Why the symbol of corporate creativity will survive the remote-work era — Chances are if you’ve spent time in offices, you’ve spent time around whiteboards — and, perhaps, you’ve spent time dreading them. But where did these things come from, and how did they become a physical symbol of the mandatory brainstorming session? Fittingly, the precise history of the whiteboard is somewhat…

Bucatini is so 2020 — Object of the Week is a column exploring the objects a culture obsesses over and what that reveals about us. The 21st century has been a time of constant technical innovation — and a time for ridiculously overthinking food. These seemingly unrelated meta-trends have now coalesced in cascatelli, a brand…

Brands rush in to help end the pandemic with vaccine doughnuts and other marketing stunts — Skeptical about the Covid-19 vaccine? Or too lazy to get jabbed even though you’re eligible? Well perhaps you can be persuaded by… free doughnuts. This is apparently the thinking behind a new promotion from Krispy Kreme: Present your vaccination card at its U.S. locations, the Wall Street Journal reports, and…

7 Objects that mattered this week Thingdown is a weekly roundup of things — objects, products, stuff — that are lately in the news or otherwise of interest right now. The crisp and shiny optimism of the Breeze Airways A220 jet — and why this might be the perfect time to launch a new airline. (My…

Staggeringly low ratings from the Grammys and Golden Globes prove the traditional mass-audience awards spectacle is over — If an organization started handing out trophies for the most astonishing collapse in cultural relevance, this year’s top prize would have to go to — awards shows. The ratings plunges for recent awards shows are staggering, suggesting a major turning point for a ritual that has been vital to the…

After more than a year of travel being ground to a halt, timing is everything — Object of the Week is a column exploring the objects a culture obsesses over and what that reveals about us. A year deep into a deadly pandemic that crippled the travel industry — U.S. passenger traffic is down by half — does not sound like the best time for a…

11 Objects That Mattered This Week — Thingdown is a weekly roundup of things — objects, products, stuff — that are lately in the news or otherwise of interest right now. The pathetic absurdity of the limited-edition HerSHEy’s bar. (My latest Object of the Week for Marker.) “5G Conspiracy Theories Are Fueling an Entire Economy of Scammy…

An angsty public is turning the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines into a dangerous brand battleground — Worldwide, there are 11 vaccines available to combat Covid-19. And according to some observers, this has led to a problem: “People are doing what they do with cars and peanut butter and Tinder profiles — comparison shopping,” an On the Media segment this weekend declared. Host Bob Garfield noted that…

At a time when women have been hit hardest by the recession, brands are making International Women’s Day about themselves — “There is no Hershey’s without ‘SHE,’” the candy behemoth announced recently. The occasion for this, uh, insight was International Women’s Day, this past Monday. To mark the day — and March as Women’s History Month — the company “developed a small batch” of its flagship chocolate bars, with the package…