Outpoll Weekly Recap: Other (October 20 – 26, 2025)

4 hours ago7 min read1 comments

This week felt like one of those Wikipedia deep dives where you start looking up one thing and end up three hours later learning about something completely different, and the prediction markets were no different. The big story, oddly enough, was the quiet but steady climb in a market asking if a major fast-food chain would launch a pickle-flavored milkshake by year's end.It sounds ridiculous, but the odds jumped from 15% to nearly 40% after a cryptic social media post from the company's official account featuring just an emoji sequence of a pickle, a milkshake, and a winking face. It’s the kind of niche, human-interest speculation that makes you wonder what the analysts in their boardrooms are actually discussing.Elsewhere, the perennial question of whether a beloved, long-canceled sci-fi show would get a reboot saw a sudden 25-point surge after the original lead actor was spotted having lunch with a streaming executive—a classic case of connecting dots that may or may not actually exist, but the market eats that narrative up. Shifting to the global stage, a market tracking the public approval rating of a European prime minister took a nosedive, falling 18 points following a controversial agricultural policy announcement that sparked immediate farmer protests.It was a stark reminder of how quickly political capital can evaporate over a single, poorly communicated decision. And in a truly random slice of life, a market on the outcome of a high-profile international chess championship saw wild volatility, with bets swinging wildly with each move broadcast live online, proving that even the most cerebral of contests can become a spectator sport for gamblers. It’s a fascinating mix of the serious and the silly, showing that what people are willing to bet on is a direct reflection of everything capturing our collective attention, from policy disasters to potential pickle desserts.

#Weekly recap