Latest / Open Tabs / 🎧 Alix Earle is on TV and teen magazines are back in print

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🎧 Alix Earle is on TV and teen magazines are back in print · Open Tabs

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: This is OpenTabs,
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: our twice-weekly Substack Live,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: where we talk about the stories that are taking up space in our tabs,
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: our feeds, and our brains.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Megan.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Emma.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: How's it going?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, good.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I always kind of hate short weeks that you start on Tuesday.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: I always feel a
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: little off.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, feeling a bit off this Tuesday, but had a great weekend.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Other than that, things are great.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: How are you doing?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I also feel off if I take Mondays off.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And now that I work for myself, I've just been like, whatever.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're just doing it.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're working on Mondays.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I work yesterday, but I feel your pain.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just the two of us today because Melissa is off celebrating her birthday.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yay.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Happy birthday, memes.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so it's just gonna be us today and we have some fun stuff to chat about.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so first things first, Alex Earl is officially a reality TV star.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I should say Alex Earl and her entire family are all reality TV stars.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Their show Earl Meets World premiered on Netflix late last week.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: I binged it all in like two days.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a reality TV girl.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Megan, I'm curious,
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: have you seen it or are you just like keeping up with
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: the storylines like via social?
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I totally would have watched it,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: but I have been a subscription hopper where I cancel a certain streaming service,
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: get another one, and I'm off Netflix right now.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I did not feel that this was worth the resubscribe at this time,
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: but I will watch it when I'm back.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I was following very closely all of the drama on social media.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I saw all of the like important moments that I know we're going to talk about
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm excited to unpack.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was very fun.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think they seem to be,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: after one eight-episode season,
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: the closest successors to OG Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's very similar.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, Alex and her sister Ashton is the main relationship.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Their sister relationship is the main focus.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: They have a dadager.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Their dad manages them both,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: and it navigates the tension of,
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: are you being dad right now or are you being manager?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: They have younger siblings that are starting to post.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's very, very reminiscent.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And they have a blended, merged family and, you know, stepmom, drama, stepdad.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was all very interesting.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Down to even the football-playing boyfriends.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you will remember,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: when Kim stepped on the scene,
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: she was with Reggie Bush, who low-key is way better at football than Braxton.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, Braxton.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But they even got the WAG thing going.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so very much Keeping Up with the Kardashians for 20 years.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And even more so,
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: it is rumored that Ashton,
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Alex's younger sister, is dating Landon Barker, Travis Barker's son.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: The parallels are crazy.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: The girls really are crazy.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: It just reminded me of early Keeping Up where these people were saying anything.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Very comfortable speaking in front of the cameras.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: There are multiple points where they talk about their stepmom posting things online
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: that are controversial and maybe a bit problematic and hashing that out.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it was,
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I will
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: say,
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was really impressed by,
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: something we've talked a lot about when it comes to reality TV is that eventually
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: the reality TV show becomes about being on reality TV.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like they started at a place where the reality TV show is about being
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: a family that is in the public eye, navigating people following their storyline.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So they start with that drama.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, and I'm sure it'll continue, like based on their Yeah.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I saw her talking about that,
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: the little sister,
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: and they asked, like, do you feel like Alex is using you for clout?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, well, I need to use Alex for clout.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So her views need to stay up.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And just for them to have such a clear view on the family business at such
