Global technology meltdown. Political candidates. Air travel chaos. Olympians. Adidas ads. Cybertrucks.
Sometimes it feels like we live in an alternate reality. And truthfully, the news cycle has been so heavy that it feels, at times, downright weird to wax on about fashion and drinks—like, shouldn’t we just be focused on the more serious news?
On the one hand, I absolutely believe in staying informed as a global citizen. I also believe in enjoying the more frivolous pleasures as a form of escapism. For example: The Ambani wedding. The commenters came out raging with talons for the over-the-top Ambani family, peppered with opinions about why anyone would care about jewels amid the country’s extreme class divide, though, the same sentiment was hurled at May’s Met Gala here in the U.S. I get it. There is a lot to unpack about what’s happening in India, and I’m hardly the most informed. However, those emeralds are a sight to behold, and I enjoy a good gossip session about the tackier of the looks.
I argue you need both. And sometimes the media serves up the duo, like how this enthralling tale of the queen of the rideshare mafia warned me that you could be the victim of identity theft when the DoorDash delivery person scans your ID for the alcohol you ordered. Shutter. It’s a genius move.
So with that, we are back to some recent reads all about the culture wars afoot.
“I fit the customer profile to a T. I am tall. I am white. I am loud. I don’t really have many friends where I live. Most important, I desperately want people to think I’m cool.”
To Go
Apologies in advance, but I’ll say it: The Cybertruck proves Elon is not well-endowed, which is pretty much how I view anyone who actually purchased one too. You are trying really, REALLY hard to be cool and confident. It all feels very nouveau riche tech-bro in my opinion—which is a quite popular POV.
Culture wars have erupted over the divisive vehicle, which elicits varying reactions from “you’re a douchebag” to “you’re a super douchebag.” A few brave writers have covered it, like this satirical take from SF Gate (“Elon Musk’s Boy Scout project is the kind of virile, powerful space truck that should be owned and driven only by our largest, wealthiest, whitest men. Real can-do American men.”) and The New York Times, which noted it’s ripe to be the new midlife crisis car of choice (Bye, Corvette). I’ve seen an increasing number on the roads, and I’m often peering in the windows to see who is behind the wheel, from a bearded dude giving 2010 Williamsburg vibes to a doppelganger for Russ Hanneman.
My personal favorite battle, though, is the Mom TikTok community going absolutely apeshit over the “reviews” touting the Cybertruck as the ultimate mom car. Hardly. We have a G-Wagon for that!
Club Pours
Ivy League Alumni clubs are seeing declining memberships and therefore, dollars, so says Morning Brew in a recap of a Robb Report post. This has been a known fact for a while now by all of us alums, because outside of one HBS friend, I can’t name a single person I know that ever goes to their respective club. I’ve never even been motivated to set foot in the Columbia Club, except for the one time they invited us all for free wine then asked for thousands of dollars so we could “use the gym,” which looked like it needed us more than we needed it.
But the real tea about the Columbia Club is that they make us share with the Penn Club, which defeats the whole purpose of snootily collaborating with your own kind. (Because isn’t that the point?) Columbia, which is the largest private landowner in Manhattan with $4B worth of real estate, can’t even spring for its own alumni HQ. SMH.
But I digress. As MB reports, if you want to be in a members club there are plenty of (cooler?) alternatives: Zero Bond to rub shoulders with Mayor Adams, Soho House if your NYC dreams are stuck in 2010, and Parlour if you can’t get in anywhere else. Or, you can just book Casa Cruz on Resy.
“The kid who is sitting down to an avocado toast for lunch is ordering a strawberry ginger lemonade mocktail.”
A Kiddie Cup
Athletic Brewing, the leading non-alcoholic beer brand, just doubled its valuation to $800M, thanks to its adoption by the Gen Zers who are forgoing booze for other pleasures. Could there be a non-alcoholic unicorn? It’s a battle discussed here before: the wine and spirits purists who drink only alcohol and water (possibly coffee) versus those who believe there’s a place on the menu for non-alcoholic beverages too. Evidently, the crisis comms teams have come out on behalf of the wine and spirits world, because the big argument I keep hearing is how kids shouldn’t be allowed to order a mocktail at a restaurant. Of the many outlets, NPR and NYT have covered this recently.
Now, let’s be real here. The majority of the times when kids partake in “fancy beverages,” it’s because they want to socialize and celebrate with the adults in the room. They just want to have something fun and unique. Case in point: When I took my daughter to DisneyWorld, we kicked off our trip with a rooftop drinks at the Four Seasons Orlando, where I had a glass of Laurent Perrier Champagne and my little miss had her own butterfly pea flower lemonade, which arrived purple in hue and topped with a garnish. She was thrilled.
There is a healthy number of NA beverages in my home, and she has had a fair number of sips: Ghia canned bitter sodas. Martini and Rossi Vibrante mixed with soda water (one of my faves!). French Bloom rose sparkling “champagne.” I love that she is expanding her palate beyond sugary kid alternatives full of high-fructose corn syrup. (Have you tasted a Capri Sun lately?)
“I don’t think giving kids mocktails is what is going to make or break them.”
Now, would I offer her a margarita made with Ritual Tequila? Probably not, but what’s missing in this broader media criticism is that not every NA beverage is made with a liquid that’s clearly a substitute for booze (think: Lewis Hamilton’s non-alcoholic mezcal). Rather, it is a compelling non-alcoholic beverage made from a mix of juices, syrups, infusions, and shrubs that isn’t, say, Sprite. (Never forgetting the cardinal sin of a Employee’s Only bartender making me a mocktail of crushed strawberries and Sprite. Yikes. 86’ed.)
Maybe my views would change if I were the parent of a 16 year old, but then again, at 16, wouldn’t you rather your child trying the NA marg over a real one? What if they enjoy the NA version so much they never desire the booze-filled version? We already know that Gen Z is drinking much, much less (20% less than millennials!) and I suspect the same will go for Gen Alpha.
What happens when the cool kids you’re looking up to are hitting zero-proof lounges instead of slinging back Vodka sodas at the local club? It’s certainly not the same as the experience of Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials.
Curious your thoughts. Bonus points if you are Gen Z, a lacking voice in the entire conversation driven by aging owners of wine companies.
Cheers 🥂