Budweiser

Budweiser is using its Super Bowl ad to put a new spin on “typical Americans” with scenes of everyday people engaging in acts of kindness and triumph. Scenes juxtapose negative stereotypes of Americans with images of people doing good. Created by David Miami, the full ad was released on Jan. 23.

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National Football League

The National Football League tackled the politically charged issue of police shootings of black men with an ad that ran during the conference championship games on Jan. 19. The spot, created by 72andSunny, will also air in the Super Bowl.

BUSINESS

Content Courtesy of: adweek.com

Written by: Mónica Marie Zorrilla

Bilingual Children’s Media Company Encantos Closes $2 Million Seed Round

Its content is culturally inspired and Emmy-nominated

"Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío cuando tienen hambre cuando tienen frío" is a lyric from an extremely popular Latinx nursery rhyme, animated and refreshed by Encantos' brand Canticos. Encantos

First conceived as a multicultural nursery rhyme brand (with a heavy Latinx influence) in 2015, Encantos Media Studios has spent the past four years aiming to inspire “21st-century kids to learn 21st-century skills” through direct-to-consumer bilingual apps, sing-along videos, books and other family-friendly content.

Last year alone, one of Encantos’ brands, Canticos, won a Kidscreen Award and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy. In March 2019, Encantos named Steven Wolfe Pereira as its CEO, and a couple of months later introduced its newest brand, Tiny Travelers, which focuses on geography, language and culture.

This morning, Encantos announced it has raised another $2 million to continue closing the diversity gap in children’s media. Kapor Capital led the seed round, with participation from Boston Meridian Partners, Chingona Ventures, Human Ventures and MathCapital.

According to Samara Mejia Hernandez, founding partner at Chingona Ventures, Encantos’ successful round is a testament to “its experienced team, purpose-driven brands and powerful vision.”

“As a venture firm committed to investing in diverse founders, Encantos understands that over 50% of today’s kids are multicultural, and their brands are tapping into a huge opportunity within the family entertainment and education industries that is often overlooked,” Mejia Hernandez continued in a statement.

Regarding its investment, Freada Kapor Klein, co-founder and partner of Kapor Capital, told Adweek that Encantos is “creating iconic family brands with their unique approach of entertainment-driven education focused on 21st century skills. They exemplify founders whose lived experience identifies an unmet need in the market, and they have created a high growth, gap-closing business to solve it.”

The company previously raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding from Kapor Capital, MaC Venture Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners Scout Fund.

Several existing and new angel investors also partook in this $2 million seed round round, including Tom Chavez (CEO of Super{set} Startup Studio), Rich Greenfield (partner at LightShed Partners), Lydia Jett (partner at Softbank), Michael Kassan (chairman and CEO of MediaLink) and Antonio Lucio (CMO of Facebook).

Kassan told Adweek that he has “great confidence” in the Encantos team. “I believe the children’s space, particularly the multicultural aspect, is at an important inflection point—Encantos has the right business plan, ideas and the expertise to win.” The mission behind Encantos

According to Wolfe Pereira, once he and his wife Nuria Santamaría Wolfe (co-founder and current CMO of Encantos) had their first child in 2015, it “hit us like a ton of bricks” that their Generation Alpha son would need to learn a certain set of skills to reach his full potential in this century—and that most of those skills were not taught in the typical U.S. classroom setting.

As Latinos (Wolfe Pereira is Dominican-American and Santamaría Wolfe is Salvadorian), they were also concerned about their son most likely not receiving a bilingual (English-to-Spanish) comprehensive curriculum at school. They were afraid, like many Latinx parents in the U.S., that their child would lose touch with their culture and language.

“It’s kind of crazy that in the United States, when you get introduced to a new language, it’s usually done during middle school in public schools, but you’re more suited to learn another language when you’re about 8 years old and younger,” Wolfe Pereira explained.

While his wife and their two friends and Encantos team members, Susie Jaramillo (president and chief creative officer) and Jaramillo’s husband Carlos Hoyas (chief technology officer), began creating and growing what would become Encantos Media Studios in 2015, Wolfe Pereira was working first as vp of brand strategy and marketing solutions at Oracle, then as CMO and communications officer at Neustar and, finally as CMO at Quantcast, before committing fully to Encantos in March 2019.

Since Wolfe Pereira, who was part of the Adweek 50 in 2016, assumed the role of CEO, Encantos has expanded its digital offerings and has created two new brands (Tiny Travelers and Skeletitos), but has kept its core focus on parents who want to teach their kids 21st century literacy and life skills, but don’t have the time or resources to curate the lessons, develop the experiences and provide the necessary materials.

“Millennials are purpose-driven, and Generation Alpha is the generation of their kids. Millennial parents want something more than just entertainment candy,” Wolfe Pereira added.

What Encantos will do with the seed money

According to Wolfe Pereira, Encantos will continue building its direct-to-consumer business by launching a subscription app as well as a subscription box, which Wolfe Pereira is especially excited for. Encantos also has plans to launch additional brands for other underserved audiences that are disadvantaged by the lack of diversity in children’s media, including Black, Asian and LGBTQ consumers.

“We’re trying to represent what families are looking like today, because Generation Alpha will be the most diverse and digital generation ever. Encantos is not just for Latino parents, it’s for non-Latino parents too,” Wolfe Pereira said.

Content Courtesy of: adweek.com

Written by: Doug Zanger

Ikea Puts Purpose First in New Campaign Designed to Tell More of Its Brand Story

People know the products, but might not be aware of the retailer's global impact

Reforestation is a major part of Ikea's brand purpose.

Celebrating the most inspiring and effective experiential marketing activations of the year - the Adweek Experiential Awards are now accepting entries. View the categories and enter before prices increase on Jan. 27th.

When Ogilvy won the Ikea account in 2010, brands weren’t nearly as open about their commitments to sustainability. Now, the idea of brand purpose is everywhere. While that the concept of responsibility is evolving, Ikea has baked purpose into everything it does since the furniture maker was founded in Sweden in 1943.

