Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Jake Shane comedy series, Teen Vogue updates + The Girls Bathroom brand pricing backlash

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MINI SCROLL: Jake Shane comedy series, Teen Vogue updates + The Girls Bathroom brand pricing backlash · Mini Scroll

0:00
Hi everyone. Welcome to Mini Scroll, the
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daily Internet culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories
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from social media, the creator economy and the digital space
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every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays like
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today. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World.
0:22
Welcome back to Mini Scroll everyone.
0:24
OK, I fear the high stakes episode you guys is going to hit
0:28
a million listens this weekend. It's already at 700,000.
0:32
I'm actually losing my mind. We're freaking out.
0:34
We're like what the hell? How is this even happening?
0:37
My belief, my suspicion, my theory is that Spotify, because
0:42
they talked about Lily Allen and David Harbour in that episode,
0:45
Spotify has picked them up in some algorithm where people who
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are listening to Lily Allen's new album are getting
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recommended that on their homepage, like their episode on
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their homepage. That's what I believe is
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happening because they're not in any playlist.
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Like sometimes we get a really big boost and listens if Spotify
0:59
puts us in like a specific playlist or something, but
1:02
they're not in any playlist. And right now that episode's on
1:04
722,000 listens, so pop off Queens high stakes to the moon,
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literally. All right, before I get into the
1:13
stories first today, Please remember to rate, review and
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subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US.
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Speaking of Spotify, Spotify star rate US.
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OK, we need the love infinite scroll.
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We're trying to get to 1000 Spotify star ratings by the end
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of the year. All right, the first story that
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I have for you guys is Jake Shane is getting a comedy series
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about his life. So Jake Shane is officially
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making the jump from podcasting to TV.
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The 26 year old creator, who's best known for hosting his
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podcast Therapist with Jake Shane, is set to star in a new
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30 minute Hulu series inspired by his real life, according to
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Variety. In the upcoming show, Jake will
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play himself alongside his real life friends as they navigate
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quote the chaotic new world of online fame, the strain it puts
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on their friendships and the tension their presence causes in
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their suburban neighborhood neighborhood.
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The project is being developed by 20th television.
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The team behind the project sounds so lit.
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It has writers and producers from hacks high potential Berry
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Silicon Valley like stacked. And as we know, Jake is also
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famously besties with Sophia Ritchie, and she shared how
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proud she is of him on Instagram in the comment sections.
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OK so two things. First, I am actually looking
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forward to learning more about Jake Shane's background and how
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he got to where he is because apparently that will be part of
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the series as well. There have been rumors for years
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that he was Sophia Richie's cousin.
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Then it was that he was Sophia Richie's husband's cousin.
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Neither of those are true, but he is allegedly family friends
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with the Grange family, like Sophia Richie's husband's
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family. But yes, I'm looking forward to
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learning more about him and his background and how he got to
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where he is because he's randomly everywhere.
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Like he is so relevant and so famous.
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He actually is one of those examples that we talk about here
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sometimes of like a creator who really breaks through from the
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online zeitgeist into the mainstream.
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He has done that. Second, I hope they are able to
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do this justice because there have been so few TV and film
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productions about influencers and social media that have
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actually done it well. Usually these productions go
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like way too over the top. Like Emily in Paris is an
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example that comes to mind. But we can probably think of
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1,000,000 examples where they show Emily.
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She's just walking down the street and she's like oh selfie
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with a croissant like wee wee. I love Perry XOXO just like post
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it in real time and it's like all grainy and has like Valencia
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filter on it and she's like post haha.
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I'm like nobody uses social media like that.
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Nobody is posting like that. No influencer is posting on
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social media like that. So I do hope because this is a
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scripted series, it's not a docu series.
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I hope they are able to do it right.
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OK, the next story that I have for you guys, I have an update
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on the Teen Vogue layoffs and the consolidation into
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vogue.com. So things seem to be getting way
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worse at Conde Nast following Teen Vogue folding in to
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vogue.com. That news that we got earlier
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this week, First of all, in general, the PR perception of
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the situation I think is getting a bit out of control.
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Everyone's talking about how Conde Nast chose to do this to
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silence Teen Vogue, which was very left-leaning as we know and
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very politically driven because they need to water down the
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Vogue brand in general to appease basically like
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conservative billionaires. Which honestly feels like a
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valid take at this point. I don't know why else they would
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do that and also lay off the majority of their political
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writers. But now today, there has been a
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new development. So Conde Nast has allegedly
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fired 4 employees who did not work at Teen Vogue but did work
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for Conde Nast. They worked at other titles.
