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The first product of its kind, Vaseline Pro Derma Transition Body Lotion is explicitly targeted to transgender women. The lotion was created in collaboration with Thailand's transgender community to address the unique skin challenges people face during and after the transition process. Ingredients tackle common skin-related side effects of hormone therapy, such as sensitivity to light, dullness, irritation, uneven skin tone and proneness to allergies.

Available exclusively at Watsons stores across Thailand and Watsons online, Vaseline Pro Derma Transition Body Lotion launched in February 2024. The product, which was suggested to Unilever by Ogilvy Singapore, just made the Glass shortlist for Cannes Lions 2024.

In the UK, around 250,000 tents are left behind on music festival grounds every summer, with most ending up in landfills. Addressing that colossal amount of waste, sporting goods retailer Decathlon has relaunched No Tent Left Behind, a campaign incentivizing customers to buy one of its tents and return it for a full refund.

Festival-goers who purchase a tent from the retailer's MH100 range and return it before 13 September 2024 will get their money back in the form of a digital gift card. They can use the tent as often as they like, as long as they don't damage it. The buy-back expands on a scheme initiated by Decathlon in 2023, which only applied to a GBP 29.99 tent.

While eco-friendlier choices often come with higher price tags, Decathlon's initiative aims to make a sustainable option not just accessible but more or less free of charge. The brand is also solving a problem it helped cause — with prices as low as GBP 29.99, consumers are inclined to view cheap tents as single-use items. As for the returned tents? They'll be refurbished and resold through Decathlon's Second Life program.

When thinking about the gender gap, pay and employment disparities often top the list. Now, a new divide is emerging, with AI threatening to widen existing inequalities. Deloitte highlights gender-based emotional disparities regarding AI, even among younger people:

📉 Women’s top emotion is uncertainty: 28% of Gen Z and Millennial women express uncertainty about generative AI, compared to 20% of Gen Z men and 24% of Millennial men. 

📈 Men’s top emotion is excitement: 24% of Gen Z men and 26% of Millennial men feel excited about generative AI, while 19% of Gen Z women and 20% of Millennial women say the same.

🧑‍🎓 Women also feel less comfortable working alongside gen AI systems and tools, and are less likely to seek out related training.

So, how can your company bridge the gender gap in AI adoption and comfort levels? Education is key! As the study found, AI knowledge drives trust and interest. Empower all of your employees through training, while honestly addressing their concerns. Ensure that women have equal access to AI-related projects that can help them gain practical experience, and actively seek to include women in key AI initiatives and leadership roles within AI projects.

On June 5th, World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that humanity is at a "moment of truth" in the fight against climate change. Guterres spoke directly to advertising agencies and PR companies: "Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed — even as they have sought to delay climate action — with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies."

Guterres continued: "I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones. Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet — they're toxic for your brand. Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause. They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet — not trashing it."

"Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco. Some are now doing the same with fossil fuels. I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising."

No-code platforms that leverage AI are plugging a gap that previously only developers could fill — exponentially expanding opportunities for side-hustlers. From drag-and-drop tools to democratized app creation, no-code platforms remove the roadblock of development costs and know-how, and reportedly save creators up to 26 hours a week.

Recent launches include Kajabi, which allows anyone to build their own branded app, KLIQ, which helps creators transition into business owners, game creation platform Jamango, and immersive web experience builder Infinite Reality.

As more people aspire to take the leap into full-time maker/solopreneur mode, how could your brand support them with mentorship, financial capital, community or access to advanced AI tools?

From Delhi to Sacramento, temperatures are soaring, with 2024 poised to shatter last year's records for the hottest summer ever, leaving cities sweating and scrambling for cooling solutions… 🥵

A study published in Nature Communications in May 2024 warns that by 2050, the cumulative heat exposure for older people (aged 69+) will triple worldwide, affecting 246 million people. The effect will be particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa that are more prone to climate change-induced heatwaves. Coinciding trends of aging populations and rapidly rising temperatures are set to create hotspots of vulnerability.

