Storm clouds gather for McDonald's in Middle East
McDonald's has taken a "meaningful" hit to its business because of "misinformation" surrounding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, said president and CEO Chris Kempczinski.
According to the BBC, McDonald's has been caught up in the three-month conflict, despite trying to keep a low profile. Last week, the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) officially called for a global boycott of the fast food giant after it gave away thousands of free meals to members of the Israeli military.
"Putting it simply, associating the McDonald’s brand with the Israeli army and its crimes against the Palestinian people cannot go without consequences for the company," said BDS in a statement.
In a LinkedIn post last week, Kempczinski said the call for a boycott was "disheartening and ill-founded," and that the company will continue to "stand in solidarity" with communities around the world.
"In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens. That local community connection is the genius of the McDonald’s system."
Fast-fashion poised for "unimaginable speeds" this year
Fast-fashion is expected to find yet another gear in 2024, with Quartz noting that competition between the Chinese companies Shein and Temu is accelerating the fashion cycle to “unimaginable speeds.”
Citing the latest State of Fashion report, compiled by Business of Fashion and McKinsey and Company, Quartz said that Shein and Temu are driving the industry forward at a pace that’s never been seen before.
Shein is now coming up with anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 new styles every day, and Shein and Temu are shipping out more than one million packages daily.
Much of the growth is being driven by ultra-affordability. While the average Zara item costs $34, the average price for Shein is just $14, with Temu’s items up to 40% cheaper than that. “Ultra-low prices are integral to the success of the business model,” said Quartz.
Stellantis joins Ford and GM on the sidelines of this year's Super Bowl
Stellantis—which counts Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram among its brands—will not advertise in this year’s Super Bowl, joining other prominent automakers Ford and General Motors on the sidelines of the NFL’s marquee event.
The company has been a mainstay in the Super Bowl in recent years, running ads featuring celebrities including Clint Eastwood, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and Bill Murray.
According to the Detroit Free Press, its 2011 spot “Born of Fire,” which featured the tagline “Imported from Detroit,” was “as much a boost for the city as it was an ad for the Chrysler 200.” Other ads were not as popular, including a 2018 Ram Trucks ad that used part of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
A Stellantis spokesperson said in a statement that the decision to sit out this year's Super Bowl stems from a “continued focus on preserving business fundamentals to mitigate the impact of a challenging U.S. automotive market.”
The newest smart home player: Home Depot
The newest major player in the growing smart home technology space is also its oldest.
U.S. hardware retailer Home Depot has been quietly building out what The Verge describes as "one of the most complete lines of smart home products on the market." The retailer currently has more than 150 connected products, and is poised to debut new products including a smart thermostat, smart hose timer, smart bathroom fan, smart freezer, and smart security system at CES this week.
In 2021, Home Depot launched its Hubspace app, which can control smart devices from its more than 20 store brands, including Hampton Bay, EcoSmart, Husky, Defiant, Home Decorator and Commercial Electric. The app is compatible with both Amazon and Google Home.
The products are aimed at "mass market America," rather than high-tech geeks, said Nick Millette, Home Depot's product development merchant for smart home/Hubspace. It makes it easy to do what the vast majority of people want to do: turn lights on and off, dim or brighten a light, or set a schedule.
Another key factor for Home Depot is affordability. While some smart bulbs can cost $50, Home Depot has them for less than $10, as well as smart shades, smart locks and a smart dimmer switch for less than $18.
Carrefour pulls PepsiCo products from shelves
European supermarket giant Carrefour has pulled PepsiCo products including Pepsi, Doritos and Lay's from its shelves in several markets in a dispute over what it has deemed unacceptable price increases.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Carrefour has pulled the products from stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, while adding notes to store shelves explaining why. Europe accounted for about 14%—about US$9 billion—of PepsiCo's global revenue in the first ninth months of 2023, with Carrefour stores in the four markets representing about 0.25% of its global revenue.
In a statement, a PepsiCo spokesperson said that the company has been in discussion with Carrefour for several months. "[W]e will continue to engage in good faith in order to try to ensure that our products are available,” she said.
Previously, Carrefour had started attaching labels to products it said are being impacted by "shrinkflation," where the retail price is unchanged but the quantity is reduced.
PepsiCo will report its earnings next month. The company has forecast earnings growth of 13% and revenue growth of 10% for 2023.
McDonald's has taken a "meaningful" hit to its business because of "misinformation" surrounding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, said president and CEO Chris Kempczinski.