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These four employees confronted human resources about the Teen
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Vogue layoffs after they went public.
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And now apparently, those four employees are fired.
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And some of these employees, possibly all four, but it's
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unclear, were Conde Nast union members.
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So this is from media reporter Max Tanney on Blue Sky.
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They posted 2 statements, one from the Conde Nast Union and
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then one from Conde Nast Corporate.
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This is from the union. Late Wednesday night, Conde Nast
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VP of Labor Relations notified the Guild, as in the the union,
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that the company was immediately terminating.
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For Conde United leaders for engaging in the protected
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concerted activity of gathering in their One World Trade Center.
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That's our address Office to demand answers on this week's
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abrupt layoffs at multiple brands, including Wired and the
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consolidation at Teen Vogue. These egregious terminations are
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flagrant breach of the just cause term in our contract and
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an unprecedented violation of their federally protected rights
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as union members to participate in collective action.
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Through these illegal terminations, Conde Nast
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Management is attempting to intimidate and silence our
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members advocacy for the courageous cultural and
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political journalism of Teen Vogue, as well as diverting
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attention away from the obvious lack of corporate leadership at
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the company. And then they listed who was
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fired. OK.
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And then Conde Nast corporate press release says quote
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statement from Conde Nast on filing an unfair labor practice
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charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the News
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Guild. So today, Conde Nast filed a
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charge with the NLRB so the National Labor Relations Board
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against the News Guild of New York for their repeated and
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egregious disregard of our collective bargaining agreement.
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This action follows the termination of employment for
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four individuals due to conduct that violated company policies
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following an internal review. Extreme misconduct is
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unacceptable in any professional setting.
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This includes aggressive, disruptive, and threatening
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behavior of any kind. We have a responsibility to
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provide a workplace where employees feel respected and
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able to do their job without harassment and intimidation.
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We cannot ignore behavior that crosses the line into targeted
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harassment and disruption of business operations.
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So yes, the union has filed A grievance and I guess we'll see
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where this goes. But it's not looking good given,
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if you guys know anything about Teen Vogue's coverage, they
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published a lot of stories about the importance of unions and
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labor organizing over the years, and it's just not looking good.
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It is like a disaster at Conde Nast right now.
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OK. And the last story that I have
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for you guys is the Girls Bathroom podcast is facing
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backlash for the pricing of their lifestyle brand that they
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just launched. So host of the wildly popular UK
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podcast the girls Bathroom, Sofia and Shinzia are facing
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backlash after launching a new lifestyle brand called rooms.
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The debut collection dropped this week and quickly sparked
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backlash online. The launch features a 110 LB
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robe, a 60 LB candle and 45 LB slippers.
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In a YouTube video released ahead of the launch, Sofia and
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Shinzia admitted that they were quote really nervous about
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unveiling the project. The duo described it as a quote
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new chapter with products like a candle that double S as a
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trinket tray or like a makeup holder and slippers featuring
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removable charms. So immediately, longtime
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followers expressed disappointment that the line
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wasn't more affordable. So a lot of people noted that
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their audience is quite young, like teenagers to early 20s.
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So they probably can't afford a 60 LB candle nor would they
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necessarily want to have a 60 LB candle that then they can put
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their makeup brushes in when it finally like burns all the way
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down. Some other comparisons going
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around online, people are comparing the fact that rooms
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has not sold out yet or didn't sell out very quickly.
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I'm not sure if it's sold out right now but wasn't selling out
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compared to Molly May's maybe that sold out really quickly.
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I actually don't think that's a fair comparison.
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Like Sophia and Chinzia are obviously very famous but Molly
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May is like internationally famous.
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Like she has a literal docu series on prime.
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Like, I think the level of influence and fame, maybe not
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influence, but fame is quite different and the the level of
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like main extreme notoriety. I don't know if that's like
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totally valid. However, in addition to the
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price gripes, people are also comparing the brand's aesthetic
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to Primark Home. People are saying it looks
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similar to Primark's existing homeware brands.
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One commenter wrote quote. Oh my God, I thought this was
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satire for a second. That is not the feedback that
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you want about your brand that's just launched.
