Hey folks!

How many times have you frantically searched for ‘I missed my flight’ online?

Well, maybe a few times or maybe never. On average though, this phrase racks up 63,870 online searches every month. But last month that number spiked by a whopping 645%!

Why?

Blame it on TikTok.

A bizarre new trend called the ‘airport theory’ is challenging passengers to show up at the airport just 15 minutes before their flight takes off and see if they can still make it. Yup, that’s it.

Now, common sense and even airline guidelines tell us to be there at least an hour or two before a domestic flight, and three hours before an international one. But who cares about rules when you can chase a thrill, right?

Nearly 400 million TikTokers are hopping onto this crazy trend, and while a lucky few have managed to pull it off, most end up missing their flights. Some have even started posting warnings, telling people not to try it. And airlines are shaking their heads too.

But here’s a fun little thought. Could this trend actually be helping airlines make more money?

Just think about it. If you miss your flight because you showed up late, you don’t get a refund. That’s a free seat for the airline to resell. And let’s not forget the ‘rich’ influencers attempting this stunt. Many of them likely splurged on Airport Fast Track add-ons to skip lines and zoom through security. And guess what? Those add-ons come at an extra cost.

Now, are airlines secretly behind this trend to cash in? Probably not. The real reason airline revenues are set to cross $1 trillion for the first time in history this year is simple — passenger numbers are soaring to an all-time high of 5 billion.

So no, airlines didn’t start this madness.

But let’s be real. If you’re thinking about trying it, don’t. Travel insurance doesn’t cover stupidity.

And yeah, thank goodness TikTok is banned in India. 😄

Here’s a soundtrack to put you in the mood 🎵

BUSIN JA DHIKA by Babar Mangi and Amjad Mirani.

What caught our eye this week 👀

Cheetos x Pokemon = Cheetozard worth $88K!!!

Did you ever look at a snack and think this could be worth a fortune?

Well, someone did. And they auctioned it for a sweet $88,000. Yup, you read that right — $88,000 for a crunchy, single Flamin’ Hot Cheeto.

How? Well, meet Cheetozard, a Cheeto that (if you squint hard enough) looks like Charizard, the fire-breathing Pokémon. And what started as a random crunchy discovery between 2018 and 2022, turned into a bidding frenzy, with the final hammer at $87,840 on Goldin Auctions platform. That’s more than what most brand-new luxury cars cost!

So what on Earth made this Cheeto so special?

Well, it wasn’t just the shape. The seller mounted the three-inch Cheeto onto a custom Pokémon card, sealed it in a clear display box, making it feel like an actual collector’s item. And if there’s one thing Pokémon fans love, it's rarity. Combine that with the power of social media and hype, and boom! A snack turns into a sensational asset.

And believe it or not, Cheetozard isn’t the first big-ticket Cheeto. Back in 2017, a Harambe-shaped Cheeto (Harambe was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Cincinnati Zoo) supposedly sold for almost $100,000 on eBay. And other bizarre shaped snack treasures have surfaced too. Like Cheetos resembling Arnold Schwarzenegger, Godzilla and even the Nike swoosh.

In fact, this trend is going so mainstream that snack brands are leaning in. PepsiCo (which owns Cheetos’ parent company Frito-Lay) is encouraging fans to hunt for unique shapes in their snack bags.

So… is this a joke, a marketing trick or a future market? We honestly have no clue (we’re still trying to process the fact that a Cheeto just sold for $88K :p ).

At first glance, paying five figures for a chip sounds outright ridiculous. But one could also argue, is it really that different from non fungible tokens (NFTs), rare trading cards or art pieces? After all, people pay for things that tell a story, hold nostalgia, or feel one-of-a-kind.

And when a banana duct-taped on a wall can fetch upwards of $6 million (for all the wild reasons we spoke about in this story), maybe an $88K Cheeto isn’t that crazy after all.

Which raises an even wilder question — could snack-shaped collectibles become a legit market?

Because if so, maybe it’s time to start checking your chips before you crunch.

Infographic 📊

This Day in Financial History 📜

5 March 1961: The birth of India's first financial daily

Imagine it's the 1960s. Business news isn’t making front-page headlines. Economic discussions are buried in government reports or scattered across general newspapers. But then, on March 5, 1961, something changes. The Economic Times (ET) hits the stands in Bombay (now Mumbai), marking the birth of financial journalism in India.

Owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, ET’s first editor P S Hariharan led a team catering to policymakers, industrialists and financial analysts.

You see, back then, India was deep in Nehruvian socialism. The government controlled industries, set production targets and foreign trade was restricted. The corporate world operated under a rigid licensing regime, and financial news was anything but mainstream. But as India’s economy evolved, so did financial journalism’s influence. ET chronicled stock markets, trade, economic policies and global business, offering masses a front-row seat to India's financial transformation.

Its early editions featured everything from the Mundhra scandal (1958) to the collapse of Palai Central Bank (1960). And by May 18, 1961, the paper launched the ET Index of 51 leading companies, tracking industry giants like Tata Steel and India Cement (some of which are still standing and others are lost to history).

And just like headlines today move markets, ET’s early ads reflected India's shifting business landscape. Its first front-page ad? Bank of India. Others included First National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) and National Bank of Lahore, which highlighted the remnants of a post-Partition India.

Fast forward to today, over 1.1 million readers pick up ET every day, with two-thirds of them under 40. Its digital footprint is massive too. Its website gets 30.5 million unique visitors in India and 5.7 million from the USA (as of January 2024).

So yeah, The Economic Times didn’t just document India’s financial journey, it helped shape it. The next time you check stock updates or read a business column, remember — it all started over six decades ago, and ET was at the heart of it.

Readers Recommend 🗒️

This week, our reader Anuradha Rao recommends The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman. The book explores the global risks of AI and other rapidly advancing technologies and how we can still contain them while we have the chance — all from the perspective of an AI company co-founder.

Thanks for the rec, Anuradha!

That’s it from us this week. We’ll see you next Sunday!

Until then, send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in the newsletter! Also, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today’s edition. Just hit reply to this email (or if you’re reading this on the web, drop us a message: morning@finshots.in).

🖖🏽

Don’t forget to share this edition on WhatsApp, LinkedIn and X.