There's a rumour that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will get married at Madison Square Garden. True or not, it's a signal that weddings are being optimised for the feed. Because somewhere, a woman who isn't famous, will feel the same pressure for her wedding to get that reach.

YouScan social listening data tells you how far branded weddings have gone: "content creator" now appears as a standalone vendor category in wedding planning conversations. Couples are not just hiring someone to document the day, they are hiring someone to produce it. And brands to sponsor it.

I wrote about what that means, where it comes from, and what gets lost.

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• German Cars Lose Cool in China

• Spain's Hate Footprint Tool Ranks Platforms

• Hair Longevity Becomes Beauty's Next Frontier

• Explainer: convenience tax

• Louis Vuitton Opens Immersive Pop-Up Hotel

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Jell-O Turns Stadium Noise Into Jiggles

• Finnish Supermarkets Listed on Tripadvisor

• Phone-Free Events Surge 567% Globally

• Explainer: tokenmaxxing

• Compact Cameras Outsell Supply in Japan

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Grandma Watches Are Having a Moment

• Singles Travel Merges Matchmaking With Numerology

• Gen Z Treats Streaming as Pay-Per-Title

• Explainer: hopecore

• Spotify Verifies Human Artists to Counter AI Music

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Young News Audiences Want Both Information and Entertainment

• Fluffy Juice Brings Texture to the Glass

• Cassette Players Are Back, With Bluetooth

• Explainer: catch-up culture

• Menswear Is Getting Softer and More Expressive

You don’t expect parakeets in London. But then you hear them. They screech loudly as they zoom through the air, like a green-feathered bullets. They never stop by on my balcony though. I put out some food and get the occasional visitors: magpies, jays, even some crows and unfortunately the dreaded London pigeons, which I try to shoo away quickly. But never the parakeets.

As I sit here, a little jay watching me as it picks up a peanut, I cannot help but wonder if talking about birdwatching makes me sound like an old woman. It’s got that sheen of anoraks and retirement home. But recent statistics tell a different story.

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• GLP-1 Coverage Is Becoming a Job Negotiation Factor

• Snacks Fill the Space Alcohol Left Behind

• Cake Picnic Goes Global

• Explainer: slow pop-up

• Creators Get IMDb-Style Verified Credits

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• AI Data Centres Are Creating Localised Heat Islands

• Shelf Lets You Share What You're Into, Not How You Look

• A Wearable Translates Mouthed Words Into Speech

• Explainer: Alpine Divorce

• A Children's Book That Only Works in the Dark

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Fashion Week Watch Parties Fill 2,000 Seats

• Schools Are Renting Out Empty Buildings to Fund Themselves

• An App That Sends You the Wrong Way on Purpose

• Explainer: Stacked Water

• A Dating App Built Around Mood Boards, Not Profiles

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Snail Mail Is Becoming a Serious Side Income

• Travellers Prioritise Experiences Over Things

• Adult Summer Camps Arrive in Europe

• Explainer: Skillcation

• Tinned Fish Becomes an Affordable Luxury

Which supermarket has the best caterpillar cake?

Which? has actually just released the results of a blind taste test of 9 supermarket caterpillar cakes, and Waitrose's Cecil came first. M&S Colin - the OG, the icon, the one that started it all in 1990 - came last with 64%.

So I pulled YouScan social listening data to understand what's actually being said online. And it turns out people are not just picking a favourite. They're evaluating caterpillar cakes on a surprisingly specific set of criteria: the ratio of buttercream to sponge, the structural integrity of the chocolate coating, the aesthetic quality of the face and feet.

The choice of cake has become a form of social signalling. For many people, the caterpillar cake isn't really a cake. It's a ceremonial object. And the thickness of the chocolate shell is a measure of how much you care.

So why has nobody ever successfully premiumised it?

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Pet Collars Now Let Owners Call Their Dogs

• Restaurants Are Banning Phones to Rebuild Connection

• Murder Mystery Events Go Mainstream

• Explainer: Mystic Outlands

• Romania's Bottle Return Scheme Collects Eight Billion Containers

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Qantas Deploys All-Female Crews at Scale

• Victoria Legislates the Right to Work From Home

• Spotify Lets Users Edit Their Algorithmic Taste Profile

• Explainer: Viking Wellness

• Beauty Commerce Shifts to Diagnose and Decide

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Gen Z Still Scrolls TikTok But Trusts It Less

• Wordle Creator Launches Harder Word Game

• Korea Pilots Free Public Sanitary Pads

• Explainer: Stack dating

• Uber Lets Women Choose Women Drivers

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Cinema Attendance Has Not Fully Recovered

• Wired Headphones Are Back as a Cultural Statement

• Teen Sleep Deprivation Reaches Epidemic Levels

• Explainer: housefishing

• WhatsApp Launches Parent-Managed Pre-Teen Accounts

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Freeze-Dried Candy Turns Chewy Into Crispy

• Fortnum & Mason Chocolate Bars Include Sheet Music

• Red Berries Reshape Luxury Perfume

• Explainer: Choppelganger

• Barbie Doll Cakes Fade From Celebrations

Parents are buying iPods in 2025 as a hardware-level parental control. A device that stays in airplane mode. No mic. No algorithm. No rabbit holes. YouScan data shows this isn't nostalgia. It's a considered opt-out. What have you deliberately removed from your life recently because the alternative felt like too high a price?

In this week’s edition of Trends & Artefacts, we round up the snackable trends, stats and insights from around the world, including:

• Aldi Maps the UK's Grocery Price Gap

• Radisson RED Hotels Launch Music Tourism

• Divorce Rings Replace Wedding Bands

• Explainer: Poetcore

• Claridge's Opens Nostalgic British Bakery