Need to Know
23 : 09 : 19

US – Blume has launched a Puberty Do-Over campaign aimed at combatting issues concerning skincare, periods and poor sex education in the US.

The wellness brand has created its The States of Sex-Ed curriculum, which comprises presentations, reading materials and a quiz, all of which are approved by sex-educators and are culturally and LGBT+ inclusive. The guides provide an in-depth examination of a variety of topics, from healthy relationships and pregnancy to STIs and safe sex practices, and often link to external resources offering support. Sexual health educator Dee Stacey has also developed a handbook that is geared towards training teachers how to field questions in the classroom, including tips on tone. Furthermore, the site also includes a Take Action button, which allows users to email their state representatives about sex education.

‘The goal of Blume is to get to the root of these problems so that we don’t have to retrain another generation of womxn to love themselves,’ says co-founder Bunny Ghatrora. ‘As adult womxn, we often find ourselves undoing a lot of the shame and stigma we’ve carried around for so long, but we’re hoping to change that for the next generation. Because our institutional systems aren’t stepping up, we at Blume felt compelled to do so.’

As a rebuttal of the inadequate sex education provided by public institutions, Generation Z have turned to social media in order to re-educate themselves about sex.

Guernsey – Sustainable skincare brand Maiiro has launched a campaign to eliminate greenwashing and tackle plastic pollution in the beauty industry.

Acting as a hub of information, Pack of Lies is a platform designed to create more transparency about the products and packaging produced by the skincare industry. The hub, which aims to encourage conscious consumption and put pressure on brands to double their efforts to reduce plastic waste, shares information on ways to identify greenwashing.

According to Maiiro, many companies are conveying the false impression that they are more sustainable than they are. Despite launching initiatives such as offering in-store refills or recycling campaigns, the majority of these brands are not changing their internal operations and strategies. ‘We want to make it easier for people to be aware of their impact on the environment and be able to make more informed decisions about what they spend their money on,’ says Maiiro.

As we explore in our new macrotrend, Bio-positive Beauty, the mindset in the beauty industry is changing from zero impact to positive impact. For more, download our Beauty Futures report here.

Singapore – Singapore Airlines is celebrating its first non-stop Singapore to Seattle route with a new track that has been created using the sounds found on planes.

The Seattle Sounds Even Better Now campaign features Seattle-based upcoming DJ, music producer and multi-instrumentalist Chong the Nomad. Chong is seen darting around the Airbus A350 from the cockpit to the tail, sampling ambient sounds from the aircraft. She built up a library of 45 different sounds, from the clink of silverware and the click of a seatbelt to the roar of the engine, and from these created her track, entitled Non-stop, which listeners can download on Spotify.

‘I would never have thought that one day I’d use a huge aeroplane as my instrument,’ says Chong The Nomad. ‘Creating this project with Singapore Airlines was truly a remarkable experience. I was challenged as a producer but also thrilled to be able to do something so original and exciting. I'm glad that music got to play a part in connecting two beautiful cities.’

As the world becomes more visually stimulating, sonic branding is emerging as an important way for brands to stand out from the crowd.

China is outpacing the US in the online dating market, according to the Statista Global Consumer Survey. As well as boasting the largest share of adults using online dating services in total, the country has the highest number of adults (16 and over) who are paying for online dating. This includes online dating agencies, online dating sites and casual dating sites.

The same survey finds that European countries have been slower to adopt online dating, with countries such as Austria and Italy displaying some of the lowest scores in the ranking, at 6% and 7%, respectively. In Austria, only 1% said they were paying for a service.

The boom in online dating in China is being driven by the country’s youth. To learn about some of the behavioural shifts among this generation, read our Emerging Youth: China market.