Cool Sh*t - Passenger Drones, McDonald's, The Beatles, League of Legends, Yeti, and more...
Vol. 43
Welcome to the 9 cool as sh*t people (including George, Jasmine, Liz, Allison, Steve, Frankie, and Jono) who joined us recently! If you haven’t subscribed, be cool and join 226 subscribers here:
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#1 – China gives the all-clear for passenger drones without pilots
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to live in a Blade Runner-esque world with cars flying all over the place. However, it’s undeniable how incredible human innovation and creativity are. It’s also no surprise that China is one of the first to market, given its technological capability and sizeable congestion problems. Coming to a city near you? Already they have 1,200 orders for drones from Japan’s AirX, Malaysia’s Aerotree and Indonesia’s Prestige. So, probably… Let’s just hope they aren’t like electric bikes, being left, upside down in the bushes of every other street corner… 🤞🏻
#2 - McDonald's Partners With Japanese-Based Brand graniph For Merch Collaboration
I love a whacky brand merch collaboration. Not because I like the items but because I think there is a bit of an art to it, as weird as that might sound. A brand has to be mass enough and strike a balance between things people want, things that are a little unexpected, brand partners perceived as cool enough, and alternate but on-brand designs. Not that easy. The icing on the cake appears to be if you can execute it in a single market but use that to drive brand building en masse worldwide. FYI, this is not the first McDonald’s x Graniph collaboration. 🍔 🍟🥤
#3 - A ‘new’ Beatles song made with AI is debuting this week
There are some ethical questions around this but, particularly as a Beatles fan (who isn’t?), it is nonetheless very cool. “Peter Jackson, who directed The Beatles: Get Back docuseries, used AI to separate Lennon’s voice from a piano, and McCartney and Starr were able to work on the track with the enhanced vocals.” The song “Now And Then” was a demo the band worked on together but it has audio quality issues, and then Lennon was tragically killed. Ethics aside, this is a great example of how AI can solve unique problems. Now, there is a much scarier path for using AI to bring back voices from the dead. 💀
#4 - League of Legends introduces new boy band, HEARTSTEEL
‘PARANOIA’ is a debut song for HEARTSTEEL, a new virtual boy band from the world of League of Legends. The track was written by, and features K-Pop superstar BAEKHYUN, Nigerian rapper tobi lou, Taiwanese-American rapper ØZI, and American rapper Cal Scruby. Riot Games are an impressive business that really understand the need and opportunity to diversify what they offer their players beyond just a great gaming experience. In 2022 they released Arcane, an animated series on Netflix. At the 2018 LoL World Championship they unveiled KDA, a virtual K-pop girl group. HEARTSTEEL is the evolution of that. Keen to see where they take this…
#5 - Yeti is on a mission to map the gaps
Yeti brings you closer to nature through 360 immersive videos of famous nature trails around the world, powered by Google Street View technology. I’m a big fan of video content that allows me to virtually escape to the wilderness, like Scottys Gone Walkabout and The Silly Swagman, so I absolutely LOVE this!
“The Map the Gaps campaign is one part entertainment, one part informational resource, and another part marketing. Pick from one of 15 pins dropped around the globe (14 in North America and one in Australia). Each location marks a single hike, led by one of YETI’s athletes. Click on it, and you’ll see the trail name, the athlete you’re hiking with, difficulty rating, distance, elevation gain, and a note on something to bring along — anything from antivenom to burritos.”
Yeti has understood why its customer ultimately buys its products (to connect with nature) and found a way to help them do that in the digital space, throwing in a bit of product placement and branding along the way.
The simple act of reading about an act of kindness can also give your love hormone (Oxytocin) levels a boost. So feel the love…
The Headie One, Stormzy, AJ Tracey, and Sydney’s own ONEFOUR collaboration ‘Ain’t It Different’ makes it into the Cool Sh*t Spotify playlist this week…
I watched this awesome Netflix documentary this week. Raises some important questions around the limits of free speech/artist expression in Australia, and offers insight on what it’s like to live in, and try to get out of some of the more impoverished parts of Sydney.
ICYMI - Cool Sh*t Vol. 42 - Heinz, Marmite, AI Voice Acting, Adobe, Netflix and more...
Cool Sh*t is typically written from the comfort of my own home, here in Sydney, Australia - Gadigal land. Always was, always will be. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The views expressed are my own.