The Non-Obvious Insights Blog. Non-Obvious Insights
The Non-Obvious Insights Blog.

Dedicated To Helping Readers
Be More Interesting
Since 2004.

As Featured In:

The World’s Hottest Pepper Will Never Succeed for This Reason

Pepper X

A list of the world’s hottest peppers before 2023 includes some scary names. The Carolina Reaper. The Ghost Pepper. The Trinidad Scorpion. The Infinity Chili. Those are respectable, intimidating names for peppers that can melt your face starting with your taste buds. Apparently this year for the first time since 2017, there is a new pepper that … Read more

7-Eleven Japan Tests Palm Scanner to Check If You Are Eating Veggies

Radar speed scanners slow down drivers by showing them how fast they are going. The awareness creates the behavior change. Could the same idea shift how we eat? In Japan, 7-Eleven is testing a Vege-Check palm scanner that “uses reflection spectroscopy to measure carotenoid levels in a person’s skin.” These are the biomarkers that can estimate the amount of … Read more

Branding Lessons From the Shady History of the Oreo Cookie

I love a good branding story and the history of the Oreo cookie has plenty of fascinating hooks. The story starts with two feuding brothers, Joseph and Jacob Loose, who ran competing bakeries that came up with two cookies that were essentially the same: the Hydrox and the Oreo. For years the Hydrox dominated, until the 1950s when … Read more

Problemshifting and the Myth of Food Shortages

Every few months, there are stories about an impending food crisis. From the death of the humble banana, to the loss of fertile farming land to doomsday stories of outbreaks at food production plants, there are plenty of things to be afraid of. Yet the truth, proven by facts and data, is that the world is growing more than enough food … Read more

Coca-Cola Imagines the Future of Refreshment with “Coca-Cola Coffee”

I spent four years in a place that acclimatizes you to believe there is nothing strange about having a Diet Coke for Breakfast. I’m speaking, of course, of my time living in Atlanta doing an Undergraduate degree at Emory University which is sometimes known, thanks to it’s large endowment from the brand, as “Coca-Cola University.” … Read more

Trader Joe’s and the Slow Death of Brand Personality

Update – Two weeks after this post was originally published, Trader Joe’s issued a new statement sharing that they do not consider these brand names to be racist and instead will be keeping them intact.  I believe brands should act in human ways and have a personality. In fact, I wrote a book on it … Read more

What Boxed Mac & Cheese Can Teach You About Disruption and How One Brand Quietly Embraces Its Racist Name | Non-Obvious Insights #222

This week’s stories include the reimagining of some racist logos from the past, the emerging field of digital nutrition, the dangers of Facebook Groups and what the popularity of boxed mac & cheese can teach us about disruption today and what it may mean for our long-term future. For longtime readers of this email, I … Read more

5 Non-Obvious Megatrends Changing Our World In 2020

For the past ten years I have gone through an annual ritual of publishing a book about trends that describe our shifting culture and business environment. Over the past decade, my team and I have identified and written about well over 100 trends covering everything from the rise of the #metoo movement (a trend we … Read more

The Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter. Non-Obvious Insights
Layer 97
The Non-Obvious Insights Newsletter
Layer 118

Skip the obvious and anticipate the future with our weekly newsletter. Join over 25,000 subscribers and start receiving the stories (and insights) you’ve been missing.

Newsletter Subscribe

All Books

#1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author

Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.

Contact

Have a Question or Inquiry?

Just fill out this form, and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours!

Contact

About You

What Are You Contacting Us About*:

Your Message