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Hey Snackers,
Dunkin' is selling wedding merch now, including ring bearer pillows and veils. If you're not feeling your fiancé, it's the perfect chance to say "I Donut."
Markets dipped yesterday as weekly US jobless claims hit a four-week high of 861K. But investors are optimistic about the likelihood of $1.4K stimulus checks.
No more doom-scrolling?... Last year, Australia proposed a bill to address power imbalances between the news media and digital platforms (read: Google and Facebook). The solution: force Google and FB to pay news outlets for displaying and linking to their content. The proposed law is expected to pass next week.
Stick to the baby panda videos... and forget the breaking news on the Vegemite shortage. FB has banned all news-related links in Australia, including stories from international publishers. Also: FB users worldwide can't share or view news stories from Australia. The aggressive move could backfire if users see it as a dangerous threat to free expression. For now, it's mainly bad news for publishers:
This could be convenient for Facebook... By rejecting Australian news, it's setting a money-saving precedent. But it's also embarking on a nationwide experiment. FB has received massive heat for circulating polarizing content and fake news. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said that people don't want politics to take over their feeds. In Australia, FB has the chance to run a no-political-news experiment. If "no news" boosts earnings or user happiness in Australia, FB could expand it. If it hurts ad sales or engagement, FB might pull a Google and pay up.
First, the primer... The BLM movement put a renewed spotlight on racial discrimination in many areas of society, including the beauty industry. Beauty companies have a history of marginalizing communities of color through non-inclusive marketing and products. In the past year, companies like Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, and Unilever have been criticized for marketing “skin-lightening” products. LVMH-owned Sephora has been accused of racial bias in stores — including instances of associates not being able to do “dark makeup” for women of color. Recently, beauty retailers have started taking steps to improve inclusivity:
Building a foundation... In 2017, Rihanna’s makeup brand Fenty Beauty was hailed as groundbreaking for releasing 40 foundation shades. Many of its darker shades sold out in days. That success led to the “Fenty Effect”: Big brands like Dior and CoverGirl followed, launching 40 foundation shades each. But a December 2020 study from Sephora shows there’s still much left to be done:
Beauty brands have a major opportunity... to foster inclusivity, help break down societal biases, and cater to an underserved market. In 2017, African Americans spent considerably more money in the general beauty marketplace than other groups. Black spending power in the US is expected to hit $1.5T by 2021, and is projected to grow significantly in the years ahead. Black consumer choices also have a halo effect that influences mainstream tastes. Addressing racism and catering to Black consumers is key to brands’ success. It’s also an opportunity for beauty companies to move the industry and its standards forward.
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Walmart and Google
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