From the Department of This & That.*
This & That: “Everyone needs to take a giant deep breath and understand what these (AI) tools actually do and what they’d don’t do. What they actually do is match patterns and they are skills amplifiers not skills democratizers. And they are not magic, in any way. You only get value out of these tools if you are a subject matter expert and looking to amplify your subject matter expertise to get higher levels of productivity — that’s the highest, best use.” – technology expert Shelly Palmer on The AI Download with Shira Lazar (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhJuCNbbVbU)
The Other Thing: in case of AI overhype, read, rinse, and repeat at least a dozen times with devoutly-to-be-wished emphasis added. Start with “GIANT deep breath.”
This & That: “McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts on August 6, 2025: "Reengaging the low-income consumer is critical, as they typically visit our restaurants more frequently than middle- and high-income consumers. This bifurcated consumer base is why we remain cautious about the overall near-term health of the U.S. consumer." He also noted that "overall [quick-service restaurant] traffic in the U.S. remained challenging, as visits across the industry by low-income consumers once again declined by double digits versus the prior year period." — from a LinkedIn post written by strategist Ed Cotton (linkedin.com/in/edward-cotton-93b535)
The Other Thing: When will the country, in general, and the Democratic Party, in specific, wake up to what’s really happening in the lower realms of the economy? Are we not in the middle of a the poor-get-poorer recession? Are income gaps not widening? Is the current policy not headblind? Is that not the unarguably obvious focus for a political challenger brand?
This & That: “Cracker Barrel's new branding "doesn't really qualify as 'woke,'" said Jim Geraghty at the National Review. It is just "painfully generic and boring." And it misses the point: "Cracker Barrel isn't supposed to be 'modernized.'" It is a chain whose branding has "always included an element of nostalgia." The company may want to attract new customers, but the risk in any rebrand is that changes will "drive away the existing customers who liked the product just the way it was." - From "Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding" (https://theweek.com/business/cracker-barrel-culture-wars-corporate-branding)
The Other Thing: while we can mourn all the pixels whose lives have been tragically wasted in the Cracker Barrel rebrand kerfuffle, it pains me to admit that a commentator speaking from the other side of the ideological aisle was among the few to get this right. It’s just a dull, boring, and ridiculously pricy missed opportunity.
End of story.
*A random and relevant share of things that caught the eye and hooked the mind. For more food for convo: TheReductionist.biz