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☆ Cybertruck fans are nitpicking Elon Musk's final design as Tesla gets ready to deliver the long-awaited truck
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Cybertruck likely still has enough juice to rock the EV truck segment. As the Cybertruck gets closer to launch, photos of the vehicle have circulated on Tesla enthusiast blogs and forums. The video made rounds on Tesla CEO Elon Musk's social media website X, formerly known as Twitter, earlier this month. Tesla's take on the truckDespite comparisons and nitpicks, industry experts believe the Tesla Cybertruck still has the juice to disrupt the truck market as we know it. Do you have an order in for the Tesla Cybertruck?

Persons: Elon, Cybertruck, Ford's, Jim Farley, Tesla's, Karl Brauer, Ivan Drury, Edmunds, Tesla Organizations: Tesla, Ford, iSeeCars

☆ Subway is offering free sandwiches for life if you change your name
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —If you love sandwiches and aren’t all that keen on your name, Subway has an offer for you. This week, the fast food chain announced that one lucky customer who legally changes their first name to “Subway” will be rewarded with free “Deli Hero” subs for life. As the sandwich chain terms it, Subway is putting out a call for “superfans.”“In 2022, one superfan camped out for two days to get a footlong tattoo of the Subway Series logo in exchange for free Subway for life,” Subway said in announcing the contest. Earlier this month, Subway debuted a new sandwich featuring cold cuts that are sliced on-site at restaurants rather than pre-portioned. Since debuting the new sandwich, Subway says it has sold more than two million Deli Heroes.

Persons: ” “, superfan Organizations: CNN, ”, Subway Locations: SubwayNameChange.com

☆ It's getting harder to make money in the music industry, and AI will change the game. But Goldman Sachs says these 5 stocks — including 2 with at least 40% upside — will still surge as the sector gets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Favorable demographic trends and technology will fuel growth in the music industry: Goldman SachsThe bank said they expect streaming services to continually raise their subscription prices. AI will also help artists create music at higher speeds and lower costs, the bank said. The business side of the music industry is constantly evolving, especially as technology develops. On streaming, the analysts see continued price hikes coming from streaming services as their subscription fees have remained relatively stagnant despite the services becoming more popular. Goldman SachsGoldman SachsThe analysts also said the streaming industry could better monetize "superfans" by charging them more for improved versions of their services.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Lisa Yang, Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs, Millenials Organizations: Spotify, Netflix, Apple Music, Amazon Music

☆ The Rage and Joy of Donald Trump’s MAGA America - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I’ve shared this fact with readers before: I live in Tennessee outside Nashville, a very deep-red part of America. According to a New York Times tool that calculates the political composition of a community, only 15 percent of my neighbors are Democrats. I’ve been living here in the heart of MAGA country since Donald Trump came down the escalator. Or take the Trump rally, the signature event of this political era. Egger described the Trump rally perfectly: “For enthusiasts, Trump rallies aren’t just a way to see a favorite politician up close.

Persons: I’ve, MAGA, Donald Trump, I’m, Trump, it’s, Trumpism, Andy Ogles, It’s, Ogles, Andrew Egger, Egger, aren’t, ” Organizations: New York Times, Republican, Trump, Twitter, The Dispatch Locations: Tennessee, Nashville, America, MAGA

☆ BTS 10th anniversary: Superfans make pilgrimage to South Korea to celebrate the K-pop band that conquered the globe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Kathleen Magramo Yoonjung Seo Paula Hancocks | Kathleen Magramo | Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Scroll through the gallery to see how the K-pop group went global. ilgan Sports/Multi-Bits/Getty Images BTS fans at the "Love Yourself" North American Tour at the Staples Center on September 9, 2018 in Los Angeles. Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/Getty Images BTS won all three awards they were nominated for at the 2021 American Music Awards held in Los Angeles. Theo Wargo/Getty Images BTS addressed Asian inclusion and representation at the White House in Washington, DC on May 31, 2022. “Being in America and not seeing that much of Asian representation, when I saw that seven Asian guys were trending … that totally like piqued my interest immediately.

