Good Morning. Santa's real job? Toy delivery. LinkedIn title? 'Global Chief of Holiday Logistics.' We break down professional avatar culture.

We also include Ralph Lauren's Gen Z takeover, cannabis breakthrough, and FedEx's controversy (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers who get a little better every day).

Drew Downing's viral meme compares Santa Claus's real identity versus his LinkedIn profile. The image contrasts "Kris Kringle" who "delivers toys once a year" with "Global Chief of Holiday Logistics & Resilience." The meme highlights professional self-presentation versus reality.

Downing, 39, lives in Valencia, Spain and created the meme last year to show how people send their "high-performance avatar" on LinkedIn instead of authentic selves. LinkedIn has over 1 billion users across 200+ countries.

The meme resurfaced when @the_realestrecruiter shared it December 11, garnering 7,700+ likes. Commenters called it "accurate" and "true." Downing said many professionals feel pressured to present a "cartoon version of themselves" to succeed. Ultimate guide to LinkedIn profiles.

New car prices broke the $50,000 barrier this fall, up 33% since 2020, according to Kelley Blue Book. Average monthly payments now hit $760, forcing buyers into longer loan terms. Dealerships say $300 monthly payments are "a thing of the past."

A third of buyers now take loans lasting 72+ months, per Experian. Some loans reach 100 months—over eight years. Americans carry $1.66 trillion in auto loans, up $300 billion from five years ago.

Ford reports customers gravitating toward cheaper base models, with Maverick pickup sales jumping 76% in November. Industry executives cite rising prices as the core challenge facing affordability.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has fathered 100+ children through sperm donation across 12 countries, he revealed in July 2024. Moscow clinic AltraVita offered his "biomaterial" free to unmarried women under 37, covering IVF costs.

Durov began donating around 2010, initially helping friends before donating anonymously. Forbes estimates his worth at $17 billion. He announced biological children would receive equal inheritance shares, prompting alleged offspring to contact him.

He plans to open-source his DNA so children can find each other. Elon Musk, father of 14, joked about the numbers. Durov frames donations as addressing population decline and incentivizing quality sperm donation.

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"Slop" captures 2025 better than Oxford's "rage bait." Originally describing AI-generated content, the term now defines products made by no one, for no one—cultural objects with opaque origins and unclear purposes.

Slop's defining features:

From algorithmically-generated T-shirts to suburban architecture, slop describes our cultural moment: endless products with no discernible creator, purpose, or audience.

Read article.

Long-haul economy flights don't have to be miserable. The following tactics help frequent fliers turn cramped quarters into tolerable luxurious journeys:

Read article.

▲ Secondhand gifts surge as 82% of shoppers buy used items to combat inflation and stretch holiday budgets

▲ Ralph Lauren TikTok Christmas aesthetic drives 250% eBay search surge, ranks second to Gucci for Gen Z

▲ Trump order reclassifies cannabis from Schedule I to III opening medical marijuana research after decades of restrictions

▲ FedEx H-1B approvals surge from 37 to 102 amid American layoffs following $2.2B federal contract award

▲ Wind projects paused by Trump over classified security threats, wasting billions despite providing 10% of US electricity

Best sports moments of 2025 [List]

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Maybe Shia was right after all [Video]

The Dark Knight built off of Heat [Video]