BACKSLASH | CQ

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Backslash is our proprietary tool for monitoring culture – powered by a network of over 250 Culture Spotters and a dynamic hybrid process of strategy, data, and content.
It tracks everything from daily global triggers to local viral news.

Backslash helps us jump into cultural conversations, identify brand opportunities, and be at the forefront of what’s happening.

GLOBAL CULTURAL TRIGGERS

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Anti-Surveillance Activism | Life on the Edge

03:46

Anti-Surveillance Activism | Life on the Edge

AI's Creative Revolution | Life on the Edge

05:13

AI's Creative Revolution | Life on the Edge

Earthships | Life on the Edge

05:04

Earthships | Life on the Edge

ASIAN CULTURAL TRIGGERS

Thailand became the first Asian country to legalise marijuana. People can cultivate and use the herb at home for medicinal purposes such as chronic pain, insomnia, and nausea. While possession is not illegal, using it for recreational purposes remains prohibited, liable to a three month prison term. As an industry extending across medicine, food, and cosmetics worth an estimated value of 40 billion baht ($1.15 billion), legalisation presents an opportunity for local farmers and businesses to enter the lucrative market.

IMPLICATIONS
As economic uncertainties drive countries to seek new ways to fuel and invigorate domestic industries, long-held societal restrictions and taboos are being reassessed.

#MoodGeisting #NextGenNaturalists

Shanghai is attracting top graduates by granting them the hard-to-get hukou document. Hukou is a registration status tied to social benefits - from access to public education, health insurance, and the ability to buy property. It’s based on a points system and awarded depending on educational background and work experience, usually taking years for out-of-town graduates to secure. Now Chinese graduates from the world’s top 50 universities with full-time employment in the city will be offered a hukou almost immediately.

IMPLICATIONS
As the fight for talent intensifies, benefits that help graduates navigate China’s complex and difficult social credit system become too alluring to pass up, with many reconsidering plans in light of the new policy.

#StabilityPursuit

Shifting fashion tastes and a declining consumer base have left a huge supply of vintage kimonos. Now designers in Japan are repurposing the high-quality fabrics from cast off kimonos to make contemporary outfits better suited to today’s sensibilities and fashion.

IMPLICATIONS
As the high quality fabrics of vintage kimonos are key in their ability to be repurposed, will the desire to preserve and evolve tradition offer up another reason to move away from fast fashion to a more sustainable, longer lasting and circular industry?

#CircularAftermarkets #RootsRevival

To quell public concern about cyberbullying, Japan has passed legislation making “online insults” punishable by imprisonment. The bill, which takes affect this summer, punishes offenders who post “online insults” with up to one year of jailtime or a fine of ¥300,000 (approximately S$3,100).

IMPLICATIONS
While many are worried the bill may impede on one’s freedom of speech, the severe consequences of online trolls has become a national crisis, prompting the government to step in.

#PlatformPolitics

Chau Chak Wing Museum is the first in Australia to offer colour-blind visitors special vision-enhancing glasses so they can experience the art in a way they haven’t been able to before. While not all colour-blindness is the same, the museum is starting with special glasses that will help people who are red-green colour blind.

IMPLICATIONS
In a step towards inclusivity, this museum is helping make art more accessible for everyone, allowing all visitors to appreciate the work as it was intended.

#InclusiveByDesign

An agriculture management company has launched a Durian Capital Investment Scheme, allowing Malaysians to invest in the Musang King durian market. The company has dedicated 200 acres to cultivate Musang King durians with the potential to host 22,000 trees, and interested individuals can invest with a minimum of RM10,000 (USD2,400) per unit. They leverage modern agri-technologies such as smart irrigation systems and drone surveillance to optimise growth. It aims to solve the issue of unregulated investment instruments for durians while serving as a vehicle for more foreign direct investments into the agriculture landscape.

IMPLICATIONS
This new opportunity offers another unconventional form of investment, while helping the farming industry gain some financial stability.

#Odd-ysseys #WealthHacking

Japan's financial services watchdog is adopting a new policy meant to encourage companies to recruit more women in senior management roles. The Financial Services Agency will force publicly traded companies to disclose the percentage of women in senior positions in their annual securities reports. Companies must also reveal average pay by gender and the percentage of male employees who take childcare leave, to give investors a better picture of how companies are performing on gender equality criteria.

IMPLICATIONS
Countries are taking steps in mandating more female representation in leadership roles, forcing more open disclosure, identifying problems and normalising discussions around pay discrimination.

#GapCollapse

Japan is opening its first gaming high school with a dedicated facility being built in Tokyo for teens to hone their gaming skills as part of the curriculum. ‘eSports High School’ is positioned as a trade school for the growing gaming industry, with possible career paths in being a competitive pro gamer, streamer, game developer, virtual YouTuber, game journalist, commentator and more. It also aims to provide general education fundamentals for students hoping to go on to university, as well as individualised counselling sessions to help map their futures.

IMPLICATIONS
Institutions helping budding gamers hone their skills are legitimising gaming and e-sports careers as the industry continues to develop and diversify.

#PlayItForward

Food wastage is a serious problem in Singapore - about 700 million kg of food is wasted every year, equivalent to two bowls of rice per person per day. One start-up, Just Dabao (dabao means takeaway), hopes to reduce this by letting F&B businesses sell their surplus food at a discount on Just Dabao’s website. Jennifer Ashianti Widjaja, founder of Just Dabao, assures customers that there is no safety and health concerns when eating surplus foods. After all, according to her, food only becomes ’surplus’ when it is not sold in time.

Moreover, Just Dabao has found a way to keep their 12,000 customers coming back. Customers are able to select restaurants and cuisines but the dishes they receive are a surprise. This helps the restaurants manage their surplus in a more flexible manner and also helps customers discover new dishes and places to eat.

IMPLICATIONS
As we move into a zero waste world, new systems can help surprise consumers, keeping them engaged in tackling the issue of food wastage and while fighting the stigma of 'dirty food’.

#ConsciousConvenience

In Japan, an ageing and single population has given rise to an increasing number of lonely deaths. These people, usually elderly individuals living alone, remain undiscovered after death for long periods. To combat the issue, companies are installing AI monitoring services and motion sensors outside the homes of elderly people. For example, real estate agency R65 inc. offers packages to elderly homebuyers that include AI electricity-monitoring services. The AI technology is designed to be non-intrusive, with the sole purpose of detecting abnormalities in electricity use. Elderly individuals are becoming increasingly receptive to the idea of AI monitoring as they do not want to be a burden after death and want to preserve their dignity by being found before decomposition.

IMPLICATIONS
In this age of loneliness, the role once held by relatives and friends to check in on us will increasingly fall on artificial intelligence.

#AI-ify #RelationshipRebellion

Gashapon, or Japanese capsule vending machines, are a nostalgic item for many Japanese adults, who have fond memories of winning small toys and trinkets from these machines during their childhood. Now, these machines are getting a modern twist.

Japanese airline Peach Aviation has installed a custom gashapon in Shibuya, Tokyo. Instead of toys, people can win flights to random destinations within the country. Each capsule contains a code that people can redeem for mileage points, but they can only use the points on flights to the specific destination they won. The capsule also contains a small pin badge and a fun challenge for customers to complete at their destination. Although it may be easier to simply book flights online, customers love to use the gachapon as it provides some much-needed anticipation and excitement after pandemic restrictions.

IMPLICATION
People are tired from their mundane pandemic routines. Brands can surprise and bring fun back into peoples’ lives by providing nostalgic yet exciting experiences.

#KinderCult