Persons: Rowan Joss, Katie Myles ’, they’re, ’ ”, Joss, HYBE, Myles, Kim Tae, Jung Ho, Kim Nam, Kim Seok, Jeon Jung, kook, Min Yoon, Psy’s, ”, Chelsea Guglielmino, Jimmy Fallon, Andrew Lipovsky, Matt Winkelmeyer, Theo Wargo, Kent Nishimura, CedarBough Saeji, ” Saeji, Katie Myles, –, hasn’t, Anthony Wallace, ’, Lisa Trinh, Diana Phung, they’ve, Trinh, they’ll, Jimin, Hwang Young, Startrip, Yoonjung Seo, Jungkook, dad, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, it’s, Michelle Cho, It’s, Phung Organizations: Seoul CNN —, BTS, Records, YouTube, ilgan, Staples Center, Chelsea, NBC, Getty, White, Los Angeles Times, East Asian Studies, Pusan National University, ARMY, Ministry of Culture, Tourism, Tower, CNN, The, Guinness, Spotify, University of Toronto Locations: Hong Kong, Seoul, South Korea, Scotland, Los Angeles, Washington , DC, Korean, AFP, Seoul’s, California, Gangwon province, Busan, Korea, Cafe, America

☆ Where to watch Love Island: Aftersun live stream online for free from anywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Brendan Griffiths | Senior Commerce Director | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

If you want to dive into some extra details about your favorite reality show, you'll want to know when and where to watch the Love Island: Aftersun live stream online for free. ET / 10 p.m. BST / 11 p.m. CETHow to watch Love Island: Aftersun live stream for free online from anywhereNot in the UK right now? ET / 10 p.m. BST / 11 p.m. CETWhere to watch Love Island: Aftersun in the USThere are no direct streaming options for the new season of Love Island: Aftersun in the US. Where to watch Love Island: Aftersun online in the UKUK locals can tune in on ITV2 on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. BST. Or, if you'd prefer to watch the Love Island: Aftersun live stream online, you can do so via the app or website across various devices on ITVX.

Persons: We're, ExpressVPN, Aftersun Organizations: ITV2, Love, Hulu Locations: ITVX

☆ 2 Wendy's superfans had red-dye makeovers to get free chicken nuggets for a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Two Wendy's superfans won a year's supply of chicken nuggets after dyeing their hair red. The fans are now entitled to a free portion of four-piece chicken nuggets every week. The chain ran a competition for UK fans to dye their hair "Wendy's Red" at a salon in London, offering them a chance to win a free portion of four chicken nuggets a week for a year. As they underwent their makeovers, other redheads queued outside of a Wendy's store in Camden to get their hands on their own portion of free chicken nuggets with their orders. Redheads queued outside a Wendy's store in Camden, north London.

☆ Gen Z eats fast food like no other generation. From a love for spicy food to visiting restaurants in big groups, these are 6 traits that define their dining habits.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

They eat with their phones first and are pulled in by influencer marketingd3sign/Getty ImagesGen Z diners like their food to be "Instagrammable," the execs said. But as well as organic content, restaurants are paying influencers to advertise their products. Rebhun said that El Pollo Loco's work with influencers "without a doubt" drove customers to the brand. Dickey said that Dickey's work with influencers – in particular those involved with food and sport – was "directly in response to millennial and Gen Z." "We noticed massive fanfare around the viral hack and partnered with the creators to officially add the Fajita Quesadilla to our menus for our Gen Z superfans," Perdue said.

☆ Netflix expands its product ambitions in a clothing collab that mashes up the Lacoste crocodile with 'Bridgerton,' 'Stranger Things,' and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix has teamed with Lacoste to create a clothing collaboration inspired by eight of its popular shows, including "Bridgerton," "Stranger Things," and "Lupin." For the pieces, Lacoste reimagined its iconic crocodile logo with elements of the Netflix shows on a collection of polos, caps, sweatshirts, and tracksuits. For "Stranger Things," a sweatshirt features the crocodile with the face of the Demogorgon, the feared creature from Season 1. Lacoste apparel inspired by "Stranger Things." NetflixThe items cost $30 to $210 and will be sold at select Lacoste stores and on Lacoste.com and Netflix.shop.

