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Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'
Dia Dipasupil; Neilson Barnard; Antony Jones; Arnold Jerocki; Emma McIntyre; Saul Loeb / AFP; Brandon Bell; Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

It is the first week of July, which means we are officially halfway through the year. And what a year it's been! Brittany sat down with NPR Politics reporter Elena Moore and co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Stephen Thompson, to take stock of what's happened so far in 2024.

Defining 2024 so far; plus, why brands 'de-woked'

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Sunday Puzzle: Now that's a SMART puzzle

Sunday Puzzle NPR hide caption

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NPR

Sunday Puzzle

Sunday Puzzle: Now that's a SMART puzzle

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe plays the puzzle with Milo Fett of New Carlisle, Ohio and puzzle master Will Shortz.

Sunday Puzzle: Now that's a SMART puzzle

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Bankrupt and loving it: Welcome to the lucrative world of undead brands

In 2019, Barneys New York went under. But its name lives on under a new owner that specializes in buying and recharging dying brands. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Business

Bankrupt and loving it: Welcome to the lucrative world of undead brands

Remember Juicy Couture and Pier 1? They went under, but not all the way under. Someone still makes millions of dollars off these names. And the hunt for revivable brands is big business.

Bankrupt and loving it: Welcome to the lucrative world of undead brands

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How the Bud Light boycott shows brands at a crossroads: Use their voice, or shut up?

Bud Light sales fell earlier this year after a promotion featuring a transgender social-media influencer led to boycott calls from conservative groups. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Analysis

Pride Month

How the Bud Light boycott shows brands at a crossroads: Use their voice, or shut up?

Large companies have played the role of activists and been one of the biggest countervailing forces against social and religious conservatives on LGBTQ measures. All that is at stake now.

How companies can build trust with the LGBTQ+ community — during Pride and beyond

The Pittsburgh Pride parade, celebrating 50 years of Pittsburgh Pride, crosses the Andy Warhol Bridge from downtown Pittsburgh on June 3. Longtime Pride sponsors have come under attack by conservatives for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing. Gene J. Puskar/AP hide caption

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Gene J. Puskar/AP

Pride Month

How companies can build trust with the LGBTQ+ community — during Pride and beyond

Target, The North Face, Bud Light and others are facing backlash for pro-LGBTQ+ campaigns. Some have stood fast, others stumbled. Experts say consistency and intentionality are key to true support.

Companies are selling Juneteenth branded products. Here's why that's a big problem

Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day, commemorates the end of slavery on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, in compliance with President Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Here, a young woman stands near a piece of art created during the Louisville Juneteenth Festival at the Big Four Lawn on June 19, 2021, in Louisville, Ky. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption

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Juneteenth

Companies are selling Juneteenth branded products. Here's why that's a big problem

Brands and companies are working to remove their Juneteenth items from shelves, as experts say those who are selling Juneteenth-branded products are "tone-deaf."

Uncle Ben's Changing Name To Ben's Original After Criticism Of Racial Stereotyping

Boxes of Uncle Ben Converted Rice on a store shelf. Mars, Incorporated announced on Wednesday that it is changing the name of the brand to Ben's Original. Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption

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Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Updates: The Fight Against Racial Injustice

Uncle Ben's Changing Name To Ben's Original After Criticism Of Racial Stereotyping

"We understand the inequities that were associated with the name and face of the Uncle Ben's brand and ... we have committed to change," the parent company said in a statement.

Aunt Jemima Will Change Name, Image As Brands Confront Racial Stereotypes

"We recognize Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype," parent company Quaker Foods says, announcing plans to change the brand's logo and name. Donald King/AP hide caption

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Donald King/AP

Updates: The Fight Against Racial Injustice

Aunt Jemima Will Change Name, Image As Brands Confront Racial Stereotypes

Quaker Foods is retiring the name and logo of its 130-year-old pancake and syrup brand. Uncle Ben's and Mrs. Butterworth's also plan to change their packaging and marketing.

I Buy, Therefore I Am
STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP/Getty Images

Hidden Brain

I Buy, Therefore I Am

All of us are surrounded by brands. Designer brands. Bargain-shopper brands. Brands for seemingly every demographic slice among us. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself how brands influence you? This week, we look at how companies create a worldview around the products they sell, and then get us to make those products a part of who we are.

I Buy, Therefore I Am

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From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch

The world of mainstream consumer brands is in a major slow-motion transformation. sorbetto/Getty Images hide caption

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Business

From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch

Big mainstream consumer brands, which have owned our cupboards and closets, face a turning point: a time to evolve or wither. The Internet and the echoes of the recession have changed us as shoppers.

From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch

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It's Boom Times For Pop-Up Shops As Mobile Shopping Clicks

Customers can get a tactile experience trying on glasses at Warby Parker's shop in New York City. Elise Hu/NPR hide caption

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Elise Hu/NPR

All Tech Considered

It's Boom Times For Pop-Up Shops As Mobile Shopping Clicks

One-click online shopping is changing how we shop. Stores with leases as short as a day are proliferating — meaning a storefront can be a designer clothing store one day and a test kitchen the next.

It's Boom Times For Pop-Up Shops As Mobile Shopping Clicks

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