Planet Money (20 May 2021): Get The Vaccine, Lose The Skinny Jeans
Two thematically related stories.
Once the Covid vaccine is available, there’s a question of “how do we convince people to get it?” We speak to someone in this area. Her group tried a bunch of things.
A joke, “did you hear the one about the flu? Don’t spread it!”: not effective.
“Wealthy educated people are getting the vaccine!”: not effective.
“Lots of people are getting the vaccine!”: effective.
Ohio’s million dollar lottery: effective.
In other news: Skinny jeans became popular in the early 2000s. Two relevant things are the Strokes wearing them on the cover of an album (their debut?) and stretch denim making them more comfortable and easier to put on/take off. For a long time they just completely dominate the jeans industry, which is awkward for designers because how do you sell someone a new pair when they already have like five?
Then a fashion student? on Tiktok starts giving wardrobe advice during the pandemic. At some point she realizes she has a pair of skinny jeans she hasn’t worn in ages, they’re (apparently despite stretch fabric?) kind of uncomfortable and a pain to put on and take off and why would she bother in a pandemic. She makes a video like, “three uses for your skinny jeans: trash them, cut them up, burn them”. This apparently sparks/unexpectedly finds itself part of a broader anti-skinny-jeans Whole Thing, which is also part of the millenial/gen Z Whole Thing? Anyway by now skinny jeans are down to like, only 30% of all jeans sales.
Planet Money (20 May 2021): Get The Vaccine, Lose The Skinny Jeans
Two thematically related stories.
Once the Covid vaccine is available, there’s a question of “how do we convince people to get it?” We speak to someone in this area. Her group tried a bunch of things.
A joke, “did you hear the one about the flu? Don’t spread it!”: not effective.
“Wealthy educated people are getting the vaccine!”: not effective.
“Lots of people are getting the vaccine!”: effective.
Ohio’s million dollar lottery: effective.
In other news: Skinny jeans became popular in the early 2000s. Two relevant things are the Strokes wearing them on the cover of an album (their debut?) and stretch denim making them more comfortable and easier to put on/take off. For a long time they just completely dominate the jeans industry, which is awkward for designers because how do you sell someone a new pair when they already have like five?
Then a fashion student? on Tiktok starts giving wardrobe advice during the pandemic. At some point she realizes she has a pair of skinny jeans she hasn’t worn in ages, they’re (apparently despite stretch fabric?) kind of uncomfortable and a pain to put on and take off and why would she bother in a pandemic. She makes a video like, “three uses for your skinny jeans: trash them, cut them up, burn them”. This apparently sparks/unexpectedly finds itself part of a broader anti-skinny-jeans Whole Thing, which is also part of the millenial/gen Z Whole Thing? Anyway by now skinny jeans are down to like, only 30% of all jeans sales.