☆ 4 things every small-business owner should consider before launching a brand podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Erin Greenawald | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Brand podcasts can bring in new customers and nurture relationships with existing partners. They give technical advice on cost, production, and careful considerations for your launch strategy before starting a brand podcast. Insider spoke with five small-business owners to learn how they ran successful brand podcasts while prioritizing their actual businesses. Olivia Dreizen Howell, a cofounder of Fresh Starts Registry and the brand podcast "A Fresh Story," swears by the free Spotify for Podcasters editing tools. Leverage your network for launchIt's easy to lose momentum if you launch a brand podcast and don't quickly see some traction.

☆ Why People Are Getting More Disruptive at Concerts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ann-Marie Alcántara | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Concert season is in full swing, with Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and other artists dominating calendars in the coming months. But a new villain is hurting the experience for many: superfans seeking five minutes of social-media fame. Homemade signs, screaming teenagers and bouncing beach balls aren’t new to concerts. What has changed is that, largely thanks to TikTok, any moment of a concert can go viral. More fans are trying to force that moment to happen with wild shenanigans, annoying noises or demands on artists to play unusual songs.

☆ Concertgoers Are Behaving Badly. Blame TikTok.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Ann-Marie Alcántara | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ How Gossip Helped Propel Miley Cyrus to the Top of the Charts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Julia Gray | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

To the casual listener, Miley Cyrus’s January hit single “Flowers” is a sultry pop song with a feminist bent, an anthem celebrating self-love and independence. But to superfans like Joshua Molina, “Flowers” is a series of clues about Ms. Cyrus’s divorce from Liam Hemsworth. Among the Easter eggs, according to fans: The song inverts the rhythm and lyrics of Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man,” which supposedly has special meaning for Mr. Hemsworth and Ms. Cyrus. But while Mr. Mars sings, “I should’ve bought you flowers,” Ms. Cyrus’s version retorts, “I can buy myself flowers.” The song was also released on Jan. 13, Mr. Hemsworth’s birthday.

☆ Tesla is losing its most loyal customers — and that’s bad news for Elon Musk.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Plus, it's even more gross, since this generation obsession appears to be a capitalism-fueled strategy to get our money. They stuck with Elon Musk along a bumpy ride: "production hell," multiple federal investigations, and other catastrophes. Meanwhile, the company keeps losing its edge elsewhere. Nora breaks down how Musk keeps Elon-ing, while Tesla keeps getting beat down. It's part of the multi-day Mobile World Congress — the largest mobile telecommunications event in the world — in Barcelona, Spain.

☆ Can You Do Super Bowl Weekend on the Cheap? These Fans Are Trying
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PHOENIX—Anyone can travel to the Super Bowl if money is no object. Then there’s the subset of superfans whose mission is to somehow get to—or at least near—this year’s NFL championship without going broke. Vince Meyer is bunking with a friend in a $75-a-night guest room in South Phoenix. His girlfriend bailed when she heard there was no bathroom in the room.

☆ Can You Do Super Bowl Weekend on the Cheap? These Fans Are Trying.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Super Bowl Weekend on the Cheap: RV, E-Scooter and Sam’s Club Snacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Beyoncé’s Ticket Sales Are Ticketmaster’s Next Test After Taylor Swift
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Anne Steele | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ticket sales to Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour will serve as a closely watched test for Ticketmaster in the wake of its bungled sales of Taylor Swift tickets late last year. On Tuesday, a series of presale tickets to Beyoncé shows in certain cities will become available to Citi credit-card holders before ticket sales open up to more fans in a series of staggered sales. A limited number of tickets to some shows went on sale Monday for a portion of Beyoncé’s superfans, known collectively as the BeyHive, with no initial reports of significant technical problems.

☆ Netflix's 'The Witcher: Blood Origin' is a Christmas present for superfans only
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Sadly, “The Witcher: Blood Origin,” Netflix’s new spinoff, is a disappointment. Not that the original “Witcher” wholly depended on Cavill as its titular lead. “Blood Origin” is the first live-action spinoff, a prequel deep-dive that chronicles how witchers came to be. Unfortunately, “Blood Origin” doesn’t do much with its excellent pieces. “Blood Origin” just feels like a side quest, something that’s only worthwhile for superfans.

