Scary burritos and Green Day: NL #118

Scary burritos and Green Day.

In case you don’t have a really excited six-year-old in the house, only two more weeks until Halloween. We’ve had our costumes set out since July at the Herrington house. We don’t mess around.

I love seeing how the popular trends shape Halloween costumes from year to year. When I was a kid, Hulk Hogan and Freddy Krueger were the most popular trick-or-treaters. Every other kid on the block sported a blonde, handlebar mustache for the night. This year’s top choices? Characters from Stranger Things and Top Gun. Elvis and Priscilla also topped the charts, thanks to this summer’s movie.

Right on cue, brands have rolled out fresh campaigns to celebrate the spooky season. Here’s a few of our favorites.

Chipotle’s Boorito
Rewards members who visit the restaurant in costume on Halloween after 3 PM will receive a $6 entree. Customers are also invited to post on Instagram stories for a chance to win free burritos, using #booritosweepstakes. Boorito. The word alone is a marketing win.

Virtual Hot Topic
The retailer is using the holiday to position itself as a tech-savvy brand, launching a Halloween activation in Roblox. Hot Topic is entering the metaverse with a virtual clothing drop, featuring virtual versions of IRL products. Have you always wondered how your old Green Day tee would look in the metaverse? Now’s your chance.

BK’s Ghost Pepper Whopper
Fans can try the special Halloween meal for free once they try out the “ghost detector” on BK’s mobile app. Because nothing solves a haunted house like a Whopper. TBH, this is a major improvement from past Halloween menu items from the King. Like 2015’s black bunned burger that didn’t exactly sit well with anyone.

NYX’s Halloween Makeup
The beauty brand launched a new collection in collaboration with Cirque de Soleil. This one feels like a stretch for this time of year, but then again, we all know the guy that shows up to the Halloween party looking like he legit came off of a movie set. This one’s for him.

Top Stories

AI video generators have entered the chat.

Last week, we were googly eyed over AI art generators. This week? AI video generators. Video from text prompts is the newest development in the AI world. Both Meta and Google released video generation projects last week. While these early examples are fairly rough, they give a pretty good idea for future capabilities.

Meta’s new system called Make-A-Video allows users to type in a description of a scene, and will generate a short video to match the text. The clips are no longer than 5 seconds and contain no audio. Doesn’t sound all that impressive? Understandable. But the technology here really is remarkable. The road to seamless video generation is well on its way, and will now motivate many institutions and companies to pour great resources into the project.

Google’s answer to Meta’s video magic is their very own generator, called Imagen Video. The AI system can also generate video clips when given a text prompt, plus, it has a cooler name.

The metaverse marches on. Slowly.

Zuckerburg is still pushing the metaverse. And hard. Meta Connect 2022 took place last week, the company’s annual developer conference for its VR efforts and Oculus hardware platform. The Meta Quest Pro was officially unveiled, Meta’s latest VR headset which promises to deliver a more immersive VR experience. The device is intended to mark a significant shift into mixed reality, capable of blending the full immersion of VR with the more additive experience of augmented realty.

“Imagine working at your virtual desk with multiple screens, while seeing your real desk so clearly that you can pick up a pen and write notes without taking your headset off. Or you’re doing a workout with a virtual instructor In your living room.”

The Quest Pro is designed for work, not gaming, and is the next step towards Zuck’s longterm goal to make the metaverse a “thing” for everyone. But many are starting to wonder if Zuckerburg is living in a fantasy world- and not the meta kind. The enthusiasm surrounding Meta and the metaverse seems to have dwindled dramatically as of late. Meta’s stock has fallen a staggering 60% this year, the company has currently instituted a hiring freeze, and to pour more salt in the VR wound, it’s losing billions a year building hardware and software for the metaverse. Even Meta’s own people aren’t sure about the product. Managers are having trouble convincing employees to use Horizon Worlds.

Best of the Week

Tips and Tricks

The ultimate Social Media Marketing Checklist. A helpful infographic to help guide your socials thinking and planning. But there’s nothing about posting cute puppy pictures, so read with discretion.

Helpful Hints

With EOY deadlines fast approaching, it’s easy to put off that ever growing checklist. HubSpot’s practical advice to stop procrastinating. Ten bucks says you’ll procrastinate looking at this list.

Sites to See

We’ve got all the heart eyes for this killer site from Aesop. Julianne says the dynamic illustrations and the sound design are on point. Worth a look for some digital inspiration.

Weekly Tunes

Check out The National’s newest single, Weird Goodbyes featuring Bon Iver. You’ll be really glad you did. Ryan introduced us to this one, so we’ve decided he can stay now.

More News From The Week

• The new iPhone will alert the police if it detects that you were in a car crash. Or on a rollercoaster.
• More cheating news. This week’s defendant? Da bears.
• A $75 meal for your dog is now available in San Francisco. That’s ridiculous… but where can I get a reservation?
• Art gallery is stunned to discover its Vermeers were not actually painted by Vermeer. Fine. It was me.
• Here’s a surefire way to ruin your lunch. Pumpkin spice scented garbage.

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