Year after year, Ikea’s sustainability report is taken very seriously by the brand and shows a clear direction for the massive retailer. The 2018 report is filled with ambitious plans including becoming “climate positive” by 2030 by investing green energy, reforestation (the brand has planted 2.8 million trees since 1998) and forest protection. Additionally, Ikea is working to lessen the impact of all of its products by using more recycled and renewable materials (60% of the brand’s product ranges use such materials).

Yet, in the U.S., most of the work from the brand and agency has focused primarily on what Shideh Hashemi, Ikea country marketing manager, calls “life improvement,” referring to the more rational benefits of the products offered. With a new national campaign launching this week, Ikea is shifting gears and leaning into its brand purpose commitment.

“Four years ago, we launched our campaign that talked about creating a better everyday life through the American dream and how Ikea can help people achieve that, whatever that version is for them,” Hashemi said. “Now, we’re taking it a step further and talking about who we are as a brand and a company, and how that purpose of creating a better everyday life is in everything that we do.”

Directed by Olivier Gondry, the work hones in specifically on the choices Ikea makes when balancing consumer needs, inclusiveness and global stewardship. The 60-second hero spot covers all of the topics, while 15-second cutdowns focus on issues like reforestation and how Ikea’s practices have helped lower the costs of one of its most popular items, the Billy bookcase.

“I think every step that we’ve done [with the work] has gotten us to this moment,” said Della Mathew, Ogilvy group creative director. “We went from a product-focused, more functional space to more of how are we impacting people’s everyday lives.”

The timing of the campaign, according to Mathew, is in line with the current trend of consumers being much more conscious of how brands impact the world, and this marks the first time that Ikea has been as overt about how it approaches its business.

“Consumers are much more aware,” she said. “They’re much more interested in ethical decisions, how brands treat their employees and the planet. People now have a chance on their own to dive in, compare companies and learn how different brands approach these values.”

The creative came about from several Ikea stakeholders, including its sustainability team, HR and sales, according to Hashemi. Getting a dense message into 60 seconds to make an impact has several challenges, but getting input helped bring the concept to life. Moreover, the message appeared to resonate in testing.

“We saw a greater consumer interest in the work than we expected,” Hashemi said. “This is a sign that they are more interested in understanding more about the companies they choose to engage with on an ongoing basis. We explored several different ways to tell our story, and I was pleasantly surprised that [the work] resonated with consumers.”

“We were also pleasantly surprised that we can talk about the emotional connection and values set,” added Mathew. “The tone of the message is matter-of-fact and to the point. We took out a lot of the fluff, and people responded very well to that.”

In the end, the new campaign is a departure from some of the brand’s more high-profile, quirky and impactful advertising. Yet, with consumers’ changing understanding of brands and their impact on the world, it’s one that the brand and agency are bullish on.

“It’s been quite some time since we’ve done brand work quite like this,” Hashemi said. “In that sense, it does feel like a reintroduction. To many consumers, this is the first time that they’re seeing us in this way.”

CREDITS:

Client: Ikea USA Christine Whitehawk – US Communications Manager Marques Davis – External Communications Specialist Charlene Tea – Interior Design Specialist Jaclyn Van Wert – Interior Design Specialist

Agency: Ogilvy New York Vicki Azarian – Executive Creative Director Della Mathew – Group Creative Director Monica Apodaca – ACD Art Director Andrew Chisholm – ACD Copywriter Claire Morris – Managing Director Zac Rosenberg – Account Director Tillie Fell – Account Director James Sullivan – Assistant Account Executive Leslie Stone – Director of Strategic Services Dan Brenikov – Director of Strategy, Customer Engagement and Commerce Executive Producer – Jenna Gartland Producer – Josh Kornrich Producer – Meg Dibley Sr. Business Affairs Manager – Sean McGee Executive Producer, Music– Michael Freeman

Production Company: Partizan Director – Olivier Gondry Executive Producer/Managing Partner – Lisa Tauscher Line Producer – Russell Curtis

Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post Editor – Jessica Mutascio Assistant Editor:Alejandro Villagran Executive Producer: Caitlin Grady Producer: Malia Rose

Color: The Mill Colorist: Mikey Rossiter

VFX: Carbon Executive Producer: Nick Haynes Executive Creative Director: Liam Chapple Senior Producer: Alex Decaneas VFX Supervisor / Lead Flame: Matt Reilly Flame: Chihcheng Peng, Chris Wiseman, Joe Scaglione GFX: Max Benjamin

Audio Record / Mix: Sonic Union Engineer: Mike Marinelli

Music: Storefront Music Producers: John “Scrapper” Sneider & Adam Elk Vin Alfieri — Composer

Content Courtesy of: adweek.com

Written by: David Griner

Google Celebrates ‘The Most Searched’ to Set the Stage for Black History Month

Grammys ad highlights the highly sought, from Beyoncé to MLK

Beyonce's 2018 Coachella appearance is the most searched performance in Google's history, the search giant says in a new ad. Google

Counting down to the Challenger Brands summit. 2 Days. 12 tracks. 750+ brand marketers and industry executives. 0 sales pitches. Attend the summit for brands disrupting the status quo. Passes going fast - secure yours before it's too late.

Can you quantify greatness? Can a major brand crown someone as a superlative and actually back it up with data?

During Sunday’s Grammy Awards, Google potently showed that it’s up to the challenge.

In an ad announcing a Black History Month project called “The Most Searched,” Google raised the curtain on some of its search data—dating back 15 years—to show how many African Americans have dominated public fascination, admiration and curiosity on the internet.

On an accompanying website, Google explains the methodology behind the project and offers links to help visitors learn more about the people and movements featured in the ad, along with several that weren’t.

The title of “most searched” was given to each person, group or cause that had been searched for more often than any other in the category, per Google Trends, since Jan. 1, 2004, which Google says is the farthest back its U.S. search data can go.

