Hunger games

March 15, 2022

Listen: I Got It by Ogi

So good at Singles, we dropped one,” reads the caption on this Kelis video. But we all know who’s doing the dropping (Kelis) and what has fallen (artistic standards) — this single is sponsored by Kraft. I do not recommend you watch, but rather just be aware of this moment in capitalism.

I found that video, actually, on a page about a real single from Ogi, a Nigerian-America law-school dropout from Wisconsin (now L.A.) who is giving music an immediately successful go. “I Got It” is smoky and cheeky and also incorporates cheese into the lyrics, for what it’s worth? This one’s the click.

Grocery startups stand down

After writing this thing on instant grocery startups, I’ve been watching the industry closely, and this week there’s a lot to see. Just months after launching, two of the companies operating in New York are more or less shut down: Fridge No More closed abruptly last week after a deal with DoorDash fell through (rumored to be related to the optics of Russian founders? Seems unlikely but that’s what rumors are for), and Buyk, which had all of its actual Russian funding frozen, furloughed nearly all its staff and is now on pause. How quickly Russia’s pariah economy seeps into the cracks of global life!

Eat out, then?

Forget groceries; restaurants could use your help. We know how thin their margins have always been, and what that means for worker comp — add to that the shutdowns, the streeteries, and the staff shortages, and now, for anyone remaining, the big threat is… other restaurants. New data tells us that there are fewer and fewer people eating out (as like a macro trend since 2000) and that, whoops, restaurant numbers have been growing faster than the population. So the name of the game is competing for customers, finding the biggest markup (a challenge as the war sends food prices rising *even more*), and pulling in extra cash wherever possible (merch!). It is the literal hunger games in here and the odds aren’t great.

Have it your way

Back at home, Tik Tok, font of wonders, has surfaced the sensation of “lettuce chips,” or cut-up leafy greens dressed in oil, salt, and vinegar. If this sounds like salad to you: yes. (We even have a thing called “hand salad.”) But who are we to rob the internet of vegetal joy?

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$ = sponsored