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So all over social media, people are asking the girls to address
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the pricing backlash. And a few influencers have
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actually come to their defense, like Victoria Underwood and
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Grace Beverly, who both note that the quality of the
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materials used to manufacture these products do justify the
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price. Now, Grace Beverly's take was
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actually the most interesting to me.
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Let me play you guys a clip. People are perceiving their
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prices to be too high for their new products and this has turned
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into like a giant moral debate and also like a very public
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massive tear down. It is astounding to me, but we
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have not yet caught on to the fact that we do not treat male
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business owners like this at all.
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Like if a male business owner came out with a product that was
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too expensive, it doesn't become like this whole massive moral
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debate and personal teardown. I think we're doing ourselves
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like a massive disservice remembering the fact that as a
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business owner, I talk constantly about the fact that
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female founded businesses only get 2% of funding worldwide.
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Like are we not worried about the fact that we're making all
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of this worse? Because what investor is going
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to want to invest in women owned businesses when they see that
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every single time women have businesses, they are held to a
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completely different to men. You might think it's out of
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touch. You can think that 100% it is
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not a moral to release a high quality product and to price it
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at the price point that a you want to but be looking at
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competitive pricing. The product should be priced
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out. Like that is not a moral
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question. And yet we blow it up into this
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massive like gossipy moral thing and like we're gonna have no
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female business owners. We also hugely criticize all
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influencers who don't do anything with their lives,
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right? We're like, oh, they're not
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doing anything. But on top of that, this like
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standard we have for doing anything, that it has to be
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completely perfect first time and that everyone needs to like
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it and agree with every single decision they made.
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Otherwise that person is a horrible person.
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And like we just can't criticize influences for doing nothing.
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And then when they actually try and do something and invest what
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I assume is 10s of thousands into starting a business rather
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than just saying, oh that's too expensive for me, I'm not going
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to buy it. Instead just like huge character
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assassinations and like being like this is the end for them.
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People are going to be terrified to do fucking anything.
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And I'm not fucking surprised. I started a bit 20/15/2016.
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I would hate to start a business now because the standard we have
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is fucking insane. And there is no room for
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mistakes. There is no room for error.
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And building a business is entirely making errors and then
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fixing them and making mistakes and then fixing them and finding
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out what works and doing more of that.
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Like we're going to build ourselves the exact type of
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society we don't want. And this isn't girl boss
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feminism. Girl boss feminism is basically
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saying anything women do is fine and all right because they are
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women. Like, this is not that creating
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this landscape for female business owners.
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We are going to have none. And it is particularly bad in
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the UK. We have very bad tall poppy
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syndrome. And it seems to be getting worse
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and worse and worse. Because if someone started the
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exact same business that they've just started with the exact same
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product, if they were unknown, you have no idea whether people
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would actually be coming for them.
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Like the tide turns all the time.
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So it makes it impossible as a female business owner to know
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what you can do that is not going to get you cancelled
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overnight for just trying to start a business.
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At the same time, if they had come out with super cheap
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products that would be much more accessible, they're following,
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which they may well have tried to do, they would have been
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absolutely shat on for it being fast fashion.
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And we have to bear that in mind.
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It basically just creates this whole massive lose, lose
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situation, which is going to discourage women from creating
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anything at all. And I just don't think that any
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woman would look at the landscape in the UK right now
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and be like, yeah, you know what?
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I'll start a business. Like I'll put myself online,
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I'll start this like, it's fucking terrifying guy.
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And as I said, like this constant scrutiny doesn't just
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affect individual creators. This isn't about individual
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creators. It shapes the entire landscape
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for women in business. As I said, it makes investors
13:00
way more cautious. It reinforces the idea that
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female led ventures are risky. And as I said, in a world where
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female founded businesses actually outperform male founded
13:07
businesses by two to 1, so they perform doubly as well.
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Only 2% of venture capital funding goes to women founded
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businesses and this is reinforcing it over and over and
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over 98% is going to businesses with a founding team with at
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least one man in. So I don't really know what the
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take away is here. And making this video feels like
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sending myself to the slaughterhouse, so that's fine.
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We have to change this. We have to do something about
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it. It's our responsibility because
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we're the ones making this happen and we're the ones
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feeding the algorithms to talk this way so consistently about
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women who do anything. But just maybe we need to apply
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the same critical thinking we do to women that we do to men in
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business, including things like if something is not right for
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me, I will not buy it. It is not necessarily a moral
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question and there are moral questions that come out.
