LSN : News : 28 : 02 : 23

New airbag jeans provide discreet protection for motorcyclists

Airbag Jeans by Mo’cycle, Sweden

Sweden – Although at first glance Mo’cycle’s trousers look like regular jeans, once activated, the breakthrough garment can inflate like an airbag to protect the wearer in case of an accident.

Swedish company Mo’cycle is introducing the next frontier in safety for motorcycle riders. After four years in the making, the firm is launching airbag jeans that are capable of protecting the rider’s lower body parts and first vertebra of the spine in case of accidents and crashes.

According to the company, the trousers can absorb 10 times the impact energy compared to traditional pads thanks to an innovative material, Armalith. Stronger and lighter than steel, the single-layer fabric is water-repellent, breathable and abrasion-resistant, but looks, feels and stretches like regular denim, promising comfort and convenience. In addition, the airbag jeans are re-usable and, like regular jeans, they can be machine washed and repeatedly worn.

Look out for our upcoming microtrend tracking the rise of upgraded protective clothing, which not only enhances safety, but also boosts confidence and style.

Strategic opportunity

Functional and protective gear that combines utility with convenience and style is a double whammy for consumers who want the benefits of highly technical garments and accessories without having to compromise on visual appeal

Buscopan hijacks London Fashion Week with IBS advert

Buscopan. Creative by MRM Spain, UK

UK – Against the backdrop of London Fashion Week, healthcare brand Buscopan launched the Fashion Cramps campaign, raising awareness of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) through a humorous shoot where high fashion meets cramps.

Fashion and IBS seemingly don’t have much in common, yet Buscopan and marketing agency MRM Spain used the media clout of London Fashion Week to draw attention to the digestive condition. The campaign draws an amusing parallel between the discomfort caused by IBS and the awkward poses of models in editorial-styled fashion imagery.

This unusual approach suggests that healthcare marketing can be creative and look beyond the medical field. ‘London Fashion Week was the perfect moment for Fashion Cramps, due to the intertwined relationships between this high-stress event and the symptoms of those suffering from the issues that Buscopan seeks to alleviate,’ explains Félix del Valle, chief creative officer at MRM Spain.

The growing interest in pre- and probiotic categories and efforts like Buscopan’s tie-up with popular culture indicate the potential of the Gut Health Market to further advance from niche to mainstream.

Strategic opportunity

Buscopan’s Fashion Cramps shows how using pop-culture moments for marketing can make campaigns feel more relatable.

Researchers ask US government for OpenAI legislation

US – OpenAI-powered ChatGPT has seemingly limitless communicative powers and now a group of researchers have asked the US government to restrict them.

Launched in November 2022, the chatbot has been used to write covering letters, dating app messages, poetry and pass an MBA exam.

But now researchers from OpenAI, Stanford and Georgetown Universities are concerned that as generative language models become more accessible they could be used to spread disinformation. The researchers wrote a study outlining potential threats and called on the US government to pursue a range of curtailments, including access controls, hardware export restrictions and media literacy campaigns.

‘We don’t want to wait until these models are deployed for influence operations at scale before we start to consider mitigations,’ says Josh A Goldstein, one of the lead authors of the report.

In Anti-provocation Platforms we talked about how the internet is increasingly seen as a civic space. For it to uphold values of civility, those that create tools for use online must be diligent, as these researchers are about protecting our mutual online spaces.

Silk to Silicon by Sebastian Koseda at Backlit Gallery, UK

Strategic opportunity

With popular social media platforms becoming ever more unpredictable, consumers are burnt out on online negativity. They want to know that there are online spaces that are trustworthy. Be unwavering in your commitment to keeping your online spaces safe and focused on their intended purposes.

Stat: Demand for renewable energy workers on the rise

Photography by Fauxels

Global – Workforce solutions firm Airswift surveyed 10,000 energy professionals to reveal that clean energy workers have the most in-demand skills. Almost eight in 10 were offered at least one new job in the past year.

Recruiters from various industries, including tech and fossil fuels, have their eye on renewable energy workers. But those with the in-demand skills are also looking for employers who align with their vision for the planet’s future.

‘Renewables workers are the most likely to care about their employers’ values, but this now goes beyond the environment and encompasses metrics such as their contribution to society and workplace flexibility,’ says Airswift CEO Janette Marx. ‘Green energy firms will now have to compete with fossil fuel firms on a wider range of metrics, from societal impact to flexibility, by creating more meaningful roles with KPIs linked to social as well as environmental contributions, and by reducing fixed hours and physical deployments.’

As renewables and nuclear energy will dominate the growth of global electricity production in the next three years, according to the International Energy Agency, firms that employ green energy workers will have to rethink their approach to sustainability to attract those skilled employees. In our upcoming Work States Futures macrotrend, we will analyse how employers need to understand this newly empowered generation of workers who question how, where and why they work.

Strategic opportunity

Firms wishing to invest in renewable energy experts will only attract those talents by setting ambitious sustainability targets, salaries, work-life balance and vision