Businesses trying to drum up attention are finding themselves in the middle of culture wars

Welcome back! Did you already get a lift in today? On Wall Street, chasing gains at the office is becoming the new norm. Here’s how gyms at five top firms stack up.

In today’s big story, people are obsessed with reading into every corporate rebrand as the next big political statement. It’s not that serious.

What’s on deck:

Markets: The interview questions Wall Street hiring managers use to spot talent.

Tech: Inside Silicon Valley’s “youthquake.”

Business: Hyundai has for decades poured billions into America’s South. Then ICE rattled its biggest US project yet.

But first, we’re switching things up.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

New brand, big problems

Is that a new ad campaign or Nazi propaganda? Did you redesign your logo or abandon traditional values?

As wild as those accusations sound, that’s the minefield companies increasingly encounter when undergoing corporate rebrands.

Businesses trying to drum up attention and sell more products are finding themselves in the middle of culture wars, writes BI’s Emily Stewart.

Ironically, these firestorms happen as most companies try to avoid taking political stances. After years of leaning into the discourse, most businesses prefer keeping things down the middle.

But our country’s hyperpolarization hasn’t left much space between the sides, forcing companies to thread an impossibly small needle.

Sometimes, the blowback is so strong a company reverses course, as was the case with Cracker Barrel and its logo-gone-wrong incident.

The end result is that the attackers feel vindicated by their critique, emboldening them for the next potential target. But the reality is that most of what you’re seeing from companies isn’t politically coded.

As Emily smartly puts it, what’s really behind most of these campaigns is that “a brand would just like to sell you things and remind you that it’s there.”

That won’t stop companies from trying to switch things up, though. (After all, what are ad agencies and consultants for?)

Last week, a company flipped one of the business world’s most iconic slogans.

Nike launched a new campaign Thursday, updating its classic “Just do it” to “Why do it?” The idea was to appeal to and challenge a “hesitant generation,” connecting with athletes “who are growing up in a world where trying, and failing, can feel daunting,” according to a press release announcing the news.

Now, if I were to put on my tinfoil hat, I might say this is another example of companies coddling young people. There is already too much apathy in the world. People don’t even want to show up to the office! America would be a lot better off if people “Just do it” instead of asking why!!

Nike even has a track record of poking the bear, most notably in its ad campaign featuring former NFL star and political lightning rod Colin Kaepernick.

But…

Nike isn’t in a position of power. The sneaker giant has had a tough few years as old rivals (Adidas) and new ones (Hoka) have gained traction among the younger generation. It switched up its CEO last year, and while Nike is making progress, it’s still staring down the barrel of some serious impacts from tariffs.

So yes, while it might be fun to claim Nike is just going “woke” again, the reality could be that switching up its iconic phrase might be its latest bid to get back into the mainstream.

3 things in markets

1. The big bets top Wall Street minds are most confident about. BI asked four top market strategists to share their strongest investment ideas that can be explained in a single chart. From the upside in the UK market to value stocks being extremely cheap, here’s what they’re watching. Check out the charts.

2. Don’t call it a comeback. Andrew Left says his short-selling days are long over, but Palantir’s stock has been down 17% in the weeks after he called it “overvalued.” The ex-short-seller told BI he’s now going long on companies he believes have high upside and strong fundamentals. He’s also bullish on one Palantir rival.

3. Wall Street hiring managers share their talent-spotting questions. When hiring for high-stakes Wall Street roles, it’s all about asking the right questions. BI spoke to three finance leaders who shared their go-to interview questions.

3 things in tech

1. Meta’s worldwide tour to create authentic AI. Meta is paying US-based contractors fluent in Hindi, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese $55 an hour to help shape character-driven chatbots tailored to local contexts outside the US, BI’s Pranav Dixit exclusively reports. It shows how the company’s trying to create authentic personalities.

2. Breaking down the seating chart at Trump’s dinner for the Big Tech CEOs. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg had prime placement right next to the president, while Microsoft’s Satya Nadella was way down the table. Meanwhile, Apple’s Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman were rubbing shoulders. But what does it all mean? Katie Notopoulos and Peter Kafka broke it all down.

3. There’s a “youthquake” happening in Silicon Valley. From Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg, young leaders have long been icons — and Gen Z’s no different. This is especially true for a generation opting out of college. Building a startup is no longer for the chosen few. In the golden age of AI, it’s becoming a rite of passage.

3 things in business

1. The ICE raid on a Hyundai plant is reverberating far beyond the rural Georgia town where it took place. The operation, called by one US official the “largest single-site enforcement operation” in history, detained nearly 500 workers, most of them South Korean. After the raid, President Donald Trump said all foreign companies need to “please respect our nation’s immigration laws.”

2. The latest wearable status symbol is tiny, permanent. A less ostentatious form of consumption, tiny tattoos are just expensive enough to signal you have the disposable income to drop on some forever ink and the whimsy to spring for a cute little design.

3. Can AI replace CEOs? Futurist Michael Tchong thinks so. He told BI that AI will eventually infiltrate the C-suite as it challenges traditional executive functions and investors demand more efficiency. That means that instead of human CEOs, you’ll have tireless bots who can send round-the-clock emails and never take PTO. (Not everyone agrees with Tchong, though.)

In other news

• ‘Mini-stagflation is brewing’: 5 fresh signs that the economy’s worst-case scenario could be inching closer.
• It’s official: RTO mandates are driving more workers to leave their jobs.
• A second-time founder graduated from Y Combinator with a new AI financial services startup. Read her pitch deck.
• Worried about a market crash with stocks at all-time highs? History says don’t be.
• I toured an $85 million Hamptons mansion and learned something about the economy.
• Lyft salaries revealed: How much tech workers at the ride-hailing company get paid.

What’s happening today

• Jury trial for Ryan Routh, man charged with attempted assassination of Trump on Florida golf course.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

The post Businesses trying to drum up attention are finding themselves in the middle of culture wars appeared first on Business Insider.