New QR recycling codes are designed to give consumers local recycling info
Plus: If you like right-wing memes, you’ll love the reply section of the new Biden campaign account on Truth Social
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
New QR recycling codes are designed to give consumers local recycling info
In the presidential fundraising race, Biden and the Democrats outraised Trump
If you like right-wing memes, you’ll love the reply section of the new Biden campaign account on Truth Social
Scroll to the end to see: Kylie Minogue modeling shoes from the new Jean Paul Gaultier collab with Jimmy Choo.
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New QR recycling codes are designed to give consumers local recycling info
Attention shoppers, some grocery store products will soon feature QR code labels that consumers can use to check whether or not the packaing is recyclable in their communities.
Seven in 10 consumers look to product labels for recycling information, but about half of all recyclables are lost to landfill, largely because of confusion about what’s recyclable, said Katherine Huded, vice president of the Recyclability Partnership.
With more than 9,000 recycling programs in the U.S., the QR codes solve the problem of providing local recycling information on packaging from national brands.
“It’s going to be on some common household grocery items, like milk cartons, but also, the timing is nice for some seasonal things, like pie trays are going to start to hit store shelves, and then more to come early in the new year,” Huded told me in an interview about the program, which is called Recycle Check.
QR recycling codes will begin appearing on store shelves this month on some packaging from Horizon Organic, which sells organic milk and other food products, and for General Mills’ Pillsbury frozen pie crust, which use aluminum pie trays that are only recyclable in about 40% of residential curbside collection programs, according to Packaging Dive, a trade publication about the packaging industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, called for stricter rules around the use of the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol earlier this year, which some argue has been diluted by being shown on packaging that can’t be easily or universally recycled. The need for clear, honest messaging and design about recycling is especially important now considering climate change was one of just two issues a majority of U.S. adults believe it’s OK for businesses to take a public stand on, the other being mental health, according to a recent Gallup report.
Huded said the program will be successful if it’s “empowering more consumers with readily available local recycling information" and “encouraging more consumers to participate in the recycling system to get more of that material back, that half of recyclables that we know we’re losing just because of consumer confusion and behavior.”
In the presidential fundraising race, Biden and the Democrats outraised Trump
President Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democrats outraised former President Donald Trump’s fundraising operation in the July-September quarter, and Trump outraised the rest of the Republican field, according to fundraising figures announced by the campaigns.
Here’s how much the campaigns said they brought in as they head into the closing months before 2024:
Biden’s campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and its joint fundraising committees raised about $71 million.
Trump’s campaign and its leadership PAC Save America raised $45.5 million.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign, allied leadership PAC, and joint fundraising committee raised $15 million.
Former Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley raised more than $11 million “across her three hard-dollar entities.”
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina raised $5.92 million across his aligned groups.
Former Vice President Mike Pence raised $3.3 million.
It’s not just how much campaigns brought in that matters, but how much they have in the bank. Biden and the Democrats said they have $91 million on hand compared to Trump and his allied entities, which said they have $37.5 million at the beginning of October.
And while Scott’s quarterly figures don’t seem that impressive, his spokesperson told ABC News they have $13.3 million on hand, more than any other Republican candidate except Trump, which they believe is enough to be “fully equipped and ready to go through the early states.”
If you like right-wing memes, you’ll love the reply section of the new Biden campaign account on Truth Social
If going where your customers are is one of the guiding principles of social media marketing, the Biden campaign is doing it all wrong. But if it’s getting attention and recycling content by posting it across an increasingly fractured social media landscape, maybe they’re doing it all right.
Biden’s campaign joined Trump’s Truth Social platform and began posting Monday under the handle BidenHQ, writing in their first “Truth,” or whatever they call them, “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!”
The comments under the Biden campaign’s first post are predictably anti-Biden memes, and the post also seems to have an unusually large number of likes from accounts with the site’s default avatar, an illustration of a purple eagle. Their usernames, like “tRump Lies!” “damlib” and “JustHere4Biden,” suggest they’re just there for Biden.
It’s the social media equivalent of the Biden campaign airing ads on Fox News, which they did during last month’s Republican debate. Biden campaign officials told Fox News, the first outlet to report on the account, that joining was a means of combating “mis and disinformation” about Biden and “meeting voters where they are.”
“Republicans can’t even agree on a Speaker of the House, so clearly, not every Republican thinks the same,” a campaign official said.
The BidenHQ account uses a “Dark Brandon” illustration of Biden with glowing red eyes, the same profile pic the campaign is using for its BidenHQ accounts on X/Twitter and Threads, and they’re reposting content across the accounts too. The profile pic is especially well suited to Truth Social, though, where Trump’s realDonaldTrump account uses an avatar showing his face covered in American flag war paint, like it’s “Braveheart” or something. Very fun and very cool.
The Biden campaign’s content strategy so far is posting videos from the conservative video site Rumble of Republicans either criticizing Trump and each other or giving Biden props for his handling of the Israel-Hamas War. In other words, it all looks native to the platform, with friendly Republican faces and Rumble’s distinctive green play button, even if the message isn’t one I imagine is popular among the site’s typical users.
Truth Social was the second most well-known alternative social network in Pew’s 2022 survey of conservative social media, after Parler, and it was among the most trusted. Pew found 87% of those who regularly get news on these sites said they expect news and information they get on Truth Social to be mostly accurate, which is roughly tied with Rumble.
You can follow me on Truth Social at hunterschwarz.
Have you seen this?
UNESCO has teamed up with Interpol to build a virtual museum of stolen cultural artifacts. The goal of the museum is not to expand its collection but to gradually empty itself as the missing objects are eventually recovered. [Artnet News]
Kylie Minogue is the face of Jean Paul Gaultier’s collaboration with Jimmy Choo. The French maison and British shoemaker just launched a collection of statement footwear, modeled by Australia's best: none other than pop star Kylie Minogue. [Highsnobiety]
Fake airline reps are helping disgruntled passengers rebook flights in the latest bizarre X scam. Twitter used to be a useful venue for customer service complaints. X’s fragmented verification has made it fertile ground for scammers. [Fast Company]
Four fundraising takeaways from the battle for the Senate. Senate Democrats continue to stockpile cash, and Manchin and Sinema's re-election prospects remain murky, per new fundraising reports. [NBC News]
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History of political design
Photographic print of John and Jackie Kennedy (1957) by Yusuf Karsh. Karsh photographed Kennedy multiple times, including for this photo with his wife when he was a U.S. Senator for Massachusetts, per RR Auctions.
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Update: this post was updated with additional information about Recycle Check. Correction: an earlier version of this post misstated the name of Katherine Huded’s organization the Recycling Partnership. I regret the error.