Sifting through Slop
It's getting messy out there - navigation via the human soul
The bright and pretty interesting side of AI-exhaustion is that true humanity feels pretty exciting when you come across it.
The term “authenticity’ has been brutally overused since I started my career at Coca-Cola, in new brand development.
In my twenties at the time, my first job as a junior-level brand manager was to close down a new brand that had been developed by the hottest ad agency in the world at the time, Wieden & Kennedy (creators of “Just Do It” for Nike.) Its attempt at a new soda brand was something called OK Soda and it looked like this:
I’m not even kidding! It wasn’t even meant to be ironic - it was meant to be authentically just ok. The marketing was artistic and experimental but it failed because its formula was made from leftover Tab Clear ingredients (if you remember Tab Clear, or even Tab, you’re a true Gen X-er!) We were the original slackers, wayyyy before Gen Z. (Honestly, I find Gen Z youth pretty energized and full of boot-strapper energy. Since we raised them, they did inherit some of our cynicism, though.)
Anyway, I digress.. back to authenticity. The other reason OK Soda failed was because it - quite authentically - had zero soul.
I believe soul and our individual connection to it is what will help us navigate through the next few years of Slop. The whole world order is being shaken up. Our country is showing late-empire signs of decay that are impossible to ignore. Restaurants draw us in with slop bowls that are quickly put together and wolfed down without a lot of attention to flavor. LLMs are spitting out generative mediocrity that takes a lot of sifting to turn into anything usable.
What do I mean by navigating via the soul? I’m talking about what it means to feel something stir inside us that inspires or is moving in a grounding, deeply satisfying way. When I feel burnout coming on (a weekly occurrence at least, for me) I try to think about how to light my inner flame. To feel more connected, and less alone (for me, it’s music, meditation, nature or talking to a friend.) To quote the amazing Rabbi Naomi Levy, who in turn quotes Einstein in her wonderful book Einstein and the Rabbi:
"A human being is part of the whole, the Universe. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. Striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion.”
As a founder, it’s important to me to truly enjoy what I do, and I want my clients and employees to also love our work. As we reveal insights, we may not be moving mountains or solving for world peace, but I hope that what we do does help push back the barriers of Slop and create room for human connection that inspires.
Especially with our work with luxury brands, I think identifying beauty, bravery, rarity, creativity and craftsmanship is part of this work. Lately, we’re on the lookout for new, small gems from founders that are redefining what luxury means.
Example: Rubirosa’s, the new founder-created tiny apparel shop from Lauren Rubinski. A friend of mine who works for Céline discovered it because it’s on the same street as their showroom on rue de Grenelle in the 7th. She described it:
“(Rubinski) chooses some very basic and essential items, just colour declination, no marketing, kind of going back to old retail experiences from few decades ago. Its good are stored in library shelving, for example.”
Rubinski got her start as a jewelry designer at Colette, another small and independent treasure in Paris that is no longer. She seems to be embracing an analog approach to her business, with no e-commerce planned for the moment. “Just come to Paris”, she says. I love that.
Stay tuned for more of these discoveries. We don’t do sponsored posts or get paid for what we feature.
In the meantime, stay clean of slop and think about what lights your inner fire, and I’ll do my best to do the same.
Stay curious, Malinda