Quicklinks

• The Future Of Pleasure in L.A.

• Culture Moment – Pleasure! Now in Six Easy Payments

• Wait, What?! – Technology that has peaked our interest

• Marketing Moves – This weeks creative pulse

• The Cata-lyst – 5 mind expanding links

• TL;DR

Hey pleasure seeker,

This week, we focus on a cultural hotspot that’s been bruised but never broken. L.A. is back in motion and once again, it’s setting the pace as a portal to what’s next in the future of pleasure and wellbeing.

It’s a place we know well, and one that we make an annual pilgrimage to because it’s always ten steps ahead and five degrees sideways.

Right now, its orchestrating a sensory revolution where the line between hedonism and healing isn't just blurring; it's being deliberately, deliciously erased. From kava lounges pumping out euphoric nectars to scent cafés that turn your matcha into a mood-altering ritual, LA isn't just a city, it's a laboratory for a new kind of indulgence that leaves you better, not broken.

So let’s go exploring and give you a teaser of the places that are rewriting the future of feeling good.

Cheers, C.Will

The Future of Pleasure Lives in L.A.

A citywide journey into hedonism and healing.

From Koreatown to Culver City, the city is reshaping what indulgence and wellbeing looks and feels like. This isn’t just a shift, it’s a system upgrade. Sober is getting social. Sensory is the new sexy. And the best nights out are rooted in ritual, not just rounds.

There’s many shifts going on within the city that will have an impact far beyond California’s borders, so we’ve pulled together three hotspots that we’ll be visiting on our next trip to LA in September (see below for more)…

1. Intoxication Without the Toxicity

   At Tea at Shiloh, late-night sessions replace clubbing with ceremonial-grade brews that sharpen rather than blur the experience. This isn’t a compromise, it’s an upgrade, creating rooms where connection and creativity flow without the inevitable crash.

2. Every Sip Tells a Story 

   Elorea transforms your matcha into a multi-sensory journey, where complementary scents are released at precise moments to trigger memory, emotion, and deeper presence. The future of drinks isn't artificial; it's all about creating a little bit of magic.

3. Alter Your Reality, Digitally

   At The Reality Center, precisely calibrated light patterns, sound frequencies, and haptic vibrations combine to deliver altered states more controllable than any substance. It's a precision-guided journey into your own neurochemistry, leaving you refreshed rather than depleted.

The Takeaway
LA combines hedonism and healing to create conscious expansion. It's not about numbing out, it's about tuning in with unprecedented clarity. For brands, this signals the end of the either/or proposition. The future isn't "healthy or indulgent," it's experiences engineered to hit deeper, last longer, and leave you fundamentally better.

This is what happens when we stop accepting the crash as the price of the high.

Join Us on A Cultural Innovation Safari in LA
This September, join us to explore The Future of Pleasure, a 48-hour guided immersion into LA’s most cutting-edge experiences, rituals, and sensory frontiers. We’ll go beyond the buzzwords and straight into the rooms, flavours, technologies, and minds driving this new pleasure paradigm.

SIGN UP BELOW. Just answer the survey and we’ll send you more details.

🍵 Sip and taste what’s next
🧠 Explore leading-edge retail and nightlife
🎤 Meet the makers behind the breakthroughs
📓 Leave with insight, not just inspiration

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Pleasure! Now in Six Easy Payments

Coachella used to be about the moment.
Now? It comes with monthly reminders.

This year, over 60% of general admission tickets were bought using Buy Now, Pay Later apps like Klarna. And it’s not just music festivals. Taco Bell, DoorDash, and even corner coffee shops are offering split payments for $17 burrito bowls and flat whites.

Welcome to the age of managed indulgence where pleasure is no longer impulsive, it’s scheduled and paid off like a Peloton.

At first glance, it looks like emotional intelligence. Stretch the cost of joy, make the good stuff more accessible, right?

But here’s the tension:
Are we increasing the emotional ROI or just repackaging instant gratification?

Because there’s something about the old model:
Save up. Count down. Earn the experience.
That wait? That build-up? It gave the pleasure its weight.

Now, we front-load the high and back-load the cost.

This isn’t a moral judgment, it’s a cultural question.
Are we paying for access, or mortgaging meaning?

Pleasure, now available in six easy payments.
Interest-free, but is it worth it?

Wait, What?!

This week’s tech breakthroughs prove one thing: the future is getting softer, stranger, and startlingly more intuitive.

Marketing Moves

This week’s creative pulse is all about subtle power and purposeful play, brands are ditching the hard sell for human stories, winks of humour, and real-world impact.

Guinness toasts the American spirit with a rich, romantic ode to community and character in its first-ever US campaign, blending heritage with heart in true, slow-pour style.

France’s pharmacies are turning their iconic green crosses red in a quietly urgent twist from the Red Cross. It’s a powerful, real-world signal that the nation’s blood supply is running dangerously low.

Ford swaps horsepower for deadpan humour in its latest spot, with Tom Hollander’s perfectly poised narration turning a ridiculously mundane test drive into a masterclass in comedic restraint.

Hyundai taps into the quiet power of perseverance with a cinematic ode to hydrogen innovation. The ad positions its clean energy vision as both a technical feat and a human triumph.

Michelob Ultra leans into performance and play with a smart summer campaign helping runners outwit the heat to put hydration, innovation, and good vibes all in their stride.

Mind-expanding finds to stretch your pleasure palate.

1. Take a Surrealist Field Trip – Dali Theatre Museum (Virtual Tour)
Step inside the mind of Salvador Dalí, literally. Explore more

2. The DNA of Music – The Pudding
Ever wondered what makes a song feel the way it does? Explore more

3. How to Be Sanely Productive – Modern Wisdom Podcast
A science-backed conversation on how to get sh*t done without frying your brain. Explore more

4. Swim the Amazon (Without Leaving Your Couch) – National Geographic
Sensory storytelling meets explorer fantasy. Explore more

5. Sake Decoded – Sake On Air Podcast
Want to actually understand what’s in your glass at OTOTO? Explore more

Until next time...
This week, we invite you to do something radically simple: light your favourite scent, play something ambient, and sip something botanical. Let your nervous system remember that pleasure isn’t a luxury, it’s a signal.

If this week’s exploration lit a spark, why not pass it on? Whether they’re a strategist, a sensualist, or just LA-curious, share The Pleasure Report with someone who’d be equally intrigued.

Subscribe for free at https://www.themightyshed.co/

TL;DR

• L.A. is blurring the line between indulgence and wellness, with euphoric teas, scent cafés, and sensory tech.

• The new pleasure paradigm swaps late-night crashes for ritual-fuelled, clarity-enhancing highs.

• Forget "healthy or hedonistic" L.A. proves you can have both, and feel better for it.

• Join us this September for a 48-hour cultural safari through the future of feeling good.