According to the BBC, McDonald's has been caught up in the three-month conflict, despite trying to keep a low profile. Last week, the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) officially called for a global boycott of the fast food giant after it gave away thousands of free meals to members of the Israeli military.
"Putting it simply, associating the McDonald’s brand with the Israeli army and its crimes against the Palestinian people cannot go without consequences for the company," said BDS in a statement.
In a LinkedIn post last week, Kempczinski said the call for a boycott was "disheartening and ill-founded," and that the company will continue to "stand in solidarity" with communities around the world.
"In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens. That local community connection is the genius of the McDonald’s system."
Fast-fashion poised for "unimaginable speeds" this year
Fast-fashion is expected to find yet another gear in 2024, with Quartz noting that competition between the Chinese companies Shein and Temu is accelerating the fashion cycle to “unimaginable speeds.”
Citing the latest State of Fashion report, compiled by Business of Fashion and McKinsey and Company, Quartz said that Shein and Temu are driving the industry forward at a pace that’s never been seen before.
Shein is now coming up with anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 new styles every day, and Shein and Temu are shipping out more than one million packages daily.
Much of the growth is being driven by ultra-affordability. While the average Zara item costs $34, the average price for Shein is just $14, with Temu’s items up to 40% cheaper than that. “Ultra-low prices are integral to the success of the business model,” said Quartz.
Stellantis joins Ford and GM on the sidelines of this year's Super Bowl
Stellantis—which counts Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram among its brands—will not advertise in this year’s Super Bowl, joining other prominent automakers Ford and General Motors on the sidelines of the NFL’s marquee event.
The company has been a mainstay in the Super Bowl in recent years, running ads featuring celebrities including Clint Eastwood, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and Bill Murray.
According to the Detroit Free Press, its 2011 spot “Born of Fire,” which featured the tagline “Imported from Detroit,” was “as much a boost for the city as it was an ad for the Chrysler 200.” Other ads were not as popular, including a 2018 Ram Trucks ad that used part of a speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
A Stellantis spokesperson said in a statement that the decision to sit out this year's Super Bowl stems from a “continued focus on preserving business fundamentals to mitigate the impact of a challenging U.S. automotive market.”
The newest smart home player: Home Depot
The newest major player in the growing smart home technology space is also its oldest.
U.S. hardware retailer Home Depot has been quietly building out what The Verge describes as "one of the most complete lines of smart home products on the market." The retailer currently has more than 150 connected products, and is poised to debut new products including a smart thermostat, smart hose timer, smart bathroom fan, smart freezer, and smart security system at CES this week.
In 2021, Home Depot launched its Hubspace app, which can control smart devices from its more than 20 store brands, including Hampton Bay, EcoSmart, Husky, Defiant, Home Decorator and Commercial Electric. The app is compatible with both Amazon and Google Home.
The products are aimed at "mass market America," rather than high-tech geeks, said Nick Millette, Home Depot's product development merchant for smart home/Hubspace. It makes it easy to do what the vast majority of people want to do: turn lights on and off, dim or brighten a light, or set a schedule.
Another key factor for Home Depot is affordability. While some smart bulbs can cost $50, Home Depot has them for less than $10, as well as smart shades, smart locks and a smart dimmer switch for less than $18.
Carrefour pulls PepsiCo products from shelves
European supermarket giant Carrefour has pulled PepsiCo products including Pepsi, Doritos and Lay's from its shelves in several markets in a dispute over what it has deemed unacceptable price increases.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Carrefour has pulled the products from stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, while adding notes to store shelves explaining why. Europe accounted for about 14%—about US$9 billion—of PepsiCo's global revenue in the first ninth months of 2023, with Carrefour stores in the four markets representing about 0.25% of its global revenue.
In a statement, a PepsiCo spokesperson said that the company has been in discussion with Carrefour for several months. "[W]e will continue to engage in good faith in order to try to ensure that our products are available,” she said.
Previously, Carrefour had started attaching labels to products it said are being impacted by "shrinkflation," where the retail price is unchanged but the quantity is reduced.
PepsiCo will report its earnings next month. The company has forecast earnings growth of 13% and revenue growth of 10% for 2023.
One Big Number
$12,100,000
Estimated value of the media exposure for Kellanova’s Pop Tarts brand following its attention-getting marketing stunt at the inaugural Pop Tart Bowl. The game featured a human-sized Pop Tart mascot named Strawberry being “toasted” and eaten by members of the winning team. According to Fast Company, the media exposure was six times greater than the bowl’s total sponsorship investment of $2.01 million.
