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For this Pi Day, some pie-related AI tomfoolery: When a company called Mixbook published a blog post listing each US state’s favorite pie, it almost felt normal… until a strange addition for Arizona. It hailed “Cactus Pie” — calling it a treat so good people would travel two hours and 16 minutes for a slice — alongside an AI-generated photo depicting the pie with spiny cactus pieces encased in a gelatinous green filling. Cactus Pie does not exist; the closest thing is a prickly pear meringue pie, which won’t stab its eaters in the mouth.

In today’s email:

The “young Indian method”: Hustlers have a gross new trend.
Streaming woes: Why is cord-cutting such a mess?
Bubble burst: Americans are chewing less gum.
Around the web: Budgie talk, what librarians really do, a music discovery tool, and more.

👇 Listen: US lawmakers took a step to really, truly, or at least maybe, ban TikTok. What’s next?

The Big Idea

A man in a suit smiling while throwing money around against a blue background.

Why TikTok hustlers are talking about the ‘young Indian method’

Every day, it seems like we get a new slice of dystopia as a treat. Today, it’s the “young Indian method.”

Jason Koebler of 404 Media recently wrote that the most disturbing thing he’d seen for sale in a Discord for TikTok hustlers was a ~$9 PDF explaining how to make money by doing mostly nothing.

What is the young Indian method?

As hustlers across social media explain it, it involves two steps:

Start a business where you offer a service, such as graphic design, content marketing, video editing, or web design.
Use Fiverr, Discord, or other online platforms to hire workers in countries where wages are typically low — such as India — for much less than you charge. Keep the excess for yourself.

The document Koebler found also discussed keeping workers “hungry” for more to prevent laziness and extract “maximum effort.”

Is this for real?

You can find videos explaining it as though it’s a viable path to entrepreneurship, but it’s unclear how serious anyone was about the young Indian method when the trend began or if anyone’s actually made bank using it.

But, more broadly, outsourcing work is something larger companies have done for years. Oftentimes, they pay those workers more than they’d receive from domestic employers.

However, David Levine — a business administration professor at Berkeley Haas who focuses on health in poor nations — said high turnover indicates workers still don’t cherish those jobs, and noted that larger companies rake in profits, likely sharing without their surplus.

“If you see a branded product from Apple, Nike or whatever, the assembly workers received a very small share of that value,” he said.

So, it’s nothing new?

It seems like it’s more something sad — the idea that with just a little hustle, you can exploit others just like the big guys.

But don’t you worry, because we may be well on our way to replacing underpaid workers with unpaid bots: One study found 44% of companies expect to replace workers with AI in 2024.

What could go wrong?

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TRENDING

EU AI, oh: European lawmakers passed sweeping AI regulations that include bans on “unacceptable” uses of the technology, like tools that guess people’s political preferences or sexual orientation, or that read emotions of people in schools and offices. It also limits AI’s role in “high-risk” tasks, like hiring and accessing government services.

SNIPPETS

The House voted to ban TikTok from operating in the US or force ByteDance to sell its American operation. The ban’s chances of passing the Senate are unknown, but President Biden said he’ll sign the bill if it does.

Thanks, mom: A Savings.com study found that nearly half of US parents are financially supporting adult children in some way — rent, medical bills, food, etc. — amid a high cost of living.

Two spinal surgeries at London’s Cromwell Hospital were aided by Apple’s Vision Pro headset, worn by a scrub nurse to prepare surgical tools and monitor progress. Earlier this week, Apple revealed plans for the device’s use in hip and knee replacement surgeries.

Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, is giving its Japanese factory workers their biggest wage hike in 25 years as part of annual talks between Japanese companies and labor unions. Nissan, Honda, and Mazda will also implement pay increases.

Family Dollar is closing ~1k of its 8k US stores — 600 this year and 370 as their leases expire over the next several years. Parent company Dollar Tree will also close ~30 locations.

Neil Young’s music will return to Spotify now that Joe Rogan is no longer exclusive to the platform. Young initially pulled his catalog in 2022 to protest vaccine misinformation on Rogan’s podcast.

Teenage mutant ninja cat? Residents in Fukuyama, Japan, were warned against touching a cat that fell into a vat of carcinogenic chemicals at a metal plating plant and ran away, leaving a trail of toxic paw prints behind.

Fun fact: Physicist Larry Shaw is credited with inventing Pi Day. He threw the first celebration of the holiday at the San Francisco Exploratorium on March 14, 1988, at 1:59pm.

Don't miss this...

Could UGC die out in 2024? We chatted with seven experts about the five marketing trends that might not make it through the year. See any you disagree with?

What’s the catch?

Streaming is a mess. How did we get here?

A mess? Really?

OK, OK, some perspective is needed here: It wasn’t that long ago that we were all checking printed TV guides, recording movies on VCRs, and having our minds blown by the astonishing 480p clarity of a DVD.

Now, we’re spoiled with standard 4K quality and the ability to just hit play on anything we want — as long as we’re paying for the streaming service that has it, that is.

And therein lies the problem: This cord-cutting world that started off so glorious has progressively gotten harder to navigate, and far more expensive to live in.

We’re spending more dollars for more services than ever, with scattered IP and diminished quality, and we’re left wondering...

🎬 What’s the catch? →

FIT THE BILL

There are thousands of companies valued at $1B+. How many clues do you need to identify today’s billion-dollar brand?

Clue 1: Like all good things in the 1980s, this company came out of Sears. The retailer sold it off in 1993, however, and given that Sears barely exists and this company notched $20.61B in revenue last year, that probably wasn’t the best move.

Clue 2: One of this company’s subsidiaries, Diners Club, became the world’s first multipurpose charge card in 1950 — all because a businessman was embarrassed that his wife had to pay for dinner when he misplaced his wallet.

Clue 3: It’s been making headlines for doing a lot of business flirting with Capital One, as they feel out a $35B acquisition that’d form America’s biggest credit card company.

👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇

Data Point

Chew on this: Gum is struggling to stay sticky with American consumers, per The Associated Press. US gum sales were down by almost a third in 2020, according to data from Circana, as consumers cut back on impulse buys, limited sugar, and no longer needed fresh breath for whispering to their co-worker in a cubicle.

Chewing gum sales were up less than 1% YoY to 1.2B units in 2023, which was 32% fewer than 2018. And while sales have rebounded since the pandemic, inflation is likely to blame; a pack of gum cost an average of $2.71 in 2023, a $1.01 increase from 2018. Amid the downturn, candy companies have been left scrambling to make chewing gum great again. The latest campaign? That it’s good for your mental health and well-being.

AROUND THE WEB

⚖️ On this day: In 1964, nightclub owner Jack Ruby was sentenced to death for killing alleged JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

📚 That’s interesting: What it’s like to work at a public library in America right now.

🗞️ Newsletter: Tired of biased, sensational news? Tangle summarizes arguments from the right, left, and center, all in one place. Try it for free.

🎶 That’s cool: Enter a song to find similar songs.

🐦 Aww: How to interpret budgie sounds.

Meme

Your family vacation sounds riveting, thanks for sharing. (Link)

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Today’s Fit the Bill answer is Discover Financial Services (Market cap: $31.37B)

Today's email was brought to you by Juliet Bennett Rylah and Sara Friedman.
Editing by: Ben “” Berkley.

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