Oprah Winfrey, for example, was the most searched talk show host name over the 15-year period analyzed by Google, though admittedly her search volume dropped off notably after she ended The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011:

The ad kicks off by highlighting that Beyoncé’s 2018 Coachella appearance was the most searched performance in Google history, and her song “Countdown” then provides the soundtrack to the rest of the spot.

While Prince is shown in the ad as “most searched guitar solo,” Google’s website for the project explains that the honor is not for any one song, but rather that Prince’s guitar solos have been searched more than those of any other artist.

The Civil Rights movement is widely represented across the project’s findings, with Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the Greensboro sit-in, the Montgomery bus boycott and Malcolm X’s biography all ranked as top searches.

While many of the project’s other featured names, such as LeBron James, Misty Copeland, John Legend and RuPaul, are cultural icons of recent years, “The Most Searched” also honors Katherine Johnson of Hidden Figures fame as the most searched NASA mathematician. In addition, Google notes that “U.S. search interest for ‘women in STEM’ has also increased 2,300% in the past decade.”

On the project site, Google reiterates its $25 million pledge, announced in 2018, to help create career opportunities for black and Latino students. This includes a $3 million grant to the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, known as ACT-SO.

“Growing up, I saw firsthand how the NAACP ACT-SO program inspired young black talent to believe in and showcase their brilliance,” Justin Steele, director of Google.org, said on the site. “We know that 65% of students will work in careers that don’t even exist today, so programs like ACT-SO that are preparing, recognizing and rewarding African American students are important to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to be innovators and culture makers.”

TECH

Content Courtesy of: adweek.com

Written by: Ronan Shields

Google Kills the Cookie, Leaving Digital Media Companies Craving a New Way Forward

The industry is racing against a 2-year countdown

Phasing out support for third-party cookies will affect everyone in the digital media industry. Sources: Google, Getty Images

Talking points:

• Dropping third-party data is not without precedent for web browsers, but the stakes are higher this time.
• Publishers are eyeing the pivotal change as a potential turnaround in what has been a difficult digital transition.

Some are calling it the “cookie-pocalypse.” Others see it as a new dawn for the $565 billion global ad industry. What’s certain is that Google Chrome’s decision to phase out support for third-party cookies will affect everyone in the digital media industry.

While the move was not unexpected, at least among industry insiders, most will be preoccupied with it during the two-year window to overhaul and replace what has been one of the key tenets of digital media trading since its inception.

Marketers wary of the industry’s reliance on Google will have to figure out how they can adapt their first-party data strategy as some of the de rigueur marketing tools of recent years are rendered redundant in most internet browsers. These include third-party data and data management platforms, and multitouch attribution providers, all of whose days would appear to be numbered (at least in their current guise), as third-party data has been a critically important part of how marketers shape their communications strategies with consumers for close to 25 years. For instance, Procter & Gamble, one of the industry’s largest-spending advertisers, this week effused over its frequency capping efforts at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference.

However, identifying audiences online will be significantly more difficult (albeit not impossible) after 2022 within Google Chrome, which currently accounts for more than half of all installed web browsers, according to W3C.

Advertisers aren’t angry with Google, just disappointed

The tone some of the industry’s leading trade bodies took in their responses to the news reflected the scale of the challenge ahead. “It may choke off the economic oxygen from advertising that startups and emerging companies need to survive,” read a joint statement from the ANA and 4A’s.

The statement continued: “We are deeply disappointed that Google would unilaterally declare such a major change without prior careful consultation across the digital and advertising industries. In the interim, we strongly urge Google to publicly and quickly commit to not imposing this moratorium on third-party cookies until effective and meaningful alternatives are available.”

Meanwhile, Jordan Mitchell, online identity and digital privacy lead at IAB Tech Lab, made his preference for collaboration known as Google looks to develop ad targeting and measurement tools in its Privacy Sandbox.

Historic precedent

The rollback of cookie support by some of the industry’s major cookie providers is not without precedent. In April 2017, Apple began rolling out intelligent tracking prevention in its Safari web browser. Shortly thereafter, Mozilla implemented similar measures in Firefox.

Andrew Casale, CEO of Index Exchange, told Adweek this has affected publishers in Germany, one of the world’s biggest media markets, where Firefox use is much more prevalent than in the U.S.

“We haven’t seen a recovery in CPMs on either platform,” Casale said. “So, if the same events occur in Chrome with the same results, then there is a significant concern that there will be a reduction in budget toward publishers.”

Paul Gubbins, global programmatic strategy lead at Unruly, highlighted the potential impact Google’s decision could have given Chrome’s vastly superior footprint to the other two browsers.

“With the value of first-party data going up drastically following this announcement, I suspect many publishers today will be seriously reevaluating their authenticated data strategy rather than waiting for a multitude of device graph sales pitches in the coming months,” Gubbins said.

Both Casale and Gubbins separately told Adweek that many publishers have avoided asking users to register their data (effectively meaning sign in to their websites), but that may change as 2022 approaches. Casale predicted that publishers across the globe will look to emulate a countrywide sign-in initiative in Germany, where media owners have attempted to reduce their reliance on cookies for ad targeting.

‘The nail in the coffin for the cookie’

Peter Spande, CRO at Insider Inc., told Adweek that reductions in yield from Apple’s and Mozilla’s targeting restrictions have prompted some publishers to double down on their first-party data strategy.

“This is the nail in the coffin for the cookie,” Spande said, adding that it will make bidding on inventory in open marketplaces less appealing to advertisers.

Spande also predicted that advertisers may look to identify solutions provided by Google within its Privacy Sandbox, potentially providing publishers with scaled first-party data solutions an opportunity to capitalize over the next two years.

Wake-up call

For Mathieu Roche, CEO of ID5, the next two years will be characterized by “madness and transition” as the industry devises an entirely new infrastructure.

Roche believes that while the industry’s demand-side and supply-side platforms will continue to exist beyond 2022, the majority will have to work in harmony to foster an industrywide alternative to the cookie.

In the interim, however, advertisers will likely invest even more of their ad budgets in the walled gardens, which are much less reliant on third-party cookies for audience targeting.

“In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” Roche said.