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: a young age was funny and a little terrifying.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: The younger siblings, I mean, they're the young, the only boy, Thomas.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say, I'm not good at guessing kids ages.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: So like, he's a young kid though, like seven, eight, nine, like around there.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: They asked him why he thought his family had a TV show and he immediately goes,
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: for profit, to turn a profit.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: These kids, man.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: But then there's also,
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: isn't there a storyline where Alex's dad,
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Alex and Ashton's dad isn't as supportive of Ashton because she's in it for the love
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: of the game as opposed to profit.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, this is sustainable.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like,
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: if something isn't going to make you money,
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: it's not worth your time and it's not worth my time.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how he phrased that to her because her storyline was,
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: I would not be an influencer if Alex hadn't taken off.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: That dynamic is really interesting with the entire family of Alex being like,
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: you guys owe all of this to me.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: There is some of that similar to Kim and her sisters on Kardashians of like,
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: if I hadn't put myself out there, You wouldn't be in this position.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to buy her Louboutins.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I bought her a career.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's an underlying tension in all of the interactions.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: But Ashton wants to get into modeling and her dad, her dad-a-jure, is not supportive of that.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: And her and Alex lie and tell her dad that Ashton is interviewing new managers and
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: That is when he starts taking her a little more seriously.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure it didn't last long.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Luckily,
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like she would be better off having a traditional manager,
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: especially if she wants to model.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's such a traditional industry.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: And she is just very different.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Her aesthetic is very different from Alex's.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think Alex, like she's not overly commercial in the way that Alex is.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel,
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like,
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think he gets,
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: I can see the vision of what she's trying to go for and he doesn't.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think he does.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's also like, let's be honest, you see her dad's house.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like Ashton doesn't need to be raking in.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: They come from wealth.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure she's still making a ton of money with what she's still doing on social media.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: If she wants to pursue modeling as a passion, I say let her.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was super interesting.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And they knew what they were doing in plotting out the episodes
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: because they know everyone wants to know about the Alex Cooper story.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the unwell of it all.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: And they saved that for, I think, episode seven, but way to the end.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: And we talked about it when it first, I want to say, when was it?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: Three months ago about when the tension between the two Alexes started really- Coachella.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Coachella.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So May.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy fame- She signed Alex Earl to Unwell
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: a couple years ago for a podcast.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think Alex did her podcast under Unwell for maybe like a year, year and a half.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then they parted ways and never interacted with each other online.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then Alex Earl had been reposting shady things about Alex Cooper on TikTok.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex Cooper finally made a video where she says,
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, if you have something to say, just say it.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: What did I do to you?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Stop with the passive aggressive reposts.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex Earl commented on it and then never delivered.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And they focus a lot,
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: like the last two episodes are all about the behind the scenes of that and how
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: that happened.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Talks about,
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: it really started on like bad footing with
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: that initial Call Her Daddy podcast interview she did with Alex
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: that like kicked off her signing to Unwell.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: She said she,
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: and I remember saying this,
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think on OpenTabs when that episode came up, It came out a couple of years ago.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: I thought she's so young and she's clearly drunk and she's answering highly personal questions.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought it was like, I don't think this is like a good look for her.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe somebody is taking advantage of like
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: a very like I think she was 22 years old
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: and very obviously drunk answering like not safe for work questions.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Granted, it's called her daddy, but like she was visibly drunk in the episode.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: And she talks about how the next day she woke up, she's like, shoot, I said a lot.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And she asked for some stuff to be removed from the episode and was denied by Alex Cooper.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So...
