Tag Archives: Social media

by swhartley | Monday, February 24, 2025 · 11:01 pm

A Big Dill in New Products?

Though pickles have been around for thousands of years, they are having a moment right now. Last week Cheetos dropped a limited release new flavor of its popular Flamin’ Hot snacks, Dill Pickle. The company says it was the most requested new flavor, and it follows a pickle trend that has been finding its way into many food and drink categories. Last summer, a limited edition of Spicy Dill Pickle Goldfish was launched. A few months later, Jimmy John’s joined the movement with a Picklewich, available for short time, where the sandwich’s bread was replaced with pickle slices, capitalizing on a viral trend from local sandwich shops.

Social media is an important driver of the trend, where users can share ideas for using the sour, salty, and sometimes sweet flavor of pickles in recipes of all kinds. Gen Z is known to be adventurous when it comes to food and especially trying unique combinations. Pickles have been gaining in popularity since the pandemic, when fans touted them for the fermented food’s impact on gut health and shelf-stable nature. The excitement about this bold flavor doesn’t show signs of slowing.

Are you a pickle enthusiast?

Activities:

Ask students: Are you interested in pickle-flavored snacks? Other pickle-infused foods and beverages? Have them search the internet for innovative examples of the trend.
Have students look up available varieties of Cheetos on its website: https://www.cheetos.com. Which flavors are most appealing to you? How will the company determine if the Dill Pickle variety should become a permanent offering?
Ask students to form small groups and create an advertisement for a pickle-flavored (or scented?) product that they think could be successful.

Sources: Hauari, Gabe, (18 Feb 2025) A big dill? Cheetos unveils Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle flavor: When you can get them, USA Today. Jolly, Anne, (16 Apr 2024) Pickles Inspire Latest Food Trend, Foodmanufacturing.com.

Can These Glasses Make You Smarter?

It’s often said that wearing glasses make you look smarter. But do glasses actually make you smarter? Well, if they are the Ray-Ban Meta glasses with AI, then yes, they can make you smarter – or at least help you to act smarter.

The glasses were first introduced in 2021 and Meta sold about 300,000 pairs in 18 months. However, less than 10% were still being actively used two years later. Version 2 of the Ray-Ban framed glasses now available has sold more than 700,000 units.

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are full of cool features as well as having the iconic Ray-Ban frames. They incorporate a camera, microphones, and artificial intelligence. Want to video with the glasses? Press a button to start a video for 30-or 60-seconds, or longer to three-minutes. Curious about something you see? Ask the AI for help.

Using Meta AI, you can ask questions while wearing the glasses and get a handy assist. For example, you might ask about a building, animal, or something else in your view. You can also take photos and videos, make calls, play music, and message. Voice commands and voice chatbots are available in English, Spanish, French, and Italian.

The glasses can also be outfitted with prescription (and transitional) lenses and are compatible with iPhone and Android. The glasses are priced from $299 to $379, depending on style and lens type.

What do you see?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: Would they buy smart glasses?
Discuss the rise – and fall – of smart glasses (e.g., Google Glass, Spectacles by Snap).
Show video of Meta’s glasses: https://youtu.be/scDLJAYrHaE?si=Ll1M9CQkirycQ1MF
Show website for the glasses: https://www.meta.com/smart-glasses/
Divide students into teams. Have each team research and compare Meta with competition from Google, Snap, and other companies.
What are the features and advantages of each? Negative aspects?
In teams, have the students develop a profile of the target customer for the glasses.
Next, have the teams determine the elements should be in the marketing campaign.

Source: Bobrowsky, M. (24 September 2024). How Meta’s smart Ray-Ban glasses spawned a Silicon Valley Hit. Wall Street Journal; Calma, J (17 September 2024). Meta extends its Ray-Ban smart glasses deal beyond 2030. The Verge.com.

A Different Type of Phone – The Light Phone III

Want to kick your social media addiction? Then try The Light Phone III with its minimalist design and approach. And when we say ‘minimal’ that’s what we mean. This phone does not have access to social media, the Internet, or email.

If this sounds opposite of other smart phones such as Apple and Google, you are right. Instead of building more technology into a phone, Light is subtracting apps from its phone and packs a lot into a small footprint. It’s about the width of an iPhone, but shorter – like a BlackBerry.

This is the third generation Light Phone which originally started as a Kickstarter campaign; the company has sold more than 100,000 phones to date.

Lest you think the Light Phone is devoid of all usability, it does have maps, music, texting, notes, a calendar, timer, alarm, calculator, and a flashlight. It also has a large OLED display, plus a camera and an NFC chip for future payment tools. What is doesn’t have is pesky social media apps, clickbait news, and Internet browsing. In other words, it’s a ‘non-smartphone’ that gets users back to the basics of communication without a lot of distractions.

Call me.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: How do they use their smartphones?
What could they live without? Would they be interested in a simpler phone?
Show video about The Light Phone: https://youtu.be/RnltPjVK9wk?si=9dVZytMj7x3OvT2h
Show The Light Phone website: https://www.thelightphone.com/
Divide students into teams. Have each team define a target market, including psychographics, demographics, lifestyle, etc.
Have teams identify how to reach this target market.
What promotions should be used?

Source: Karcz, A. (18 June 2024). Light Phone III challenges what is means to have a smartphone. Forbes; Perez, S. (11 June 2024). Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps. TechCrunch; Pierce. D. (11 June 2024). The Light Phone 3 is a little less light – but a lot more useful. The Verge.

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