The political strategy of overwhelming discourse with information, or "flooding the zone," has been adopted by the tech industry. Companies use it for rapid, dominating product launches, while AI-content creators leverage it to saturate platforms, risking a "slopification" of media.
The consumer obsession with "protein maxing" mirrored a broader economic trend of maximalism. This approach, which began with aggressive trade policies, permeated business and consumer behavior, ultimately blurring the lines between investing, betting, and predicting into a single "casino economy."
While 2025 saw major advancements for robots in commercial settings like autonomous driving (Waymo) and logistics (Amazon), consumer-facing humanoid robots remain impractical. They lack the fine motor skills and dexterity required for complex household chores, failing the metaphorical "laundry test."
Budget-conscious millennial and Gen Z office workers, dubbed "kale-collar workers," are trading down from expensive daily lunches at chains like Chipotle and Sweetgreen due to economic anxiety. This behavior drives a broader "thrift economy" focused on secondhand goods, private-label products, and lower-priced "dupes."