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: And from there, they also, she said they didn't give her any support.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: They sent her a camera to film her podcast and like, that's it.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm interested to know, like, did she have a producer?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like maybe she didn't.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then she said other influencer friends started getting podcast deals
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: and they had sets and producers and seemed to be getting a lot more support
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: than she was.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah,
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: and basically said that she found out she was no longer signed to Unwell via
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: the press release that went out announcing that she was dropped.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: So she didn't have a heads up about that.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: She was basically fired publicly.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really interesting.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: She talks about how she was idolized Alex Cooper.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: She was her hero.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: She put a lot of trust in her.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Towards the end of their relationship,
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: she used the word scared of her and extremely intimidated.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: But it was interesting,
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: like, she posted, like, on it on Alex Cooper's video, like, out of anger.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then I wonder,
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious if,
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: like, the Netflix producers were like, no, you have to hold this for the show.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be surprised if, like,
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: maybe she was planning on addressing it on her socials and then they asked her not
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: to or told her.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because isn't on the show basically you see her discussing this with her family
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: about what she should do, what she should post, what she should say.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of how they get her side of things out there is like through
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: the discussion of like what she could say, what she could do.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then ultimately she sent Alex Cooper a text and then you get to see what that text is.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's not even clear that she sent the text.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: When she reads it aloud to her dad, she said, I drafted this text.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not confirmed whether she sent it or not.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's like very harsh.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: She calls, you know, Alex Cooper malicious, yada, yada, yada.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: But she acknowledges it was a mistake of me to have commented on that video and her
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: on the back end going, I have to post.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't posted in three days.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I have to start posting.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: And when she does start to post, everyone's mad at me in the comments.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're all commenting on me to post my side of the story, blah, blah, blah.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: And she's like, I shouldn't have commented that.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I made a mistake.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Did you feel sympathetic to her side more after watching this?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately that's what she wants.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: After you watch the Netflix show,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: you're definitely on my side and feel like you're 100% team Alex Burrell.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is that how you feel?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Overall, I think it painted her and her sister Ashton in a great way.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think they looked really good.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: They obviously would get into sister fights, but I have a sister.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't hold that stuff against them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think overall she came off great.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously that was the goal.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: With the Alex Cooper stuff, there were just like so many questions I have.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, well, did they promise you a producer and a set and then you didn't get it?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Or...
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like he it was like she was supposed to met.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted her to like mentor me and she did it.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well,
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: did she know that like was it agreed that she's going to be mentoring you in
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: the podcast business or.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I had a few like.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's come out like Unwell.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Other podcasters have had problems with Unwell.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: But I think on the surface,
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: you would think Alex Cooper is totally in the wrong based on the edit.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex was just taken advantage of in every sense of the word.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: My thing is, like, we all watched what Alex did to Sophia Franklin.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, you cannot, like, I have sympathy for Alex.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I get she's like, I was young and taken advantage of.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: I get that she feels that way.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm also like, this was very in line with her behavior that she's demonstrated.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not surprised that she would mean to you.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I think, like,
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: she was maybe hoping for,
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: like, big sister energy from Alex Cooper, and she did not get that.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like she very much got, like,
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: business is business,
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: and, like, this relationship isn't working for my bottom line anymore.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, done.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Which...
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think her adoration and Alex Cooper and the parasocialness of her having listened
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: to Call Her Daddy from the beginning
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: and feeling like Alex is her friend definitely played a part.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it's interesting,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: Alex Cooper has not,
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: or Unwell,
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: have not,
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: as of today,
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: as of Tuesday,
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: September 8th,
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: have not acknowledged this at all,
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: have not released a statement, and their comments are filled with it.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like since she kicked it off, she kind of needs to...
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Close the loop, but she's about to have a baby.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: She also has Sophia's novel, Daddy Issues, coming up.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think that releases this month.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: So she's maybe like, I have bigger fish to fry.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, overall, I think it was really interesting.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: She also,
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: I assume it's renewed for season two because Alex made a comment of,
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: well, my shows aren't getting canceled.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: I dig at Unwell because their Love Overboard reality show just got canceled.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it would be very stupid of her to make that comment
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: if they didn't have season two in the bag already.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it was super interesting.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was a smart move for them.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: They come off looking really well.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And she comes off looking like a workhorse,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: like super strategic marketer to help round out that blonde bombshell image
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: that she's had for so long.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you said there was a lot of product placement, right?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's another thing.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: There were a lot of product placement.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was Earl Meets World brought to you by DoorDash and Netflix.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's what it felt like.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Almost every episode had a DoorDash cameo that tried to They would be organic,
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: but didn't really land.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: If you know what product placement looks like, it was pretty obvious.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: They would be having an intense scene and then the doorbell would ring
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: and they'd
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: be like, our DoorDash is here.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: It got here so fast.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: From a Netflix strategic perspective,
