The Weekly 10: marketing, media and industry statistics to know now — October 1, 2025 edition

From the share of Americans who drink alcohol to the latest Consumer Sentiment Index score, these are the data points we’re paying attention to right now.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (MCSI) score in September, a decline of 3.1 points (5.4%) from August and down 15 points (23.9%) compared to September of last year.

The amount that the private equity firm Atlas Holdings will pay to acquire ODP Corporation, parent company of Office Depot and Office Max, in a new deal expected to close later this year.

The share of U.S. adults who say they consume alcohol, per a new Gallup survey — the lowest figure since the pollster began collecting data on drinking behavior in 1939.

The share of younger consumers (age 18-34) in the U.S. who believe drinking in moderation (defined as “one or two drinks a day”) is detrimental to their health, per the same Gallup survey — the highest figure since the pollster began tracking alcohol-related health sentiment in 2001.

The price-per-ounce for ground coffee in Maxwell House’s new special-edition bulk pack. The promo bundle includes four jumbo cannisters with special “Maxwell Apartment” branding (“4 canisters to last your entire year-long lease”), sold for $39.99 via dedicated Amazon landing page.

The share of Pinterest search clicks that occur within the top 10 results on its platform, according to the company. The site launched a new ads program last week, allowing sponsored pins to appear within the top 10 search results, 96% of which Pinterest says are currently unbranded.

The increase in total ChatGPT messages between June 2024 and June 2025, according to new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research analyzing data provided by OpenAI.

The manufacturing tolerances (margin of error) on the production line for Salt & Straw’s new Tacolate ice cream sandwiches, a recreation of Klondike’s discontinued Choco Taco, according to a New York Times feature published Monday. The story dives into the complex, yearslong product pipeline of a specialty frozen food, including extensive R&D, millions of dollars in robotic tooling and, in the case of Salt & Straw, an unusual go-to-market deal with Taco Bell.

The share of X posts promoting Cracker Barrel boycotts attributed to bot accounts in the 24 hours after its rebrand began trending Aug. 20, according to new research for The Wall Street Journal by PeakMetrics. Brands are increasingly being targeted by coordinated social media spam attacks to manufacture political controversies, the Journal reports.

The average amount that U.S. households spent on connected devices between Q2 2024 and Q2 2025 — an increase of 17.2% from the same period a year prior — per new research from Deloitte. The study, which polled more than 3,500 consumers, also finds that 29% plan to increase their connected device spending in the coming year.