Meanwhile, Joe Root, CEO of Permutive, Google’s announcement is a wake-up call for ad tech’s buy-side, as such outfits will begin to feel the pain publishers have felt since the dawn of digital advertising.

“Privacy is causing a massive issue for them,” he said. “The big questions more generally [for the industry] is do we accept the truth that identity is disappearing because it’s privacy unsafe, or do we work to maintain identity?”

Exclusive look at Cruise’s first driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals

The Origin is the GM subsidiary’s first attempt to build an fully autonomous car from the ground up

Content Courtesy of: theverge.com

Written by: Andrew J. Hawkins

The not-a-car sits on the gleaming black stage surrounded by a halo of light. It’s orange and black and white, and roughly the same size as a crossover SUV, but somehow looks much larger from the outside. There is no obvious front to the vehicle, no hood, no driver or passenger side windows, no side-view mirrors. The symmetry of the exterior is oddly comforting.

I am one of the first non-employees to see it, after being invited by self-driving company Cruise to come out to San Francisco for an early look. And what I see is a car. A weird-looking car, sure, but a car nonetheless. That’s what my brain tells me. But the company insists I’m not seeing what I’m seeing. One employee refers to it as “the property.”

The company insists it’s not a car — one employee refers to it as “the property”

It’s easier to describe what it’s not, rather than what it is. For example, it doesn’t look like a toaster on wheels, as some autonomous “people movers” tend to do. A microwave might be more accurate, but I’m not convinced.

Its official name is “Origin,” and Kyle Vogt, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Cruise, is clearly excited to be showing it off. With a broad smile, he reaches out and touches a button on the side, causing the doors to slide open with a little whoosh like something out of Star Wars.

Inside are two bench seats facing each other, a pair of screens on either end... and nothing else. The absence of all the stuff you expect to see when climbing into a vehicle is jarring. No steering wheel, no pedals, no gear shift, no cockpit to speak of, no obvious way for a human to take control should anything go wrong. There’s a new car smell, but it’s not unpleasant. It’s almost like cucumber-infused water.

“The way vehicles are designed, normally they have a hood in the front where the engine is and some storage in the trunk,” Vogt says, as we sit across from each other. “But when you don’t need all that stuff... we can have this enormous, spacious cabin without taking up any more space on the road than a regular car would. Which is kind of insane.”

But the Origin is arriving into an unforgiving world: half of Americans are skeptical to the point of being fearful about self-driving cars. They don’t mind a car that can drive itself — as long as they can take over when they choose. That’s impossible with this vehicle. I ask Vogt where he gets the confidence to take away everything we’ve come to associate with human driving.

“when you don’t need all that stuff... we can have this enormous, spacious cabin”

“I guess it’s important to note that we haven’t validated and released our technology yet,” he says. “So we haven’t gone out there and said it’s safer than a human and getting ready for prime time. But we’re getting pretty close.”

Approximately 18 minutes later, after a brief tour of the vehicle and back-and-forth about the company’s grand plans for the Origin, Vogt says something bolder. “By the time this vehicle goes into production, we think the core software that drives our AVs will be at a superhuman level of performance and safer than the average human driver,” he says. “And we’ll be providing hard empirical evidence to back up that claim before we put people in a car without someone in it.”

ruiseCruise has often been described as a “division” or “unit” of General Motors, but the company prefers “majority owned subsidiary.” (The automaker technically owns two-thirds of Cruise, which it bought in 2016.) However, GM isn’t the only major automaker in Cruise’s corner. In October 2018, Honda announced its plan to invest $2.75 billion in Cruise over 12 years. The company has also raised money from Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund and T. Rowe Price, and has a valuation of $19 billion.

As part of the Honda deal, GM teamed up with the Japanese automaker to design a “purpose-built” self-driving car. A “purpose-built car” is not a normal car retrofitted to be self-driving, as a majority of the autonomous vehicles on the road today are. Rather, it’s a car designed from the ground up to drive itself. That would be in addition to the steering wheel-and-pedal-less Chevy Bolt that GM and Cruise are working on. At the time, Vogt teased a vehicle with “giant TV screens, a mini bar, and lay-flat seats.”

“We built this car around the idea of not having a driver”

The Origin has none of these amenities, but Vogt insists its real asset is its modularity. “We built this car around the idea of not having a driver and specifically being used in a ride-share fleet,” he says. “This vehicle is engineered to last a million miles and all the interior components are replaceable. The compute is replaceable, the sensors are replaceable. And what that does is it drives the cost per mile down way lower than you could ever reach if you took a regular car and tried to retrofit it. The replacement cost and the upkeep of that would just kill you from a business standpoint.”

I don’t typically hear AV companies talk about “unit economics” and profitability. But that’s going to creep up sooner than a lot of people realize, Vogt says. Experts estimate that each self-driving car could cost upward of $300,000-$400,000, when taking into account the expensive sensors and computing software needed to allow the vehicles to drive themselves. Recouping those costs will be enormously challenging, and Cruise is trying to address that by building a car with more staying power than most personally owned vehicles.

Cruise has been working on the design of the Origin for over three years, but Honda’s involvement “super charged” the effort. The two automakers didn’t collaborate on every tiny detail; instead, they split up the work based on their expertise. GM was responsible for the base vehicle design and the electric powertrain, while Honda helped create the interior’s “efficient use of space,” Vogt says. Meanwhile, Cruise handled the sensing and computing technologies, as well as the experience from the rider’s standpoint.

We don’t typically hear AV companies talk about “unit economics” and profitability

Vogt allows that the sensor suite could change before the vehicle goes into production. But right now, it has the standard configuration found in many AVs on the road today: radar, cameras and LIDAR laser sensors. The hard drive, stored in the trunk and housing the vehicle’s artificial intelligence and perception software, is cooled by the vehicle’s battery system, making it quieter and less prone to overheating than previous iterations. That means passengers riding in the forward-facing seats won’t have to experience overly toasty tushies (as I have riding with another AV operator).