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: as corny as that is,
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: it's still really smart from an ads perspective of this is someone
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: who they are taking from social media.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Who has not fully made the transition to lifestyle vlogging.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: She does vlog a little bit, but she has not blown up on YouTube the way that she has on TikTok.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so they've kind of got the rights to her vlog content via this reality show
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: and they're selling ads against it.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they were doing the ads in the lead up for the show too.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like I saw a bunch of Duncan,
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I think this is a really interesting marketing play from Netflix,
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: even if it's executed a little obviously.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think the fact that they're scooping up social media talent,
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: giving them reality shows,
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: and then programming them with sponsors is very, very interesting.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it was smart.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And even as obvious as it is,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: it's like that marketing trick,
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: like just seeing something or hearing something three times,
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: like DoorDash will be in your head.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're already in bed or on the couch binging a reality show on Netflix,
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: like when you get hungry, you might be like, oh, let's maybe order some DoorDash.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: And she also had,
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I believe while it was filming,
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: and I assume now that the show is out,
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: the meal is out there, I'll have to run down to Duncan and actually see.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: She did- The early riser.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the early riser.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: She did a drink and a meal with Duncan.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I thought this was like kind of flat.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was telling Megan in our pre-call,
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Alex and her sister Ashton Famously love this coffee shop in Jersey called Rook.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: They talk about it all the time and how it's the best coffee in the world.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought them having like A Dunkin' partnership was like,
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: I know that's not your favorite coffee because you post
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: about your favorite coffee all the time.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: But maybe it's like, okay, if you're not in Jersey, maybe Dunkin's your go-to then.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: But they were in Jersey.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is also the tension of someone skipping the YouTube and the control
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: over their own ads.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it does kill some of the authenticity of, you know, she's not really using these products.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: We know Dunkin' doesn't really care.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked about Kylie.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's not something they seem to be going for.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: They seem to be going for awareness above all else.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: But from an influencer's perspective, that's also something to think about.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, Alex is losing authenticity points, I feel like, which are still important.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: She got a BDL.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: She's pretending to love Duncan.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that she has to be careful not to lose too many of those points.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was the only misstep that I saw from her.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think everything else, she's super strategic.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: Her dad is, I mean,
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: a successful businessman on his own,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: and he's incredibly blunt with her and her sister, which I think works for Alex.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: She seems to thrive on blunt feedback.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it'll be...
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if they come out with a season two,
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm assuming they have...
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we have to talk about the cliffhanger ending because I feel like that...
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was such a great play by Netflix to leverage.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about in Cool Shiny Culture,
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: we did a cultural cover of reality TV and basically posited that the future
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: of reality TV is transmedia soap operas
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: where it's like you're watching this play out on several different platforms.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Netflix really delivered on this for The Earl Show where the show ends.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: So she's broken up with Braxton like before the show starts, right?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like before filming starts.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: And she's broken
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: up right before.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I, to me, it seems like he didn't want to be on the show.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was why they broke up.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: He definitely didn't.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't,
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: she never talks about why she broke up with him,
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: which was so interesting because it's like such a huge pain point for her in
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: the show is her not knowing if she made a mistake in breaking up with him.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think he refused to be on camera because he calls her a couple of times
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: during filming and she goes, I'm filming right now.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he hangs up immediately.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then he texted her and was like, I feel like you're all like, is there you off camera now?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or like alluding to you're always filming now, whether it's on your phone or for Netflix.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think maybe he wasn't comfortable.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it seems like.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: But the show ends with like she's been pining for Braxton, trying to get over their breakup.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: She can't.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally she's like, I'm just going to call him.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: He said that he doesn't see a future ever.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like he would never get back with an ex.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to find out if there's a chance.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: So she calls him and asks him if they would ever get back together.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, long pause.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Alex.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then credits.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the Benson Boone song that she was in the music video for,
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: which I was like, amazing needle drop.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: All of the edits have been to that song.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then the drama continues because online people are like, what does this mean?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: They're talking about this for a few days.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then the ex-girlfriend of a guy that Alex was seen with earlier this summer,
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Lando Norris, Maggie, was seen with Braxton.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then she posted to her social media, like at Alex, like throwing shade at Alex Earl.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: it was just the drama from the show continued to play out on social media over
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: the weekend,
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: which like gave this show,
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like,
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: more wind and a longer shelf life than it would have had else
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: if this wasn't happening, you know?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And it was so smart.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: They built, Braxton was built up as this, you never saw a picture of him.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: You would see clips of him.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: They would insert clips from Alex's TikToks.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: You never heard his voice because I don't think he gave them permission to use his voice.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the first time you hear his voice.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: And he is such a huge figure.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Leading up to it.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's like an omniscient character.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, he's haunting her narrative throughout the entire season.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Braxton is haunting her.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And her family loves him and talk about how much they love him.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and the recent development is she unfollowed him.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think today.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: After he went on this date with this ex of the guy she was seeing over the summer.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was so...
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Megan, it was so interesting seeing he was spotted while they were filming on a date
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: with Olivia Jade, another social media influencer, and she is freaking out about it.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: She texts him.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: And it was so interesting seeing the behind the scenes.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: I thought she was really smart about what she saved.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it's very juicy.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: For somebody who posts so much, she saved a really good amount for the show.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I think he broke up with her maybe because he's just not comfortable with being out there.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's one other misstep aside from the Duncan that I think Alex made.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: This was a big moment on TikTok if you follow Alex and her sister Ashton,
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: but she was staying at Ashton's apartment in New York City and she turned it
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: into like a pigsty and she like added on an extra day to her stay
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: and Ashton was like, no, you have to leave.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex starts filming Ashton as she's basically kicking her out of the apartment.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And she's crashing out like she's having I'm like she's like in the midst
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: of like I think having an anxiety attack right now and like overwhelmed
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: and like you have to get out.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex posted that.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a point of tension with Ashton being like, I'm not comfortable with that.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like you won't delete that video.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone thinks I'm a bitch now.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you have no boundaries when it comes to social media.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: And like you don't respect my boundaries.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: And she basically was like,
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: you weaponized your massive account against me because you were mad and upset
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: that I didn't want you to stay with me.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that they resolved it and I think it can be dropped up to sister fights,
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: which can be very intense.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I also feel like they're probably using some of the conflicts with Ashton
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: and Alex to get at the conflicts with Braxton that maybe she wouldn't want
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: to address head on of like if she struggles.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think even her dad was like, Alex gets dressed and takes it on everyone around her.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: But then everyone's like, we never saw that happen.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Yeah, because she knows when she's filming and when she's not.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm sure this happens.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're just not seeing it.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll get that season three once she actually literally starts to forget
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: the cameras are there.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's part of what keeps it interesting and something
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: that Alec has always been so good at is like being incredibly forthcoming
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: and vulnerable,
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: but keeping just enough hidden that you're like, wait,
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: but I want to know, you know, like always leave them wanting a little bit more.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: And she's so good at that.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she's very good at it.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: It was also interesting,
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: we've talked about this for so long,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: but it was so interesting seeing the behind the scenes of like
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: a major content creator.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: She has her best friend Sally from high school.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Sally is basically like the third sister.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: She's basically in every episode.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: She, Alex had hired her to run her Snapchat.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: And Snapchat wasn't performing.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Analytics were down.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: And Alex's dad was like on Sally about it.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And he basically told Alex, like, you have to fire her because analytics are down on Snapchat.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: And we've talked about before creators make bank.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: On Snapchat, so that's probably a major income
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: stream for Alex.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: Even it being mentioned so much,
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: like I was like,
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: she probably wants another deal with Snapchat and that's why they put in the show
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: so much because they're like,
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: they want usage to go up and they're like, see,
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: even though we didn't deliver on that deal,
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: like we're still invested in this space
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: and they kind of blamed it on Sally.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: They, I think they maybe had a conversation with Sally and they're like,
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: can you take one for the team?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, Because they fire her on camera and they like say like Alex hired Sally to be her friend.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it seems like that's kind of what the situation was.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: But I think they asked her just like take one for the team and we're gonna fire you.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then, again,
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: speaking to Alex's amazing job at navigating the transmedia of it all,
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm scrolling TikTok after this discourse has happened,
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: and I see Alex be like,
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: okay, guys, I'm going to tell you what's going on with Sally.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting ready.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to tell you what's going on with Sally.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Pants the camera.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sally's standing next to her getting ready.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: So she's like, we're still friends.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to tell you the whole story.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: They tell the story together.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, she's just so good at controlling her own narrative.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's amazing.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she...
