From 2025 Cannes Lions entries to the appeal of celeb-backed beauty brands, these are the data points we’re paying attention to right now.
$11.56
The average price of a flagship fast food meal (i.e., a signature combo meal) in the 50 largest U.S. cities, per new data from LendingTree. (In a separate report last year, the online loan platform also found that 78% of Americans view fast food as a luxury due to rising prices.)
58%
The share of U.S. adults who say they prefer nonalcoholic beverages when hanging out with friends, per a new trend report from Keurig Dr Pepper, which combines in-house data with surveys from The Harris Poll, Ipsos and The Morning Consult. The research highlights “sober-curious” consumers as a major emerging demographic.
79%
The share of surveyed U.S. enterprise organizations that have experienced “negative outcomes” from employee use of generative AI, according to research from the data management firm Komprise. The study, which queried 200 IT leads and executives from companies with 1,000 or more employees, found that false or inaccurate results, proprietary data leaks and copyright infringement are the most common issues — with 13% of these incidents resulting in “financial, customer or reputational damage” to the company.
2029
The year Gen Z consumer spending is expected to surpass that of boomers globally, according to new McKinsey research.
13%
The percentage of consumers who cite a famous founder as the reason to purchase a beauty brand, according to a new report from Business of Fashion / McKinsey. The study concludes that upstart brands’ frequent overreliance on a celebrity founder can result in “struggle[s] to sustain momentum — especially in a market where attention is constantly shifting.”
26,900
The number of award submissions for this year’s Cannes Lions — a slight increase over last year. The organizers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which kicked off on Monday, also note upticks in the number of submissions from Latin America (+16%) and indie agencies (+18%), compared to 2024. (In Cannes this week? Meet Quad.)
1.3 million
The average per-game TV audience for the 2025 NCAA Women’s College World Series — a 24% increase versus last season — according to ESPN and Nielsen.
82%
The share of global marketing execs who agree that budgets and campaigns “are under heavier scrutiny than a year ago,” according to a new World Federation of Advertisers report. More than half of respondents (52%) also say that CEOs have started monitoring marketing campaigns more closely in the past 12 months.
9,000
The maximum engine speed, measured in revolutions per minute, of the new V-8 Ram racing pickup concept. Stellantis-owned Ram recently announced that it plans to reenter the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next season following a nine-year hiatus — spearheading a larger “Ram-Demption” brand campaign to promote the return of its HEMI V-8 engine. (Watch the excellent hero spot, featuring a mea culpa from Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis, here.)
$302.3 billion
The projected market for over-the-counter drugs in 2034, per Research and Markets — a substantial expansion from $180 billion in 2024. The report cites key growth drivers, including an aging populace (there are more than 70 million boomers in the U.S., according to the most recent U.S. Census data) and rising healthcare costs (leading some consumers to self-medicate instead of visiting a physician).