As the study explains, "Increases in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat spells pose direct threats to physical health and mortality risk, with especially severe consequences for older adults, given their heightened susceptibility to hyperthermia and common health conditions worsened by heat exposure, such as cardiovascular disease."

In the face of these new climate realities, what's your strategy for supporting vulnerable aging populations in your region?

Instead of a tome about Swedish stugas or the origin of meatballs, IKEA Poland has published a Lexicon of Good Language. It's a guide promoting inclusive language and challenging harmful and exclusionary rhetoric in everyday communication. The lexicon was created with seven NGOs as part of IKEA's ongoing #ChangingTheNarrative campaign. Each section focuses on language related to different groups vulnerable to discrimination: people with disabilities, the LGBT+ community, national and ethnic minorities, refugees, younger and older people.

The Lexicon of Good Language was designed to be accessible and easy to understand. Each chapter lists which words are discouraged and why, along with suggested alternatives. By sharing the document as a free download, IKEA aims to inspire people to check whether they're being unintentionally hurtful, and to rethink which terms and phrases they incorporate into casual conversations and workplace interactions.

A newly-published survey by Slack's Workforce Lab reveals that over two-thirds of office workers in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK have yet to use AI tools on the job. Of those who do use AI, 81% report increased productivity (and just 7% consider AI outputs completely trustworthy).

Other insights gleaned from the survey:

• Execs race to embrace "Nearly all executives (96%) now feel an urgency to incorporate AI into business operations. The share of leaders aiming to do this 'in the next 18 months' has grown 7x since September 2023, rising from 5% to 35% of all executives"
• White workers lagging "AI use is accelerating at a faster clip among workers of color, with 43% of Hispanic/Latinx desk workers, 42% of Black desk workers and 36% of Asian American desk workers having tried AI tools at work, compared with 29% of white desk workers"
• Gen Z gender gap "While young people are most likely to have experimented with AI tools, Gen Z men are 25% more likely to have tried AI tools compared with Gen Z women"
  

Chemicals in most sunscreens can kill or bleach coral, even at extremely low concentrations. And an estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen enter waterways every year. The problem is especially acute in areas with heavy tourism and recreation. While reef-safe sunscreens are slowly gaining market share, a new formulation called Reef Relief goes a step further with ingredients that actively support coral health.

Two years in the making, Reef Relief was developed by global ad agency McCann in partnership with sunscreen brand Stream2Sea. In addition to being reef-safe and protecting humans from UV rays, the product contains 'a unique blend of marine nutrients' that help coral thrive. Six months of testing by Dr Michael Sweet at the University of Derby found that the sunscreen can boost coral growth by up to 8% in some species.

Reef Relief will be available for purchase soon, with a waitlist now open.

The UK's pioneering walk-in mental health shop, Self Space, is offering a new series of events called Walk Club, designed to help people break out of their ruts. Tapping into the insight that over half of Brits feel stuck and in need of change, these therapist-guided group walks encourage taking a step towards renewed momentum and social connection.

Walk Club participants are paired up and provided with conversation prompts to facilitate meaningful exchanges as they stroll through various parts of London. Beyond stretching legs, the guided walks also flex emotional and social muscles, practicing vulnerability, active listening and empathy. For people outside London, Self Space is offering a free download of 1,000 conversation prompts "to facilitate walkie talkies from wherever you are. With the people you love." Categories range from 'For parents with empty nests' to 'For busy people who never rest.'

By blending light physical activity with emotional exploration, the Walk Club format lowers the barrier to entry for those daunted by more formal mental health settings while providing a dose of analog community and IRL connection. As Self Space says, "Come as strangers, leave as friends." 

A free AI-powered wallet called Kudos automatically calculates credit card rewards and benefits to help shoppers maximize their cards' potential. It operates as a browser extension and iOS app, optimizing online shopping by determining each item's potential credit card rewards. By paying with the best card for a specific purchase, consumers reap more points and other benefits.