Cruise, with Honda’s help, designed the interior of the vehicle primarily for shared rides. The screens, one on either side, will display an itinerary for picking up and dropping off each passenger, so riders know what to expect. Carpooling in the age of smartphones hasn’t exactly been the runaway success that ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft have hoped. But Cruise thinks its abundance of space can help minimize the friction.

“It’s designed to be comfortable if it’s shared, but if it’s just you, you’ve got so much space in here you can really like stretch out,” he says, extending his legs so his feet almost touch mine. Almost, but not quite.

Look, as far as I’m concerned, Cruise’s Origin is a car. Cruise says it wants to “move beyond the car,” but I’m not convinced the absence of certain controls negates its inherent car-ness. As Vogt points out, it occupies the same amount of space as an SUV, and Cruise claims it can travel at normal city speeds. It is a car-like shape and does car-type things, like traveling down a road with people in it. And if there isn’t another good name for it — “the property” notwithstanding — then “car” will have to do.

I don’t begrudge the company for attempting to argue otherwise. The push for not-car-ness is evident in Cruise’s intense marketing campaign leading up to the unveiling of the Origin. The company recently emptied out its Instagram account — so long, photos of smiling people riding in the company’s fleet of self-driving Chevy Bolts — and posted a series of cryptic longitude and latitude coordinates that correspond with famous historical moments, like the invention of the compass and the steam locomotive. Not-car inventions that seriously changed how we travel, in other words.

as far as I’m concerned, Cruise’s Origin is a car

Even so, Cruise isn’t the first company to build and test a self-driving car without traditional controls. In December 2016, Google stunned the world when it revealed that it had put a blind man in one of its egg-shaped autonomous test vehicles and sent him out for a short ride around Austin, Texas. Google’s Firefly vehicle, audaciously designed by YooJung Ahn, is widely considered to be the first car tested publicly without a steering wheel or pedals.

Waymo, the company spun out of Google’s self-driving project, retired the Firefly in 2017. But in a recent podcast interview, Waymo CEO John Krafcik voiced curiosity that no one has replicated the feat since. “Why do you think no one has done that yet?” Krafcik said on the Autonocast. “Because we all sort of scratch our heads and say, ‘Is there not the capability there? Or folks have the capability but they’ve chosen not to do it or not to show it?’”

Cruise hasn’t been as forthcoming with its technology as Waymo. The company has only hosted one demo ride for journalists in 2017, which produced embarrassing headlines such as Reuters’ “Taco truck halts GM autonomous car’s cruise through city streets.”

There have been other bumps in the road as well. Cruise’s plan to test its vehicles in New York City — arguably the most difficult driving environment in the US — went nowhere. In July 2019, the company announced that it would miss its goal of launching a large-scale self-driving taxi service by the end of the year. It tried to sugarcoat the disappointing news by announcing a plan to dramatically increase the number of its test vehicles on the road in San Francisco.

Coming right on the heels of the Consumer Electronics Show and its cavalcade of concept cars and design projects, there’s a sense that Cruise is trying to beat back diminishing expectations. The past year has been a pretty bad one for believers in the technology: missed deadlines, rising concerns over safety, and the growing belief that making autonomous vehicles will be harder, slower, and more expensive than previously thought.

Cruise is trying to recapture some of that early magic with this vehicle. But it’s also attempting to be more pragmatic and attuned to the realities of growing and scaling a real business.

fOf course, bureaucracy and politics could drive the whole thing right off the road.

Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel, break pedals, and so on? That means the Cruise’s not-car will require an exemption from the federal government’s motor vehicle safety standards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only grants 2,500 petitions a year. GM submitted a petition for permission to deploy a fully driverless Chevy Bolt in 2018, but it has yet to receive a response. And it will most likely need another exemption before the Origin is allowed to hit the road, too.

Safety advocates are urging NHTSA to take its time in deliberating these changes. For example, the Center for Auto Safety “strongly question[s]” the NHTSA’s decision to prioritize these rule changes considering self-driving cars are still in their “infancy and quite likely decades away from widespread practical utility.” And the National Automobile Dealers Association, meanwhile, takes issue with the use of the term “barriers” to describe current safety standards and argues that self-driving cars should continue “to allow also for human control.”

Remember the unsettling lack of steering wheel, break pedals, and so on?

GM isn’t the only company seeking to fast-track these changes. Ford has said it will build an autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals by 2021, while Waymo has begun offering a limited number of rides in fully driverless minivans to its customers in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cruise is clearly feeling the heat from its competitors, especially when you consider that it has yet to take the important step of launching a commercial business. The company has a beta ride-hailing service, but it’s only available to employees, and Cruise won’t say when it will be available to the broader public. The company also won’t say when the Origin will roll out, but promises to share more information about its production plans in the future. (It’s already been burned once when it missed its 2019 robo-taxi deadline, so it seems the company wants to be careful that doesn’t happen again.)

I have so many more questions — about the sensor suite, the business model, the testing (if any) that Cruise has conducted — but I’m informed that our time is done. The event is being managed by a unionized workforce, and any additional time could cost Cruise an additional $12,000. I thank Vogt for his time and jokingly ask if there’s an “abort” button in the vehicle.

“I think it’s been pushed,” he says, grinning. “You just go straight through the ceiling.”

CULTURE

Content Courtesy of: theverge.com

Written by: Dami Lee

Atari-branded hotels with e-sports studios and game rooms are coming to the US

Hotels will be coming to eight cities

Atari has licensed its name for a number of brand partnerships in the gaming space, but the company’s latest deal to build eight Atari-branded hotels marks its foray into the hospitality industry. The company announced a licensing deal with US real estate developer True North Studio and GSD group to build eight hotels in the US. Construction will begin in Phoenix in mid-2020, with more hotels to come in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle.

The “video game-themed destination” will offer gaming playgrounds that include VR and AR games, and some locations will have venues and studios to accommodate e-sports events. Atari says the hotels will have meeting rooms, co-working spaces, restaurants, bars, a bakery, a movie theater, and a gym. The company says it’ll be a destination for families and business travelers, which lends itself to a hilarious image of a businessman trying to print something in the meeting room while a Fortnite tournament happens in the next room.

