The Daily Valet. - 9/19/23, Tuesday
✔️ That Was Cringe
Tuesday, September 19th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Who among us hasn’t lost their keys, their phone ... or their fighter jet?
Today’s Big Story
The Age of the Cringe Apology
Mea culpa videos are becoming more and more embarrassing. Maybe we were too harsh on the notes app?
First, let's get one thing straight. Apologizing is good form. When you mess up, or if you've offended someone, there's nothing wrong with owning up to it, saying sorry and learning from a mistake. In fact, that's what you should do.And while there's always been public apologies by celebrities and other public figures, it seems like they're coming faster and faster these days. And what's worse, they're not doing much good. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology explains this dramatic increase in public apologies, and how this increase might be diminishing the effectiveness of public apologies' promotion of forgiveness. The study highlighted that the sharp rise in public apologies has ushered in what many are calling the “age of apology.” The researchers found that people who are conscious of the recent increase in public apologies perceived the apologies as less sincere, and were thus less forgiving of those making the apology. However, they also found those individuals to be more demanding of apologies.It's something of a Catch-22, right? We expect royals, musicians, comics and actors/talk show hosts to apologize publicly after any wrongdoing. At the same time, the constant influx of public apologies from the people we expect to beg for forgiveness blunts the value and perceived sincerity of the apology itself. Which might be why, the BBC says, these posts of contrition usually flop.Then again, maybe the medium is the problem with this message. Gone are the good old days of crisp white statements sent out from PR companies, or even the quiet notes-app screenshot that became so ubiquitous it was lampooned in The Other Two. Now, celebrities film apologies directly to their cell phones, trying to approach their followers and audiences like just an average person.But that's not working very well, reports Rolling Stone. “The celebrity shift from a glossy public relations response to a shaky, unpolished, apology video might be an attempt to meet the average fan where they are, but so far, all they've done is dig deeper holes for celebs already on people's bad side.” Because on the internet, mistakes might be temporary, but the cringe? That's forever.
Dig Deeper:
How did an iPhone app go from a celeb get-out-of-jail-free card to a legitimate crisis control tool? The Face offers a brief history of the Notes App apology.
Electric Vehicle Sales Are Accelerating
Electric Cars make up more than seven percent of all new car sales in the U.S.
Do you feel like you're constantly hearing about electric vehicles? It turns out, there's a good reason for that—people are buying them up faster than ever. Their share of new cars exceeded 7% for the first half of the year, speeding past a critical tipping point for mass adoption. In the past few months, all-time sales topped 3 million.That's a figure worth keeping an eye on, but that number doesn't tell the whole story. As an insightful report from Bloomberg observes, that figure itself is notable, but what's more noteworthy is the pace at which the EVs in question have sold. You see, the first million electric vehicles sold in the U.S. were sold over the span of 10 years. Reaching two million took two more years; but reaching three only took about a year.As for which electric cars people are buying, it should come as no surprise that Tesla tops the list. But Robb Report says its hold on the market is slipping as the early adopter market begins to saturate. This is actually a problem for the EV market as a whole, reports Jalopnik. Recently, there's been a slight dip in sales. It could be due to the economy or it could be that EVs might struggle to make the leap into the early majority market segment. “This leap is crucial in any emerging tech ...it's so meaningful, there's even a term specifically for it: Crossing the chasm,” says Jalopnik's Steve DaSilva. “Innovators will buy anything if it's sufficiently shiny, and early adopters like to beat the crowds. Capturing the early majority, that massive chunk of buyers, is a lot harder.”
FYI:
What are the EVs with the longest range at the moment? Gear Patrol crunches the numbers to find out.
Have You Heard of “Bed Rotting”?
a Legit Form of Self-Care or simply too much of a good thing?
I don't spend much time on TikTok, so I hadn't heard about the latest viral craze, dubbed “bed rotting” ... but I have been taking a lot of naps lately. And I'm not alone. The term has racked up over 200 million views, which just goes to show we've all been snoozing more lately. The idea of the practice is to rest and relax (i.e. “rot”) as much as you need—even all afternoon.It's supposed to help you deal with stress and anxiety, but according to some medical experts, hiding under the covers for too long could actually make you feel worse. However, other doctors say it's a completely legit form of self-care. When done intentionally, bed rotting could be viewed as a purposeful way to slow down and reject the constant busyness of hustle culture. And it's a great solution whenever you're burnt out or overwhelmed. One clinical psychologist told Bustle it's genuinely a good way to recharge, especially for introverts.Of course, the concept of having a “lazy” day every once in a while, is hardly revolutionary. Biologically speaking, “we aren't designed to go, go, go,” Bonnie Zucker, PsyD, author of A Perfectionist's Guide to Not Being Perfect, explained to SELF. “Our nature is not to have a nonstop 12-hour workday and a six-hour sleep cycle. That's really going against what our biological needs call for, which is adequate downtime.” So go ahead and plan a day to be lazy and horizontal. It's OK to chill out now and then as long as you don't feel stuck in bed.
Unhappy Hours
Surge pricing but for drinking ... is this where we're headed?
Put simply, surge pricing sucks. It's somewhat understandable. Often, it's the only way to regulate demand, but you probably never considered that the concept could be applied to something like your bar tab, right? Well, the largest pub company in the U.K., Stonegate, just pulled an interesting move to maximize its profit: It has applied surge pricing to pints during its pubs' peak operating hours, Forbes reports.That means booze will cost more (about 25 cents a drink) throughout evenings and weekends—when the cool kids head out to toss a few back. As The Takeout points out, surge pricing isn't new in the food and beverage space. Services like Uber Eats have been known to increase fees during peak hours, and restaurants have experimented with software that implements dynamic menu pricing based on the demand of certain items over others. But the Stonegate's is a widespread application, one that many people feel goes against the spirit of the bustling pub.But it's likely to stay. And keep growing, according to the Financial Times. Powered by algorithms and artificial intelligence, similar “dynamic pricing” is being introduced at a rapid pace by a growing number of consumer industries. As one analyst said, “Anywhere there is a mismatch between what a customer is willing to pay and the actual price is ripe for dynamic pricing.”
FYI:
Amazon changes the price of its products on average every 10 minutes, using millions of real-time data points to benchmark against competitors and track demand surges.
In Other News
The country now gets access to nearly $6 billion of frozen oil revenues.
Have you heard about ...
Count Your Macros
A Smarter Way to get in shape
Here’s the truth: watching what you eat can feel like a full-time job. And one that you don't particularly enjoy. We've all heard about “crash diets” designed to help you drop weight quickly. Of course, the name is fitting, considering most diets end up crashing and burning. A more reliable path to success is a plan that's realistic and able to be maintained.This is where counting macronutrients, or “macros,” offers some relief. In recent years, this approach to eating (also called IIFYM, or “if it fits your macros”) has taken the fitness world by storm. A much more flexible way of thinking about nutrition, it turns old-school, calorie-based dieting on its head by focusing instead on the amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats making up those calories.
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What We’re Buying
A statement coffe table
Next to your sofa, your coffee table is probably the most important piece of furniture in your home. It's one of the few items that almost all your guests will interact with. But choosing the right one can be a daunting task. The good news is that there's never been more variety available—in shapes, sizes, materials and even price. To help you find the coffee table that works within your living room (and your budget), we scoured the web for options that are stylish, sturdy and ready to be shipped right to your door.
Upgrade your space:
Morning Motto
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