Users can set up a Kudos wallet by selecting their debit and credit cards from an extensive database. The accompanying browser extension displays a yellow badge when they're shopping; clicking it reveals their wallet and showcases the optimal card to employ at checkout. 

Kudos supports over 2 million merchants and is compatible with more than 3,000 credit and debit cards. While currently exclusive to the US, Kudos plans to expand globally. Launched in 2022, the startup has since grown to 200,000 registered users, as reported by TechCrunch, and just raised USD 10 million in series A funding to build out its capabilities as an AI-driven personal finance assistant.

The 2024 Paris Olympics aren't just about sports but aim to showcase sustainable food, too. With over 13 million meals to be served during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, organizers see a monumental opportunity to spotlight cuisine that's not just delectable but also comes with a lower environmental impact.

France intends to leverage its culinary reputation to inspire more eco-friendly eating habits, both at major sporting events and at home. A prime example is the Athletes' Village dining hall, which will offer 500 recipes and make over a third of dishes entirely plant-based when it opens as the 'world's largest restaurant.' Spectators will see more meatless options, too. At the La Concorde venue, 100% of food served to visitors will be vegetarian. 

Additionally, 80% of the ingredients used will come from France, and 30% from organic farms or those in the process of converting. In canteens, both the nutritional values and environmental impact of each course will be displayed. By dramatically increasing meat-free options, Paris 2024 aims to halve the carbon footprint of catering at the Olympics.

Despite brands' focus on improving the CX, 71% of shoppers see no improvement or an increase in the time and effort required to make a decision. And with information overload reaching a new level (thanks to tailored ads and personalized products), 75% say they feel bombarded by advertising... 🤯

One solution? Gen AI-powered assistants that cut through the noise. These AI GENIES will work on behalf of overwhelmed consumers, ticking mundane tasks off their to-do lists. Since most people will prefer to pick and choose what they outsource, brands must learn to discern when autonomy is preferred. In fact, 55% of consumers say they are open to AI GENIES making purchases for them, especially for booking flights (70%), hotels (65%) and buying consumer tech (59%).

From 6–9 June 2024, the tenth European elections will take place in the EU's 27 member states. The previous elections, in 2019, saw electoral turnout increase for the first time since voting began. That was mainly down to a surge in young voters turning up. Still, only 42% of voters 24 and under voted. In the Netherlands, the number was even lower, at 35%.  

Since declining voter participation is a threat to democracy, Ben & Jerry's is stepping in with a sweet reward to entice more young people to vote this year. After casting their ballot on June 6th, Dutch citizens can trade in their red voting pencils for free ice cream. Ben & Jerry's will be swapping pencils for pints at six locations across the country.

Beforehand, people can confirm their intention to vote and Ben & Jerry's will send them a reminder the day before the election. For those unable to secure a red pencil, showing the confirmation email will still earn them free ice cream.

LLMs have a dirty secret. They’re thirsty: a single ChatGPT conversation uses about half a liter of water 💧 Microsoft’s 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report reveals a similar picture. The company’s C02 emissions are up by 29.1% since 2020, mainly due to the construction and provisioning of more data centers to meet customer demand for cloud services. Which makes Microsoft's goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 an ever-greater challenge.

More likely than not, your own company is busy adopting AI technologies to drive innovation and enhance customer experiences. And that means grappling with associated environmental implications, too.

🔴 Risk assessment: With leaders fearing they'll be outpaced by competitors in the race to deploy, gen AI is pushing sustainability down corporate priority lists. How will you stay vigilant? For starters, track the energy consumption of your brand's AI integrations and keep it in line with your ESG goals.

🟢 Opportunity: As concern about greenwashing reaches new heights, AI's ability to analyze large datasets promises to open up new routes to accountability, particularly within sustainability reporting. Use that capacity to your advantage, or face data-driven condemnation.