And we’re back!

I may or may not have turned into a pumpkin.

Before we jump in further…

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GET THE MOST OUT OF WHAT’S LEFT OF SUMMER: A quick favor. A couple of friends and I have a side project called Bonnnfire showcasing how/where to get away and what gear to use to do it, even when getting away means sitting in your own backyard. Check it out here, pass along to your friends, or submit your own setup to be featured. We spotlight new locations and new gear weekly.

Deep(ish) Millennial Thought of the Week

Before social media, there was pumpkin spice.

Yes, while many people credit Starbucks for immortalizing this somewhat polarizing autumnal ingredient when it introduced the Pumpkin Spice Latte (or “PSL” as some of the more basic folks lovingly refer to it) back in 2003, the spice itself actually has a 225 year history.

Recipes for “pompkin pie” exist as far back as 1798 in everyone’s favorite colonial cookbook American Cookery by “O.G. Martha Stewart” Amelia Simmons. Back then, pumpkin spice referred to a blend of spices used to flavor pumpkin pie combining cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves. Amelia did not have her own YouTube channel or TikTok to promote the recipe, so you know word of mouth must have been running wild on how good this combination was.

Today, Millennials go absolutely gaga for pumpkin spice, myself included. While Starbucks’ Peter Dukes is often considered the Godfather of the PSL, I think one fictional but lovable cartoon is consistently overlooked as the true reason we love anything pumpkin spice.

You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

In 1966, Charles M. Schulz, famed author of the children’s classic Peanuts, released It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a primetime television special that aired annually on broadcast from 1966-2020 until Apple scooped up the rights like putting a knife to your favorite jack-o-lantern carving to show it on Apple+ TV exclusively. The plot is kind of straightforward, but if you are too lazy to click that link and boost my engagement rates, essentially Linus believes there is a “Great Pumpkin” spirit and the gang tries to track it down, only to come up short in the end. (Editor’s Note: Years later, this spirit would actually reveal itself to be McDonald’s Grimace wreaking havoc on Gen Z.)

Remember, nostalgia is like catnip for us Millennials. While he is only one example of a pioneer bringing pumpkins to the spotlight, I am sticking my neck out and saying that we love pumpkins because they bring us back to the same warm fuzzy feeling we had as a kid, and hopefully even now, when watching Charlie, Linus and Snoopy in their Halloween capers. (Hey, we also love Halloween. the holiday itself, for the same reasons.)

Maybe I’ve had too many pumpkin spice coffees this morning, but that feeling of Fall is a great one, and while Starbucks brought pumpkin spice into the national conversation, its important to remember how Amelia Simmons and Charlie Brown paved the way.

THE VERDICT: Stop hating on pumpkin spice even if pumpkin spice products come back each year in August now. Deal with it.

Less Deep(ish) Millennial Stuff of the Week

• TACO BELL VS. THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. This one probably deserves its own longish thought, but I’ve been too angered by the whole fiasco to write it. In a shocking move, Taco Bell will offer free Doritos Locos Tacos every #TacoTuesday for the next month to everyone in the United States EXCEPT to the ENTIRE state of New Jersey because one brave small business owner is refusing to capitulate to BIG TACO. (94.5 PST)

• PEOPLE ARE WATCHING LESS TV. Broadcast and cable tv viewing percentages dropped below 50% for the first time as people of all ages (who can figure out how to) are switching to streaming for entertainment. (Variety)

• SERIOUSLY TACO BELL, WTF?!? I’m still so mad about this.

• That’s it, this taco thing has made me lose my train of thought.

Millennial Commercial Spotlight

Look, I’m in the spooky spirit and I made an Evil Grimace reference previously. We forget how good McDonald’s commercials in the ‘90s were, so here is a reminder.

This commercial has everything. A haunted castle overlooking a hill. Chicken McNuggets dressed as classic Halloween characters. Dad jokes.

And the end, we are reminded to go and collect everyone’s favorite Halloween pails, which McDonald’s brought back last year. If you didn’t have the glow-in-the-dark one, you might as well have just stayed home during trick-or-treating.

I don’t really eat fast food anymore but I will be damned if I don’t go and collect one of these pails this year. Because nostalgia.

Millennial Album Spotlight

After sitting on the Curb Your Millennialism porch, we decided it’s time to share more on the music we love with our official “Still Rocks” stamp of approval for the best music of the greatest generation. By now, you’ve caught on to the theme of this week’s newsletter, so it’s only fitting that this week we spotlight Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, the third studio album from The Smashing Pumpkins.

Pitchfork gave this 1995 masterpiece a “9.3”, so you know it’s good. Coming off the heels of Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie is a double album that many felt was frontman’s Billy Corgan’s attempt at chasing down the dream of recreating The Beatles’ White Album. There are so many harmonic twists and turns on this, you may think you are listening to five different bands. And that is the beauty of it all. This ‘90s standout went on to sell over 10 million copies, largely boosted through extremely theatrical music videos like “Tonight, Tonight” in constant rotation on MTV.

Casual rock fans of the era probably came into this album on that aforementioned single, “1979” or “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” but distortion-angst-infused standouts like “Zero” blend cosmically perfect with acoustic sonic shocks to your heart/brain such as “Thirty-Three” to appeal to the purist of music fans of this era.

True Pumpkinheads can also go read about Billy Corgan becoming a prominent figure in the pro wrestling circuit.

Listen here.

That’s all for this episode…

Before I go, a little about me:

I’ve been in omnichannel marketing, business development, sales and operations for startups and big brands alike for over 15 years now. If you’d like to talk with me about consulting, find me on LinkedIn, Twitter X and now Threads or reply to this email. You can also book some time with me on MentorPass. Or you can get creative, I know you have it in you!

Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy those PSLs.