In a Jolty world – who doesn’t want their Blankie? Rituals and routines create comfort and structure. Babies and children are possessed by the need for ritual because they confront a world they often can’t grasp or control. They are victims of circumstance and lack agency or autonomy. Sound familiar? The virus has reduced us to emotional children with adult minds. “Where’s my Blankie” is a global psychological cry. Having lost the familiar rituals of home, office and school – the simple pleasure of the coffee shop or an after-work drink – we rush to establish new ones: we’re cooking, we’re gardening, we’re setting up virtual dinners, we’re downloading meditation apps. We’re establishing new practices for family time. We’re even taking this literally and buying weighted blankets for the comfort they bring. There are new rituals for mourning in a time of social distancing. And of course, children are struggling as their daily routines have vanished. In this podcast, hosts Faith Popcorn and Adam Hanft along with guests Dr. Harold Koplewicz and Doug Conant, will explore the business, social and cultural impact of the loss of our established rituals and the creation of new ones. As the world slowly normalizes, which of our new blankie-behaviors will stick, which prior practices will we return to, what even newer rituals will be created? And how will the unconscious consumers’ cry for their blankies create new marketing opportunities and challenges for legacy brands that inspire comfort and for new brands that need to inspire it?

Nothing is the same in this Jolty world, but some things are more shocked-to-the-roots than others. This Christmas will no doubt be unlike anything we have ever seen. We won’t be able to gather in the same way. We’ll be carrying our reactions to COVID-19, and the new behaviors we developed, into a season which is all about ritual and nostalgia. It’s a fascinating collision between a past filled with experiences we want to remember, and a present burdened with moments we want to forget. Jim McCann, Founder and Chairman of 1-800-Flowers, joins us as we look through our futurist lenses and imagine what Jolt-mas will be like across many dimensions. Of course, thinking about Christmas is also thinking about how we start 2021 – with what mix of fear, hope, and uncertainty.

Faith and Adam sit down with their friend Brad Jakeman, former president of Pepsi Global Beverage, to advocate for the necessity of abandoning the leadership mindsets and structures of the past. Selective amnesia is required in this Jolty world as we must un-learn and adopt radically new practices and behaviors in real time. Brad is also a partner in a disruptive venture company called ReThink Food, and after this episode was taped it was announced that Boston Consulting Group scooped him up as a Senior Advisor.