Ray Cats & Moon Trees š
Why you should build a myth
I recently listened to a podcast about the so-called āMoon Treesā: trees on Earth whose seeds orbited the moon back in 1971 during the Apollo 14 mission. A beautiful, almost magical story. But do you know which bizarre detail stuck with me the most? The fact that NASA simply forgot about those trees afterward. Due to an administrative oversight, nobody had any idea where these extraterrestrial trees actually were, until a school class started asking questions about them in the ā90s.
It got me thinking. We live in an era where we are drowning in data and content, yet as a species, we are apparently historically terrible at remembering. Information dilutes after just a few generations. In Japan, centuries-old ātsunami stonesā bear the inscription āDo not build below this point,ā which was simply ignored by modern society. And today, scientists are brainstorming about āradiation catsā and artificial myths to warn humans 10,000 years from now about nuclear waste.
It brought me to a fascinating insight about our industry. True, unforgettable communication doesnāt survive through hard data, thick reports, or factual warnings. It survives when we tap into our brainās primal software: emotion, rhythm, and compelling storytelling. If you want something to truly stick, you shouldnāt write a manual, you should build a myth.
Must reads š
We read up a lot on trends and we are always happy to share that knowledge with you. By giving some examples you can understand how our brain works:
New restaurants and bars are regularly getting nuked by TikTok influencers š£
āall my life living in New York, I believed in never gatekeeping, always sharing the good spots. But now I am at 180Ā° away from that belief. Anything even mildly good about the city, if shared, gets ruined and overrun instantly. and the people overrunning it are pure selfish narcissists with no regard for anyone else, none of the cityās spirit of situating yourself among others. Just selfish little suburban brats everywhere taking incredibly stupid photos. It really does have to stop somehow.ā
So dumb it just might work: can these dumbphone evangelists convince you to dump smartphones? As part of a growing anti-tech movement, startup dumb.co is pushing flip phones as a way for young people to find āsocial and spiritual freedomā š
Why Chinaās youth are swapping luxury for local brands
With young consumers in China looking beyond established Western luxury brands, homegrown brands are increasingly winning people over with their designs and quality.
Google is launching Search profiles, a new way for publishers and creators to shape their presence on Search. Super smart launch from google. If you have a sizeable following, claim your profile by going to this link. you can link your social accounts, it aggregates your posts across platforms. Sadly not available in Belgium yet.
The AI Hangover Will Be Delightful ā¤ļøāš„
Even the idea that AI is taking all the jobs is fizzling out. Dan Shipper at Every recently published a long exploration of how AI is increasing the amount of work people have to do (while also letting them do more). We keep seeing the same, and while the number of junior employees being onboarded is shrinking, the overall rate of engineering hiring seems to be going up, even as AI gets more powerful
Cool: I've gamified my own run so I can race my own ghost with the Meta Ray-Ban Display. š
Cool: For my birthday last year I had an old man dress up as a doctor and write everyone doctorās notes for being late to work the next day š§š½āāļø
Cool: āIām so tired of how many experiences of my life are now taken over by phones and content so for my birthday party this year I told my friends to leave their phones at home and had a sketch artist capture the night insteadā
Hurae: Serious business, surreal results āØ
Weāre not the biggest agency, but we aim to be the most interesting. For brands willing who donāt want to follow the book, but write it.
Trusted by Knokke-Heist, Accountable, Croky, AVA, Febelfin, Geberit, Ancienne Belgique, Molecule, Okay, Heylen Vastgoed and many many more.
Ceci nāest past un agency
Email us at info@hurae.com
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on LinkedIn
Thanks for reading Huraeās substack, a weekly email about creativity, innovation, marketing & youth culture with almost 4000 subscribers. The best creative agency in Brussels & Belgium