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was like,
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: she's like a social media genius watching the behind the scenes
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: and how much thought she puts into everything.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: It was super, super interesting.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: Even hearing her
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: talk to her stepmother when she made some insensitive comments
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: and she's like,
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: I know you meant well,
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: but you need to think about all the different ways that someone could take this.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, yes,
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: that's how we always talk to our clients too about like,
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: When you're posting, you have to think about it from many different angles.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: So she's just like to intrinsically understand all of that.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: She's incredibly good at what she's at.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: And the Sally of it all is another Kardashian similarity about how they bring their friends in.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: And then it becomes a spinoff.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: So...
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, second topic I wanted to talk to you about.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: W Magazine is launching a twice-weekly print edition for teens.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: It is called WU.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, twice-weekly?
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, twice-annually is what I meant.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I was like, that's such, I was like, that's huge.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: That would be huge.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: It will be interesting to see if they post digitally,
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_01: like release digital articles throughout the year and then maybe an edition is like
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: a collection of all of that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be interesting because I can't imagine.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: I assume they will have to be active.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're not going to have their Instagram accounts at Dormant for six months in
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: between issues.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: Especially, like,
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: there's so much relevance to be had out of just putting out a buzzy,
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: well-directed shoot with someone.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we talked about this with Kylie last week, I think.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, she looks good, so people are, like, gonna look at that image.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that it would be very smart of them to continue to do editorial,
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: even if they don't do more covers.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: But it's W Youth, and I think it's supposed to be, like, W Youth.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Fun to say.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fun to say.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: And a little background.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: This idea was apparently Sofia Coppola's.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: She reached out to the CEO of W Magazine and said she wanted to partner with them on
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: an edition for teens.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: And they wanted to Very much be like inspired by teen magazines of the early 2000s.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: So they call out Teen Vogue and Tiger B and Sassy.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was a lover of all of these magazines when I was younger.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: And they want it to feel like a modern version of these classic teen magazines.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: So there will be quizzes, celebrity interviews, horoscopes, all the good stuff.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, they're saying Gen Z is craving something tangible.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they're yearning for pre-internet days.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: So they're going for it.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the print edition comes out on the 15th.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the cover stars are Haley and Justin Bieber.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all, like, self-shot.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, the photos were all taken by Haley and Justin themselves.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they were interesting if you're going for, like, pre-teen.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's like for my generation,
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: maybe Justin would obviously be the draw,
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: but I think like for the preteens now, it's really about Hailey Bieber.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't imagine, like 13 year olds today maybe are familiar in Justin Bieber.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: Even younger.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he used to be a pop star, but now he's married to Hailey Bieber.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and she's totally a star for that age group.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you look at the Instagram, did you look at their Instagram what they posted?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: They posted a bunch of pictures of young people.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: So young Sofia Coppola, young Justin Bieber, young Tyler, the creator.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's very, very cute.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they're smart and like, I also,
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've paid attention to the pit space for a while because I personally love it.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if you go to a newsstand,
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: like in Barnes and Noble,
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: let's say, you'll notice that it's very much been taken over by fandom.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of like Korean K-pop,
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: like this band,
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: this band,
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: One Direction,
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Harry Styles,
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Taylor Swift magazines, like special editions of all of these different magazines.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the magazine industry as a whole has been leaning into fandom pretty hard.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like this is kind of just a repackaging of that.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, it seems like they're going to lean into fandom.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said,
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hailey Bieber and Justin Bieber,
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: like people would probably buy a Justin Bieber magazine at the newsstand just based
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: on what I'm saying, what's available.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: So to like add the Hailey Bieber and make this like a culturally relevant artifact,
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think is really smart.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's super interesting.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they've also been leaning into like animation, like old video game style animation.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: And like they posted this morning,
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: like an animated recreation of Haley and Justin,
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: like doing this shoot in their bedroom and like them going about their house
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: as like these little animated Sims.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's pretty cute.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: But I am curious, do you think it has staying power, though?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: This will be released twice a year.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think the nostalgia for physical media will be interesting
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: six months from now?