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That is not one of them. And it is more than OK, 100%
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have opinions on pricing and products.
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But we can definitely, definitely do that without
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turning every single female led business and everything they do
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into a public referendum on like whether this woman is allowed to
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succeed. OK so I don't think Graces take
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is 100% on the nose. I think it probably can't be
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because she's been a creator for so long.
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She's obviously going to have a bias one way or another, but I
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think when she mentions the Internet kind of making these
14:16
high prices around brands and we've seen this a million times,
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I think that's part of it is like, this is not a one off,
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right? How many times have we seen an
14:22
influencer launch a brand launch products?
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And everybody's like, that is so expensive and sometimes the
14:28
price does justify the quality of items.
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But regardless, it's like, well, your audience still can't afford
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that and sometimes it doesn't. But either way, there's always
14:35
discussions about pricing when it comes to influencer launches.
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So I thought it was interesting when she mentioned the like,
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morally corrupt element of how when we look at high prices, we
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make it like a morality thing as opposed to just like a
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preference thing. And we do that, right?
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Like we jump to believe that influencers putting out products
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that are really expensive, we believe that that reflects their
14:58
greed over anything else. And I do want to say before I
15:01
keep going, maybe it does OK. Like we have good reason to
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believe that influencers are greedy because that is largely
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what we have seen over the years, especially the OG, like
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Youtubers that were creating their own brands and Hawking us,
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you know, makeup products and stuff like that.
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I totally get why we believe that.
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And I don't know anything about fashion or manufacturing or
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pricing, like I don't know. So maybe it's true.
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I'm just kind of exploring our collective response as Internet
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users, as fans to things like this when they happen, which
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like, again, it happens a lot. So there are a lot of people in
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Grace's comment section who agree with her on that point,
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saying that unless an item is a necessity, such as food, shelter
15:39
or water, you cannot impose morality politics on its pricing
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because it's really just like, do you want to pay for that?
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Can you afford that, yes or no? And then you kind of move on.
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The other thing that I thought was interesting that Grace
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mentioned was the fact that women founded brands get a lot
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more criticism than male founded brands, which like no surprise
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there, I think we can probably all agree with that.
16:00
But then taking it one step further and looking at how this
16:04
culture of critique has continued to perpetuate the very
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big problem that already exists with women getting so much less
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funding, so much less investment, so much less support
16:15
for their brands and their businesses than their male
16:18
counterparts. And how this culture that we
16:20
have created online, which I'm very much a part of, may
16:24
encourage investors to shy away from investing in women founded
16:27
businesses. And I think that's a really
16:29
great point. I think we're at this really
16:31
interesting place in culture where previously cancellations
16:35
or backlash or criticism like this around something that's,
16:38
you know, not horrific, right? Like maybe it's just like a
16:41
creator misstep would be talked about online, but it would
16:44
remain like within the confines of their community.
16:47
So the discourse would exist within a fandom Reddit page or
16:51
within a closed Facebook, for example.
16:53
And unless it was like a major scandal by sister, for example,
16:57
the average person would not come across this criticism.
17:01
Whereas now every single niche criticism or drama or
17:05
cancellation is amplified and pushed out to millions of people
17:09
who may or may not know the creator or that person that
17:13
you're talking about. And suddenly that's our first
17:15
impression and our only impression of them.
17:18
So I think it's something to think about like the
17:20
responsibility that we as average Internet users hold as
17:24
well. Now, we constantly talk about
17:26
the responsibility that comes with influencers having a big
17:29
platform, but those big platforms are becoming
17:32
increasingly democratized. When a single video talking
17:36
about how you feel the robe from Sophia and Shinsega's brand is
17:40
overpriced and that could randomly go viral, millions of
17:43
people could see it. And suddenly you've started this
17:45
entire discussion, this discourse, you've changed
17:48
people's minds about them. Or like worst case scenario,
17:51
you've kind of kind of kicked off like a quote UN quote
17:53
cancellation. I don't know, it kind of gave me
17:56
something to think about. Like I said, I don't totally
17:58
agree with all of Grace's points, but it definitely was
18:01
thought provoking for me. Anyways, guys, that's it for
18:03
Mini Scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
18:05
I love you guys. Please remember to rate review
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and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US and
18:10
I will talk to you on Monday. Bye.