Atari will receive 5 percent of hotel revenue, and it received a $600,000 advance for inking the deal. The hotel will be located close to Steve Wozniak’s Woz U university campus in Arizona, which is also associated with the Phoenix-based GSD Group.

Meanwhile, the development of the Atari VCS retro console has been reported to be undergoing significant difficulties, with the console’s lead architect claiming that he hadn’t been paid in over six months. If Atari, a gaming company, is having this much trouble with building a game console, it paints a troubling picture of how the hotels will turn out.

18 Things You Missed If You Forgot The 2020 Grammy Awards Were On Last Night

Tears, flames, and Billy Porter in a remote-controlled hat.

Content Courtesy of: buzzfeed.com

Written by: Allie Hayes

1. The red carpet was positively FLOODED with incredible looks courtesy of all your favorite artists:

2. And there were some hella cute couples there, for sure:

3. But, let's be honest, Billy Porter's incredible (and now meme-worthy) look stole the show:

4. To open the ceremony, the night's host, Alicia Keys, gave a powerful monologue in tribute to Kobe Bryant:

5. Then, Boys II Men joined her on stage for an emotional performance of “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday”:

6. Lizzo performed the only way she knows how — EPICALLY — with a literal orchestra behind her:

7. Then — immediately following her performance — she took home the Grammy for "Best Pop Solo Performance" for her absolute BOP, "Truth Hurts":

8. Camila Cabello brought the audience to tears with a rendition of her song "First Man," which she sang directly to her father in the audience:

9. Usher, Sheila E., and FKA Twigs performed a tribute to Prince that left the internet divided:

10. Tyler, the Creator nearly burned the place to the ground (literally) with his stunning performance:

11. And then used the time after his win for "Best Rap Album" to address the Grammys' history with racism:

12. Ariana Grande performed a medley of all her biggest hits from 2019 in an outfit that would've made Elle Woods proud:

13. Demi Lovato gave a truly goosebumps-inducing performance — singing the song she wrote mere days before her overdose — and received a well-deserved standing ovation:

14. BTS made history as the first Korean artists to ever perform at the Grammys, sharing the stage with Lil Nas X:

15. Nick Jonas appeared to have some food in his teeth during the Jonas Brothers' performance and, naturally, Twitter was hilarious about it:

16. Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. gave the ultimate throwback performance:

17. John Legend, Kirk Franklin, DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, and Roddy Ricch took the stage for a moving tribute to Nipsey Hussle, in which photos of both Bryant and Hussle were projected behind them:

18. And finally, Billie Eilish absolutely DOMINATED the show, taking home the awards for Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album:

19. Be sure to check out the full list of the night's nominees and winners here!

FASHION

Content Courtesy of: vogue.com

Written by: Steff Yotka

The 9 Most Important Trends of the Men’s Fall 2020 Season

The menswear machine can’t be stopped. What was once a sleepy, siloed-off section of Vogue Runway has become a seasonal behemoth to compete for eyeballs with our flagship women’s coverage in February and September. The data doesn’t lie: Over the past three weeks of shows in London, Florence, Milan, and Paris, our readers have spent more than 1.5 million minutes looking at the men’s collections. What did they see?

The easiest and most obvious takeaway is the return of suiting to menswear’s fore and the dissipation of streetwear from the catwalks. On the back of Virgil Abloh’s comments that streetwear is “gonna die,” a single-breasted suit at Off-White was practically a death knell for jeans-and-tees. Elsewhere, Kim Jones perfected his couture-ish tailoring at Dior Men, Clare Waight Keller cut fabulous slim suits at Givenchy, and Pierpaolo Piccioli dreamt up a moonlight blue sequin DB to challenge the ease of his popular hoodies and knits at Valentino. So yes, suiting is back, and it arrives with a newfound swagger.

But the in-your-face energy that streetwear brought to the runways—and to retailers, where graphic tees and buzzy sneakers still sell—is not gone, it has simply evolved into new trends with the same high-impact bravado. Consider this season’s ’70s-tinged glamourpusses, all rust-color flares and undone-to-there silk shirts at Dries Van Noten and Tom Ford. In a similarly sexy vein is the rise of the full leather kit. Seen at both Alyx and Vetements, head-to-toe skins blend the utmost of luxury with a subversive kink. Shorts and high boots—see Rick Owens’s opening look (and then try to forget it, we dare you)—should keep menswear’s look-at-me streak going way into the 2020s.

In sharp contrast to all this performative flair are two of the season’s more sedate trends: Hygge-worthy all-white ensembles and reemergent classical Italian tailoring. Even so, these are not clothes for blending in. Fall 2020 has been a standout season of standout dudes, and perhaps the best trend yet, is that come September most of them will be standing tall in high heels. Well, if Van Noten and Owens have anything to say about it, at least.

Crystals With a Couture Spin

Dior Men

The couture-inspired fabrics and silhouettes that have been on the rise in menswear reached a head this month at Kim Jones’s Dior Men show. The last look, a crystal-and-sequin-beaded jacket, took more than 1,000 hours of handwork to produce—and came with exactly the right amount of panache to make such craftsmanship seem effortlessly wearable. Alexander McQueen’s golden coat is equally resplendent, as are more casually glitzy options from Balmain, Etro, or Bode.

’70s Swagger

Dries Van Noten

The louche loverboys of spring 2020 are hanging around for fall, replacing their silky shorts and pearl necklaces with killer flare jeans and fur stoles. Dries Van Noten and Tom Ford represent the poles of the trend best: a little Mick, a little Bianca, and mostly attitude. The most important accessory here is the assured strut to make those heeled boots really work.

Fur Coats

Vetements

Thank Raf Simons and Silvia Venturini Fendi for the return of the larger-than-life fur at men’s fashion week this season. The former is shaggy, sometimes plastic-wrapped, and has a Space Age sensibility. The latter is more sleek, innovated with paneled zippers to adjust for ever-changing temps. Not in the mood for a fuzzy duster? The stole is having a resurgence too.