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that there's potential here.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: Will this work?
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to depend on the execution and the next one that they do.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if there's really a strategy there, that's going to actually resonate with the culture.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think that I would guess they're thinking of this less as a profit center and more
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: as a loss leader to be culturally relevant.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_00: W Magazine is probably not going to spin up a whole youth arm,
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: but they'll do this twice a year where they'll deep dive into the youth so
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: that they can stay relevant with them to make sure that they're dipping their toes
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: in.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I'm doing this.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then let's say it takes off and it's hugely successful,
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: then they can, you know, do even more stuff with this sub-brand.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it's very smart to create a sub-brand, have a product tied to it that's like Yeah.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's also really interesting.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: I have the interview they did with Justin and Haley in front of me, and it is so short.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, the answers to everything are,
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think there's an answer from either one of them to a question that's longer
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: than 10 words.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's like very short, like it's designed to be in a graphic carousel on Instagram.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's not really what people are wanting from Hailey Bieber.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: They don't really care what Hailey Bieber has to say.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking for aesthetic inspiration.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that the fact that they knew that and delivered on that, like...
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be a couple's costume, like this magazine cover, you know?
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: Someone's going to figure out a way to make it happen, even though it's really nothing.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: But this is just, that's kind of her role in society is just pictures, not sports,
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: you know?
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, it'll be very interesting.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: W Youth, Fall 2026, the connection issue.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And on their site, they have, and this is just like a tab on W Magazine's website.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it lives on W Magazine's website.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: They have like a collage of all the inspo, like Sassy Magazine is on here.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Fruits, like all these old school magazine covers.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: They also,
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: it looks like,
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_01: have an editor's note, which features like some of Sofia Coppola's work.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: It is interesting.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: I do think Sofia Coppola,
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: she has a teen daughter herself,
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: who's like very Romy Mars, who is very active on TikTok.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I do think Sofia is probably very in touch with like Yeah.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: It'll really be interesting.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would love if teen magazines made a comeback.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: I also think like Gen Z are so,
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: it's such,
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: or a lot of these would be Gen Alpha, I guess, are so, like, aesthetics forward.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: I could see them buying this magazine just so they can,
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: like, cut it up and put posters of it on their walls and, like, make mood boards.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: Not for a Justin interview, which I don't think
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: would meet there.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: Magazines are also huge for taste signaling.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, To put on your coffee table when you have people over to say like,
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: this is what I read and I read about the culture.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: So as Gen Z continues to grow up and look for ways to taste signal
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: as they have their own spaces,
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: they'll definitely look to magazines and books and coffee table books
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: and tchotchkes around the house like this.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be fun.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'll have to pick up an issue next week when it And we can maybe
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: talk about it.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you can get your hands on it,
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like they're going to hope that all the Justin,
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: the Believers and Haley Heads are like buying them out.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: I know they might give me some competition.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: But hopefully not.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: Fun app.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: And we will be back on Thursday.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: So see you then.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: See you then.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Bye.