Thread by @george__mack

What is ignored by the media -- but will be studied by historians?

Here's 7 more examples:

1. The Aging Population Crisis

70% of countries are below the required population replacement levels.

You need a 2.1 fertility rate to maintain a population:

• US = 1.64

• Germany = 1.53

• Japan = 1.34

• China = 1.28

• Korea (below) = 0.84 🤯

2. The Lost Lockdown Generation

• Reading ability in the USA is the lowest in 30 years

• Maths scores are the worst since tests began in 1969

• 50% rise in mental health emergency room visits for young people

This has been swept under the rug.

3. The BRICS overtook the G7 in GDP this week

BRICS = Brazil, Russia, India, China, SA (+ Bangladesh, Egypt and UAE)

G7 = Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK (+ EU)

"It's no longer developed & developing world. It's ascending & descending world" - @balajis

4. The Rise Of Obesity In America

You can only appreciate this epidemic by watching this video...

There's a lot of talk about the Wealth Gap between the rich and poor...

The "Diet Gap" is barely discussed.

• 29% of the world's population faces hunger and food shortages.

• 38% of the world's population is overweight or obese. (Set to rise to 51% in the next 12 years)

5. The Video Game Industry Is Bigger Than You Think

The gaming industry is bigger than all music, TV, and film combined.

It has outearned music and entertainment for the last 8 years!

6. Inflationary Industries vs Deflationary Industries

• Why are hospital services and college tuition fees getting more expensive?

• Why are TVs and software getting cheaper?

7. The Rise Of The Leveraged Creator

There's no such thing as "mainstream media" anymore

Instead, there is "legacy media" & "new media"

The only thing that gives the "mainstream media" power is the legacy language of "mainstream media"

This is the Emperor's New Clothes

• When it comes to new media, faces & personalities are outranking brands.

• Branding in marketing started in the 1500's.

• Meanwhile, human facial recognition dates millions of years - which is why there's such a power law to individual creators.

This trend has been replicated across cultures.

Lebron James has more followers than the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and WNBA combined.

Prediction:

The biggest marketing competitors to Coca-Cola + McDonalds will be creator brands.

1. It's harder to build a Mr. Beast audience than is to create a burger

2. There's no moat - so whoever has the best advertising wins

3. They can acquire customers cheaper

This was a sequel to the original piece:

Hopefully, this was more of a Godfather 2 kinda sequel than most terrible sequels

PS. I write a newsletter called Clouds & Dirt.

Clouds = Big Ideas, Mental Models, Marketing
Dirt = Trends & Tactics

A recent study (It's 2023 - nobody asks for sources) suggested that not signing up is the biggest deathbed regret.

clouds-and-dirt.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Nuance alert:

The point isn't that no media organization hasn't ever covered these topics.

It's that historians will give these topics greater significance than the media is giving them.