles are reshaping how we consume culture itself.

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Black Friday Isn’t Dying, and Neither Is Kris Jenner! 

Key takeaways:

• Buy Nothing chooses to wage its trademark battle during the SNAP benefits pause.
• As long as digital channels and Kris Jenner continue to thrive, Black Friday will never die.
• Mariah Carey’s “It’s Time” video is sponsored by Sephora. Finally!
• The new media ecosystem demands we live in the immediacy of the moment. Media cycle half-lives grow shorter by the day.
• “Mel Gibson was for Boomers what Johnny Depp was for Gen X, and I get the same feeling about Timothee Chalamet for this generation.” –– Brian Lange
• “Any gift you give or receive is actually a flaming fireball in the sky of your identity.” –– Brian Lange
• “Let he who is without screen time cast the first stone.” –– Phillip Jackson
• “Buy Nothing groups disintermediate the knife fight.” –– Phillip Jackson, Craigslist knife fight survivor

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