A Total Print Takeover

Louis Vuitton

The humble graphic tee has been replaced by graphic everything! Suits, tops, trousers, socks, turtlenecks—if you can wear it, it’s covered in a quirky pattern. At Louis Vuitton, the motif du jour is a relaxing cloudscape. At Off-White, it’s wine bottles popping off. In between, there is a world of prints to suit any vibe.

The Silhouette Is Slim

Prada

A rejection of all things oversized occurred at Prada, Raf Simons, Givenchy, and more of the season’s most tenor-setting shows. It’s a look that was popular 20 years ago, when Hedi Slimane and Simons were engaged in a war of who could cut the skinniest suits. No surprise that two decades on, this trend is being resurrected just as shoppers with aughts nostalgia gain spending power.

Everyone at Pitti Uomo Dresses Like This Now

Junya Watanabe

The dandies of Florence’s menswear fair are legendary for both their adherence to the strict mores of Italian tailoring and their codebreaking flourishes of sprezzatura. Junya Watanabe paid homage to this strain of Italianate classicismo in his collection, but we must also look to the masters who have been advocating caffe-color plaids and cashmere turtlenecks for the better part of a century: Brunello Cucinelli, Canali, Brioni, and Canali. Stateside, nobody does it better than Ralph Lauren, whose version of menswear harkens to halcyon days of Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. That was the last time American men really got dressed. Here’s hoping they get the memo for 2020.

Leather Daddies Are Back

Rick Owens

Leather jumpsuits appeared on Vogue Runway’s menswear trend report three seasons ago. Back then, we wondered if guys would opt for such a total—and totally constricting—look. Consider the devotion to calfskin pants, jackets, and shirts on the fall runways the proof that men are into leather, big time. For those new to the trend, try out one of the lower impact leather looks, like Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s one-shoulder top or Alyx’s coveralls.

All-White Everything

Craig Green

The tender feeling of menswear’s spring season has morphed into a series of serene, all-white ensembles for fall. They come as suits, as sweaters, and as conceptual menswear, a palette cleanser for all the hype that has dominated menswear for the past several years. Off-the-runway, this trend is probably best paired with a stain-removing pen—or better yet, worn indoors to really capture the hygge-influenced mood.

Show Some Thigh

Marni

Teensy shorts won’t seem like the most practical fall/winter trend until you see them paired with knee-skimming boots or socks. The styling trick appeared at several of Paris’s most influential menswear shows, though it might have started in Milan with high boots at Marni’s and Gucci’s knee-socks. Is it the translation of 2018’s pants-less trend for men or the realization that men are getting more comfortable with flaunting their bodies? Either way, expect to see plenty of leg as autumn sets in.

Grammy Awards 2020: Fashion—Live From the Red Carpet

Content Courtesy of: vogue.com

Written by:  Josephine Relli

Music biggest event of the year has arrived in Hollywood: The 62nd annual Grammy Awards kick off in Los Angeles tonight. The awards ceremony, hosted by Alicia Keys, is set to feature performances from musicians such as Billie Eilish and Lizzo, two of the Grammys’s most-nominated artists. (Stars such as Ariana Grande, the Jonas Brothers, Tyler, the Creator, and more will be putting on a show as well.)

The ceremony has a history of bold, outré fashions that is poised to continue on the red carpet this evening. For starters, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since Jennifer Lopez’s Versace dress went viral. Follow Vogue’s red carpet coverage of this year’s Grammys in real time here, and be sure to check back for our best-dressed list of the night.

Billie Eilish in Gucci

Lizzo in Atelier Versace with a Lorraine Schwartz necklace

Ariana Grande in Giambattista Valli with Lorraine Schwartz earrings

Dua Lipa in Alexander Wang

Rosalía in Alexander Wang

Lana Del Rey

Lil Nas X in Versace and Billy Ray Cyrus

Maggie Rogers in Chanel

Usher in Balmain

Camila Cabello

Grace Elizabeth in Giuseppe Di Morabito

BTS in Bottega Veneta

Shawn Mendes in Louis Vuitton with a Bulgari necklace

Ella Mai in Giorgio Armani

Joe Jonas in Ermenegildo Zegna XXX and Sophie Turner in Louis Vuitton

Billy Porter in Custom Baja East and Alexis Bittar jewelry

Chrissy Teigen in Yanina Couture

Heidi Klum in Dundas with a Lorraine Schwartz necklace

H.E.R. in DSquared2

Shania Twain in Christian Siriano

Gwen Stefani in Dolce & Gabbana with Le Silla shoes and Blake Shelton

John Legend

Tyler, the Creator

Alessandra Ambrosio in Balmain

FKA Twigs in Ed Marler

Khalid in Sies Marjan

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas in Ermenegildo Zegna XXX

DJ Khaled

Quavo in Prada and Saweetie in Moschino

Swae Lee in Dundas

21 Savage in Saint Laurent

Bonnie McKee

Gloria Gaynor

Conor McGregor

Blac Chyna

Nicole Trunfio

Hit-Boy

Adrienne Warren in Brandon Maxwell with Chopard earrings

Beck in Celine

FOOD

Content Courtesy of: foodbusinessnews.net

Written by:  Keith Nunes

Borden Dairy Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Source: Borden Dairy Co.

DALLAS — Borden Dairy Co. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 6. The company said in court documents structural changes to the retail and dairy industries led to the move. The filing comes on the heels of Dean Foods Co., the nation’s largest dairy processor, filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past November.

In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the company said net sales in 2018 were $1.19 billion with gross profit of $292 million.

“Notwithstanding the foregoing, (Borden) experienced an income loss from operations in the amount of $2.6 million and a total net income loss of $14.6 million (in 2018),” the company said. “These losses continued into 2019, with (Borden) reporting income loss from operations in the amount of $22.3 million and a total net income loss of $42.4 million from January 2019 through Dec. 7, 2019.”

