Neutering dogs is considered normal, but it’s seen as barbaric when done to humans.
All Threads
Fans of Step Brothers will be pleased to know that the film’s iconic event is now a reality. Every year since 2015, the Catalina Island Company (just off California) has paid homage to the film with a two-day celebration full of music, wine, and quotes from the characters.
It’s not just one of the world’s biggest religions – it’s also the largest non-government provider of health care services, with 18,000 clinics and 5,500 hospitals. All in all, the Church manages 26% of the world’s health care facilities.
In ancient Egypt, cats were objects of worship – considered to be a manifestation of the goddess Bastet. Fast forward to Europe in the Middle Ages, and cats had become linked with witchcraft by the Catholic Church. Thus ensued a 300 year campaign of systematic feline torture and genocide, the goal of which was to exterminate cats entirely.
Cazoo’s £6 billion valuation hinted that all car buying would be done online. But the company has now gone into administration, after generating losses of £700 million in 2022.
In Japan 78% of music sales are still physical CDs. But it’s not because consumers love the audio quality – it’s because CDs allow fans to engage with artists, who will bundle them with perks such as concert ticket vouchers, invitations to meet-and-greet events, and voting cards.
Want to be a CEO? It helps to be tall. In the U.S, 14.5% of men are 6ft or taller. But among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that figure rises to 58%.
One of the main determinants of whether people donate to charity is not whether they can afford to but whether they are asked to. The percentage of people being frequently asked to donate plummeted during Covid-19. Sure enough, the percentage who donated fell – and only really recovered at the end of 2023, when charities started asking again.
Charli XCX used a text cover for Brat – her breakout album of 2024 – purely to save money. She didn’t think the album would appeal to lots of people, so didn’t want to waste money on the album design.
ChatGPT gradually spits out information as if it was thinking and responding in real time. In reality, the code was instantly ready when you clicked the prompt – but it presents the illusion of effort.
ChatGPT may dominate conversations on LinkedIn, but it’s still relatively niche: even among 18-24s, its biggest audience, only a quarter use it at least weekly (as of April 2024).
If you think Lance Armstrong is a modern phenomenon then think again. At the first modern Olympics of 1896, in Athens, Spyridon Belokas was stripped of the bronze medal when he was found to have ridden in a carriage for one section. Eight years later in St Louis, Fred Lorz crossed the finish line first before confessing he covered almost half the course in his manager’s car.
The Chilean sea bass is a marketing invention. Lee Lantz, a fish wholesaler, wanted a more attractive way of describing the Patagonian toothfish so he could sell it to Americans.
The China playbook: go from bottom to top in a matter of years.
Despite being known by 95% of consumers, Chips Ahoy! is only found in 30% of U.S. households. So the brand has recently launched several innovations to appeal to a wider customer base, including Baked Bits (on-the-go snacking), more products under $3, and better for you products like gluten-free Chips Ahoy!