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Instead of polished resumes and measured conversations with recruitment consultants who have targets to hit, LIA Staffing is inviting workers to pull up a barstool.Tenshoku Soudan BAR (Career Consultation Bar), which opened in January 2026 in Yokohama, allows professionals to discuss their work dissatisfaction over drinks with career advisors. The bar-style setting is designed to lower the psychological barriers that often prevent people from seeking career guidance in the first place particularly in a culture where admitting professional uncertainty can feel like admitting failure.The service is free, funded through LIA Staffing's recruitment business, which presumably benefits from building relationships with potential candidates long before they're ready to make a move. The Yokohama location had already booked fifteen-plus appointments before opening, suggesting the format resonates with workers who want to talk through their options without immediately being pushed towards an outcome.TREND BITEThe consumer tension here isn't active job-hunting it's the fog that precedes it. Many workers aren't ready to quit, but they're not okay either: mild burnout, identity drift, the nagging question of whether the problem is them or their employer. In Japan, where open dissatisfaction still carries stigma and loyalty norms run deep, that uncertainty is particularly hard to voice. Tenshoku Soudan BAR reframes career anxiety as a normal, shareable human experience. In doing so, it hints at a template for "pre-decision" guidance across life domains, from housing to relationships. Start casual. Listen first. Remove the pressure to decide.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
An unlikely voice on cyber security, McDonald's Netherlands used its menu items as a cautionary tale about passwords.On Change Your Password Day (February 1st), the fast-food chain highlighted data from Have I Been Pwned showing that 'bigmac' has appeared as a password in 110,922 data breaches. The campaign draws attention to how consumers habitually choose predictable passwords. They don't just use names of their pets or children, but also familiar brands and favorite products, which compromises their online security.The rest of the McDonald's menu also appears frequently in compromised password databases: 'frenchfries' shows up 34,407 times, 'happymeal' 17,269 times, and 'mcnuggets' 2,219 times, with countless variations adding numbers or special characters. While cybersecurity experts have long warned against weak passwords, the persistence of these patterns suggests that awareness campaigns haven't translated into behavioral change. McDonald's used the occasion to encourage consumers to rethink their password strategies.TREND BITEAs cyber threats escalate and data breaches multiply, the gap between knowing better and doing better remains stubbornly wide. By turning its own brand ubiquity into a teaching moment, McDonald's demonstrates how consumer-facing companies can step into educational roles that extend beyond their core business. When traditional security campaigns fail to change behavior, brands with cultural currency may prove more effective messengers. What everyday knowledge gap could your brand help close by leveraging what makes you familiar?
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Austin-based startup Pipedream is about to open Goods, a drive-through grocery service where underground robots deliver orders to customers' cars within minutes of placing an order.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
LETI Pharma's "Mayores amigos" (Senior Friends) initiative is tackling two overlooked demographics simultaneously: elderly residents in senior living facilities and aging dogs in shelters.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Delhaize is introducing summer cooking camps for children aged 2 to 12, running throughout the 2026 summer holidays.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising