__The old college try...__ Four years after signing the biggest apparel deal in the history of college sports, __[Under Armour](https://robinhood.com/stocks/UAA)__ wants out. The $280M, 15-year deal gave UA the exclusive right to design all uniforms for UCLA's Varsity teams. But UA isn't feeling the team spirit anymore:

- __UA says it's allowed to back out__ of the contract because: “We have been paying for marketing benefits that we have not received for an extended time period." 
- __UCLA doesn't buy it__ and says it'll do everything it can to fight UA's decision (we spy a lawsuit). 

__Protect this Balance Sheet...__ This move is more about cost-slashing than UCLA marketing. In May, UA said it was planning to cut $325M in costs for 2020. UA got hit hard in the corona-conomy:

- __Sales fell 23%__ and it posted a $590M loss thanks to corona-closed stores.
- __UA expects__ sales could fall 50%-60% this quarter — now it's trying to build an emergency fund to weather the storm. 



Cancel

__Under Armour is too much ‘ath’, not enough ‘leisure’...__ Consumer preference is shifting toward versatility — especially in the corona-conomy, where 1 pant can triple as a workout, Netflix, and grocery shopping outfit. UA has been highly focused on technical performance, not as much on leisure. That's why UA's stock is down 55% this year, while leisure-friendly __[Nike](https://robinhood.com/stocks/NKE)__ is down only 6% and leisure-obsessed __[Lululemon](https://robinhood.com/stocks/LULU)__ is *up* 25%. 

Under Armour moves to end its 15-year $280M apparel deal with UCLA 

__No one keeps up with the Kardashians...__ as well as cosmetics giant __[Coty](https://robinhood.com/stocks/COTY)__. In January, the beauty company bought 51% of __Kylie Cosmetics__ for $600M. Now, [*almost*](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/77CjvjXKfHHJXB1B9kNx6x/articles/70xmHpiibqdd4s8NPtEEF4/)-billionaire Kylie Jenner has an almost-billionaire sister to contend with: 

- __Unicorn Glow:__ Coty will dish out [$200M](https://www.ft.com/content/ee526fad-d70d-40c6-a848-f883e1b1d380) for a 20% stake in Kim Kardashian's makeup brand __KKW Beauty__. The deal values KKW at a fresh-faced $1B.
- __Instagram Glow:__ Coty shares soared 14% on the Insta-famous partnership — but they're still down a cakey 57% for the year. 

__Extreme Makeover: Kardashian Edition...__ Coty is a 116-year-old company that wants to appeal to the new generation (see: entire [website](https://www.coty.com/) in lowercase). But its biz is a little outdated:

- __License model:__ Coty buys exclusive licenses to develop cosmetics for big beauty brands (like Hugo Boss perfumes and Gucci lipsticks), then gives them a wider market distribution. 
- __Acquisition model:__ Coty acquired __[Procter & Gamble](https://robinhood.com/stocks/PG)__'s beauty business for $12.5B in 2016, gaining brands like Cover Girl and perfume licenses for brands like Burberry. But now... 




_When the newly-minted billionaire sisters arrive at Thanksgiving_

Beautify

__Coty wants the "Instagram Model"...__ Sales of Coty's owned and licensed products have been [declining](https://www.wsj.com/articles/kim-kardashian-wests-beauty-brand-valued-at-1-billion-in-deal-with-coty-11593440006). Meanwhile, it has to shell out big bucks for their marketing/distribution. Coty's Kardashian investments reduce some of that expensive grunt work, while tapping into a younger market: 

- __Influencer marketing:__ Kim K's 177M Insta followers are an instant audience for her brand. That's less marketing spend for Coty. 
- __Direct-to-consumer model:__ Most of KKW's sales are online, unlike Coty's 70+ other brands. This Direct-To-Consumer biz model cuts out the retail store middle man for more beautiful profits.

Coty doubles down on Kardashian, investing $200M in Kim at a $1B valuation

__Good thing there's no "dislike" button...__ __[Facebook](https://robinhood.com/stocks/FB)__ is getting hit by a wave of corporate thumbs downs, as part of a boycott called "Stop Hate for Profit." The goal is stronger policies on Facebook to combat misinformation and hate speech from spreading on online:

- __Participants will pause advertising on FB/Instagram__ until at least July — BTW: ad sales make up almost 100% of FB's revenue.
- __93 companies have joined__ the boycott so far, including blue-chip big shots like __[Verizon](https://robinhood.com/stocks/VZ)__ and __[Colgate-Palmolive](https://robinhood.com/stocks/CL)__.  __[Unilever](https://robinhood.com/stocks/UL)__ is boycotting both FB *and* __[Twitter](https://robinhood.com/stocks/TWTR)__ for the year. __[Starbucks](https://robinhood.com/stocks/SBUX)__ and __[Coke](https://robinhood.com/stocks/KO)__ are pausing social media ads as a whole.


__Heating up...__  While boycotters like __Patagonia__ have a history of activism, investors were concerned to see less outspoken (and bigger) corporations involved. Case in point: FB stock plunged 8% after Unilever joined the chat. That's when FB said it'll start [labeling](https://www.wsj.com/articles/unilever-to-halt-u-s-ads-on-facebook-and-twitter-for-rest-of-2020-11593187230) political speech that violates its rules and banning hate speech on ads. That's a shift from the [laissez faire](https://snacks.robinhood.com/newsletters/2gsJLXsNrmdB5gooWaPQZU/articles/7EZIKIcF4qWvz5vhOUUPFB/) approach it took on controversial Trump posts. Boycotters say it's not enough. 

Boycott

__Facebook might be too big to cancel...__ thanks to its 3B users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. FB platforms are so deeply ingrained in the world's social psyche that the 2018 #deleteFacebook movement barely made a blip on numbers. Since the world's population isn't dropping FB, most companies probably can't either:

- __It's a prime marketplace__ thanks to its hyper-targeted ads — FB has so much info on its users that it can guarantee a steakhouse ad won't be wasted on a vegan. Also...
- __The world's top 100 brands__ only account for [6%](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/26/tech/facebook-boycott/) of FB's ad sales — for millions of smaller businesses, FB is the only effective way to reach new customers. 



Under Armour moves to end its 15-year $280M apparel deal with UCLA

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