News 10.05.2024

Need to Know

eBay champions second-hand fashion in relatable ‘nothing to wear’ ads, foresight director Fiona Harkin’s Foresight Friday and permanent contraception is gaining traction among young Americans.

eBay’s ‘nothing to wear’ campaign celebrates recommerce culture

Turn Nothing to Wear into Something to Love by eBay and DEPT®, UK

UK - New research from eBay has revealed that, despite having full wardrobes, 70% of the UK wears half or less of the clothes they own. Despite this, only 25% sell their unwanted garments, contributing to an estimated £16.3bn worth of unworn clothing in the UK.

In response, eBay UK has launched a campaign with creative agency DEPT® encouraging consumers to ‘turn your nothing to wear into something you love’.The campaign features four stories capturing the familiar experience of sifting through piles of clothes in your wardrobe only to feel like you have nothing to wear. Each video concludes with the character selling an unwanted item on eBay and using the money to buy a preloved piece to wear from the app.

Despite a willingness to do better for the planet, many consumers find it hard to escape the desire to buy new clothes, a topic we explored in The Overconsumption Mindset. Circular fashion initiatives and resale platforms such as eBay enable consumers to scratch the itch of wanting something new, without adding another garment into the cycle of overconsumption and waste.

Strategic opportunity

Fashion brands should partner with resale platforms to launch initiatives rewarding consumers with exclusive discounts or vouchers when they upload unwanted brand items for resale

Bubble skincare and Disney collaboration highlights Gen Alpha’s self-care fixation

US - Bubble skincare has collaborated with Disney Pixar’s Inside Out 2 to create a collection championing emotional wellbeing.

Bubble, a fast-growing skincare brand, is shaking up the future with its diverse and highly engaged tween community. For the Face Your Feels initiative, Bubble’s affordable yet effective formulas are paired with beloved Disney characters. The limited-edition collection bridges the gap between emotions and skincare, reflecting Bubble’s commitment to empowering individuals through feel-good beauty rituals.

Shai Eisenman, founder and CEO of Bubble, explains, ‘Riley’s story of processing new feelings and growing up is a universal one that we are delighted to see celebrated in this new collection.’ This sentiment aligns with Bubbles mission to foster a supportive community. We have previously discussed how Gen Alpha uses skincare as a means of self-expression and self-care in our Tween Skincare article.

Bubble Skincare and Disney, US

Strategic opportunity

Recognise the growing influence of Gen Alpha. To court this cohort, tailor products and marketing efforts to their values, doubling down on self-expression and self-care

Foresight Friday: Fiona Harkin, director of foresight

Photography by The Future Laboratory Photography by The Future Laboratory

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, director of foresight Fiona Harkin dives into the bear pit and the tween mobile phone trap.

: If you haven’t seen the ‘bear vs man’ debate on social media then you’ve missed out on some classic memes in the making, and also the kind of reporting that looks into just how dangerous bears are – which is somewhat missing the point. Starting on TikTok, with a user asking women if they’d rather be trapped in the woods with a bear or a man, the debate is, at the very least, generating much-needed awareness about male violence against women and girls.

: The movement to restrict smartphone access for teens is growing, fed by new research from the likes of psychologist Jonathan Haidt whose new book, The Anxious Generation, charts the damaging effects of social media and smartphone usage on young minds. In the US, author and academic Jean M Twenge – who we spoke to for our Generations: Now & Next report – called for government action. In the UK, one school is trialling locking away phones. With YouTube being the number one place for Gen Alpha to see ads, what will a dumbphone future led by digital guardian parents look like for brands?

: It’s a subject we tracked last year in our Future Five: Home & Family analysis, but this Vox podcast, It Shouldn’t Be So Hard to Live Near Your Friends, on emerging communal living groups in the US as a way to fight the loneliness epidemic, made my heart feel warm just thinking about the possibility of my own friendship diaspora returning close to home again.

Quote of the Week

‘Risky to let women speak? You’re damn right it is. Too many women speaking brings change.’ Actor and founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, Mariska Hargitay, speaking at Variety’s Power of Women event, May 2024

Stat: Young Americans are increasingly opting for permanent contraception

Match branding by Collins, US Match branding by Collins, US

US – Following the landmark overturn of Roe v Wade, an April 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum reveals a notable uptick in young individuals choosing permanent contraceptive solutions. The study, conducted across all US census areas, demonstrates a significant rise in both vasectomies and tubal ligations among people aged 18 to 30 since the 2022 reversal.

Following the U-turn on abortion rights, the monthly permanent contraception rate increased by 2.84 and 1.03 procedures per 100,000 person-months among female and male patients, respectively. The gendered gap is striking, with a twofold increase observed in procedures for female patients compared to male counterparts. This divergence underscores the disproportionate impacts of compulsory pregnancy on women. Lead study author Dr Jackie Ellison from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health emphasised the indirect repercussions of the legal shift on reproductive autonomy, particularly for young people. In an interview with CNN, she said: ‘It may seem obvious, but it’s important to emphasise that cisgender men may not feel the same sense of urgency to undergo vasectomy because they don’t experience the same consequences of unwanted pregnancy.’

In our In (Birth) Control microtrend report, we analysed how the birth control landscape in the US will change when male-based methods hit the market, bringing with them a potentially profound social impact.

Strategic opportunity

The male bias and inequity in healthcare research and provision has left a significant number of women feeling alone, misunderstood and unheard by doctors and partners. As this is brought to the fore, offer platforms for women to share not only their experiences, but also ideas and hopes for contraceptive equality

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