This week’s non-required thinking on reputation, business, and culture from Hirsch Leatherwood.

Out of Scope Issue #126: Mugshot Heard Round the World

Sep 1, 2023

Happy Friday! This week, we tried to keep our eyes on the prize ahead: the three-day weekend and our last bit of summer. But first…

📡ON OUR RADAR

Following years of New York City’s anti-lantern-fly propaganda, the 8-million-strong offensive campaign might be working. Good, clear educational messaging can motivate the public to take environmental action themselves, which will be important to keep in mind as climate change accelerates and the science gets less digestible.
Spain won their first-ever Women’s World Cup two weeks ago, but the players are boycotting instead of playing in a victory tour of games to qualify for the Olympics. Backed by the support of her teammates, player Jenni Hermoso issued an official statement after Spanish Federation president Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed Hermoso during the televised post-championship awards ceremony. Instead of apologizing, Rubiales is refusing to step down, and many are speaking out and bringing deeper issues to light as FIFA, the Spanish federation, and prosecutors investigate and determine the next steps.
When LinkedIn is deemed the coolest social platform, we know social media is officially in its flop era. Take your pick from the lineup of Twitter wannabes: Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads have all thrown their hats in the ring, but no single platform has quite captured Twitter’s je nais se quoi. Even old reliable is flailing — this week, Business Insider observed Instagram’s evolution from a photosharing app to a quasi-marketplace peppered with curated posts has fatigued users.

💡ON OUR MINDS: Mugshot Heard Round the World

On the eve of last Thursday, all eyes were on the digital micro-blogosphere once known as Twitter, eagerly awaiting the publication of an all-timer piece of media: former President Donald J. Trump’s mugshot.
Amidst overeagerness, there were some false starts and misdirects built by, of course, AI. Thank goodness for the One Pure Source of Truth on X.com: @PopCrave.
This frenzy is pretty par for the course of any digital moment nowadays— in the years between his election and DJT’s mugshot, we’ve seen news get faster, less accurate, and far more personality-driven in an era fueled by tribalism.
Now, a week out from the ‘shot dropping, we can ask— did it even matter? For starters, it launched the indicted leader’s presence back on X, earned him a quick $7.1m in campaign donations, and changed dorm room decor forever.
The mugshot will go down in history as a perfect slice of life online in 2023 — tinted with rabid tribalism, memed to high heaven, and above all else — eyebrow-raising.

🥊QUICK HITS:

In case you missed these reads.

Everyone needs PR — remember#RushTok? The Guardian recently explored the business of sorority recruitment consultants who help students strategically “brand” themselves.
New Gen Z phrase unlocked! The Wall Street Journal did a deep dive into the new kid on the block, rizz.
What’s The New York Times’ problem with e-bikes?

Thanks for reading,

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