Good morning. “Brain rot” was recently named Oxford’s 2024 Word of the Year, beating out other top contenders like “demure” and “slop.” If 2024’s word of the year is any indication of where we’re headed…can we make a request to go back to 2023’s “rizz?” We’d even take 2022’s “goblin mode” at this point.

— Hannah Doyle 

Alex Cooper Launches Electrolyte Beverage

Alex Cooper, podcasting mogul and founder of the media network Unwell, unveiled a highly-anticipated new product on Wednesday: an electrolyte drink called Unwell Hydration. It will debut exclusively at Target on January 1.

Context: Cooper has become one of the top podcasting creators in the world—inking a deal with SiriusXM reportedly worth up to $125 million and regularly topping the podcast charts with her trademark show, Call Her Daddy.

Now with Unwell Hydration, Cooper is entering the CPG beverage space—and competing directly with fellow creators Logan Paul and KSI’s PRIME. 

“We don't need another makeup brand,” Cooper told Parade. “That is a place where women are dominating, which is amazing. But this is yet another time in my career where I'm like, ‘Move over, boys. We don't need to be drinking PRIME or Gatorade.’” 

Zoom out: CPG has proven lucrative for creators in recent years. 

• PRIME counted more than $1 billion in revenue last year, and MrBeast said earlier this year that his Feastables candy brand was on track to tally $500 million in annual revenue in 2024.

• Big institutions are taking note—Hershey’s recently acquired fitness creator Maxx Chewning’s Sour Strips candy brand, and Cooper is partnering with Nestlé to produce Unwell Hydration.

‘Hawk Tuah’ Meme Coin Receives Pushback

Since Haliey “Hawk Tuah Girl” Welch went viral this summer, she has shown the world several sides of herself: first a meme, then a chart-topping podcaster, then a meta-meme parody. 

Now she’s adding crypto to her résumé. Welch, a crypto investor herself, launched a new meme coin, $HAWK. 

• Immediately following its debut Wednesday, the coin exploded 900% in value to a market cap of nearly $500 million. 

• The price then plummeted 90% within hours, causing some buyers to allege it was a pump-and-dump scheme.

Welch and her team of advisors (which includes the crypto platform overHere and crypto X creator Doc Hollywood) held a talk on X Spaces after the price drop, promising investors that the coin was compliant with security laws and not a cash grab. 

But investigative creator Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findeisen and gamer Richard “FaZe Banks” Bengston, who called $HAWK an outright scam, aren’t buying it.

• Yesterday, Findeisen released a video unpacking the coin launch and told Rolling Stone there were many signs it wasn’t going to work. 

• “I hope that she acknowledges the harm of what she did, intentional or not, and takes accountability to help her fans who lost money,” Findeisen said.

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MrBeast Takes PR Run to Roblox

This week, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson kicked off a media tour for his multi-million-dollar Amazon show, Beast Games, set to premiere December 19. 

One of the stops: Roblox, to launch an interactive game to his existing fanbase on the platform.

• Roblox strategist James Purell said Donaldson’s game will be a competition similar to Beast Games, with weekly challenges that reward players from a $5 million prize pool.

• Donaldson worked with studio Twin Atlas, popular Roblox creators including Minitoon and RB Battles, and MrBeast team members including Karl Jacobs to make the game.

Zoom out: Donaldson’s Beast Games PR tour comes on the heels of a handful of controversies involving both the game show and the MrBeast brand.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Nick DiGiovanni, Cristiano Ronaldo, and more make YouTube’s list of top creators in 2024.

• Elyse Myers releases a crochet kit.

• Host a podcast? Add video to your Spotify feed and attract more listeners with tools like thumbnails and short-form clips—read all about how The Dropouts grew 40% here.*

• QTCinderella is hosting the Streamer Awards tomorrow.

• The US Court of Appeals upholds a federal TikTok ban, set to go into effect January 16. The case is likely to go to the Supreme Court.

• Instagram adds replies and prompts to its Broadcast channels.

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📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: Tech writer Ben Wallace delves into the ‘09 iPhone feature “send to YouTube” and the millions of videos still on the platform using the “IMG_XXXX” naming convention.

• Watch: In the first episode of Tunnel Vision, journalist Christophe Haubursin shows how he reverse-image searched his way to uncovering a crypto scam.

• Listen: After a season unpacking select songs from the late rapper MF Doom, the Dissect podcast published an unreleased interview with the rapper that outlined his career and music from 2004.