☆ BTS fandom tech firm Weverse reaches beyond K-Pop
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Joyce Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"We are a fandom business," Weverse President Joon Choi told Reuters. The app also currently has more than 80 teams of artists represented including BTS, and about 8-9 million monthly active users. However, Weverse users' 'superfan' qualities make engagement in those services turbo-charged, Choi said. Users are based in more than 200 countries and only about 10% of the app users speak Korean, Choi said. Top 5 countries Weverse users are from include Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, the United States and South Korea.

☆ "Yellowstone" prequel “1923” bring white grievances to Paramount Plus
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

It’s a grimmer chapter of an ongoing story, and one that is plagued by an inability to articulate why these white men murdering their way across the landscape are heroes worth rooting for. Cultural critics love prestige series. Few celebrated the end of the toxically misogynist “The Big Bang Theory,” or have seemed eager to discuss the resurgence of seemingly endless police procedurals starring white men. But the series has gained viewership year over year, with subsequent spinoffs debuting on new flagship streaming service, Paramount+. Like so many white male grievances, to question the logic is to side with the enemy.

☆ Aldi customers are scrambling to buy a $13 dress. That's the power of its 'treasure hunt' Aldi Deals aisle.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Mary Meisenzahl | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A limited-edition Aldi dress gained traction in a Facebook group of 1.5 million members. The dress was a feature in the Aldi Finds aisle, which is responsible for about 20% of total sales. The wrap-style dress from the brand Serra was featured in Aldi's weekly "Aldi Finds" advertisement for the week of November 9. Aldi's "Aldi Finds" aisle is a grab bag of products that changes throughout the year. Aldi did not respond to Insider's request for comment, but as Aldi plans to continue its rapid expansion, its Aldi Finds aisle likely will remain a key part of future store designs.

☆ Yellowstone and John and Beth Dutton: 11 Superfans Discuss - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Adrian J. Rivera | Patrick Healy | Mr. Healy Is The Deputy Opinion Editor. Mr. Rivera Is An Editorial Assistant In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

What is it about “Yellowstone,” the hit drama about a Montana ranch family, that has turned the show into a mirror for American politics? We don’t share land here.”That last quote sparked an exchange in the focus group in which America’s border control issue was just below the surface. They also appreciated the show’s depiction of Native Americans and had their eyes opened to crises on reservations because of the show. With the 2022 midterms behind us, we’re going to continue the Times Opinion focus groups into 2023 and include more discussions about culture and society, along with our usual focus on politics and democracy. Please feel free to email us ideas about topics and groups that you’d like to see us cover in the year ahead.

☆ Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny: How much it costs to see Spotify's top artists live
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Entertainment giant Live Nation reported a record 44 million quarterly attendance at concerts between July and October, with a whopping 89 million fans attending over 11,000 events so far this year. But recent events have highlighted issues fans have with ticket pricing, especially the market dominance Ticketmaster (owned by Live Nation) has taken. Still, Ticketmaster's gross transaction value before fees is up 62% from 2019, Live Nation reports. The survey also revealed 38% of concertgoers were willing to pay more for better seats, up to $328 for their favorite artists. High demand equals high ticket costsNaturally, the most popular artists are able to command higher ticket prices.

☆ Tosca Musk, Elon’s sister, has a business venture of her own – and it’s all about romance and female sexuality
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Faith Karimi Cnn Photographs Austin Steele | Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

It’s their first public film premiere since the pandemic started. Musk, 48, is the force behind Passionflix, which adapts romance novels into movies and streams them to a devoted niche audience. “Passionflix focuses on adapting romance novels exactly as the fan and the author envision it,” Musk says in a separate CNN interview. From left to right: Tosca Musk, Kimbal Musk, mother Maye Musk and Elon Musk at Maye's 50th birthday party in 1998. One of the founding members, she says she spent the pandemic years curled up on her couch, watching Passionflix movies.

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