Borden produces a full range of dairy products, including fluid milks, sour cream, creams and dips. Fluid milk and cream make up 92% of revenues, juices and other beverages make up 5%, ice cream 2% and cultured products 1%, according to the company. It operates 13 manufacturing plants and employs 3,300.

Management blamed the company’s predicament on the state of the U.S. beverage, retail and dairy industries.

“In recent years, dairy products have begun to compete with other replacement non-dairy nutritional products and beverages for consumer sales, which has contributed to demand decreases,” the company said. “In addition, the growth of discount grocery retailers has intensified competition and reduced the margin over milk at retail, making it increasingly difficult for Borden to hold its margin while competitively pricing its products to appeal to consumer price sensitivities. Borden competes against others that do not depend on the profitability of milk exclusively, including vertically-integrated retailers and dairy cooperatives that now process their own milk.”

The company said in the court filing that retailers such as Walmart processing some of its own milk has negated some of Borden’s marketing efforts.

“Retailers that are vertically integrated typically re-dedicate key shelf space that was formerly occupied by branded products for their own private label products,” the company said. “Accordingly, customer awareness of major food service retail establishments has decreased, which in turn has muted the marketing and sales initiatives implemented by (Borden) in the past two years.”

Adding to the milk processing industry’s woes is the fact fluid milk consumption has declined by over 100 gallons per person in North America during the past 45 years. Some of that decline is driven by the rise of plant-based dairy alternatives.

“Options like almond, soy, rice, coconut and hemp beverages are beginning to demand more and more space on grocery store shelves as consumers have grown to embrace new flavors and alternative diets,” the company said.

Borden Dairy was further pressured by the price of conventional raw milk, which has risen 27% since January 2019. Management said it expects the price of raw milk to continue to rise in 2020. The inflation comes at a time when the number of dairy producers is declining. In the past year and a half, for example, over 2,730 dairy farms have gone out of business.

“Despite our numerous achievements during the past 18 months, the company continues to be impacted by the rising cost of raw milk and market challenges facing the dairy industry,” said Tony Sarsam, chief executive officer. “These challenges have contributed to making our current level of debt unsustainable. For the last few months, we have engaged in discussions with our lenders to evaluate a range of potential strategic plans for the company. Ultimately, we determined that the best way to protect the company, for the benefit of all stakeholders, is to reorganize through this court-supervised process.”

Content Courtesy of: foodbusinessnews.net

Written by:  Sam Danley

Perdue Farms launches direct-to-consumer platform

Perdue Farms, Adobe Stock

SALISBURY, MD. — Perdue Farms is entering the direct-to-consumer space.

The company announced the launch of a new e-commerce site offering an assortment of frozen items across the Perdue, Niman Ranch, Coleman Natural, Sonoma Red and Skagit Red brands. Additional offerings will be added as demand increases.

Nearly half of all shoppers now buy perishables such as meat, produce and dairy items online, according to a global survey by retail analytics firm Precima. By mid-2020, a third of shoppers said they expect to spend more than 40% of their grocery budget online.

With more consumers buying food online, the direct-to-consumer market is beginning to capture the attention of food manufacturers. Companies including Nestle and Unilever have entered the space recently in an effort to bolster sales and attract younger consumers.

“As both online shopping and the demand for convenience show no signs of slowing down, we felt it was important to be in this space,” said David Zucker, senior vice-president of e-commerce and new ventures at Perdue Farms. “We’re excited that this is the first time we’ve been able to offer so many of our brands in one place, nationally.”

The new web site has several sustainability initiatives, including 100% recyclable packaging. Each order comes with a reusable shopping tote and a packet of bee- and butterfly-friendly seeds. Foam insulation used in packaging is made from water-soluble cornstarch, which may be composted or disintegrated under running water.

The company also will make a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation with each order to offset the shipment’s carbon footprint. This equates to removing approximately 70 lbs of CO2 from the atmosphere per order, the company said.

“We are always listening to our consumers and striving to provide them with solutions that fit easily into their lifestyle,” said Randy Day, chief executive officer at Perdue Farms. “That includes not only offering the differentiated products people love, but also making the products available to buy through the channels where they prefer to shop.

Content Courtesy of: foodbusinessnews.net

Written by:  Jeff Gelski

Nielsen forecasts big decade for C.B.D.

Adobe Stock

NEW YORK — The market research company Nielsen projects the U.S. hemp-based C.B.D market may be a $2.25 billion to $2.75 billion industry in 2020. The projection accounts for U.S. Food and Drug Administration rulings and other possible issues. The F.D.A. on Nov. 25, 2019, said it could not conclude that cannabidiol (C.B.D.), a hemp extract, is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) among qualified experts for its use in human food or animal food.

“While the regulatory roadmap remains ambiguous, one thing is clear: The next decade for the hemp-based C.B.D. market has the potential to be a game-changer for the traditional C.P.G. (consumer product goods) and retail industry,” said Rich Maturo, vice-president of cannabis practice for New York-based Nielsen.

The user bases for capsules, gummies and beverages should grow significantly this decade, according to Nielsen. If the F.D.A. ever approves C.B.D. as GRAS, the user base of ingestible formats could grow as much as 250% to 375% in a year’s time. Cannabidiol especially shows potential in the beverage categories of coffee, functional waters, energy drinks, teas and sports drinks, according to Nielsen, adding brick-and-mortar retail channels this decade could steal C.B.D. share from online retailers, local specialty retailers, and vape and tobacco shops.

Education efforts targeted to health care providers also may increase the C.B.D. market in the 2020s. A Nielsen study found about one-third of health care practitioners were knowledgeable about laws surrounding hemp-based C.B.D. Among adults interested in C.B.D., 50% said guidance from a health care practitioner would motivate them to try a C.B.D. product, according to Nielsen. Cannabidiol products could be positioned as over-the-counter products targeting arthritis, sleep and general pain.

Production efficiencies linked to cultivation and extraction practices of hemp should bring down prices for C.B.D. products, according to Nielsen. The number of U.S. hemp farmers will rise over the decade, and Latin American farmers should grow hemp as well.