• Purer Foods Appeal Beyond Millennial Moms, And Tarnish Traditional Brands
    Supermarket retailers are getting control of food industry profits thanks to "pure foods." And that is bad news for iconic CPG brands. Scott Mushkin, an analyst at Wolfe Research in New York, said the trend toward "pure foods" is strengthening beyond "Millennial Moms." He said the "branded food industrial complex," the mainstay of the American diet, is being associated with negative attributes such as high fat/sugar content. Smart retailers are offering enhanced produce, natural and organic private label items and more local goods.
  • Creative Directors For Super Bowl Ads Still Mostly White Guys
    The Super Bowl XLIX commercials were evidently more sensitive and less gender offensive than in past years, but women and people of color are still way underrepresented in creative shops, including among creative directors who are producing those ads, according to a study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. It shows that of the 42 Super Bowl ads in 2015 only three featured exclusively a person of color as the lead creative director.
  • The Very First YouTube Video
    It seems like ancient history now. Ten years ago, on April 23, 2005, YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim uploaded an 18-second video clip titled "Me at the zoo." The site's first video, it now has more than 19 million views. That's a lot, but "Gangnam Style," has more than 2.3 billion views. The first video was shot at the San Diego Zoo by fellow co-founder Yakov Lapitsky. That year, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion.
  • Aston Martin May Add Three New Models
    After a few tough years, things are starting to look up for Aston Martin - and for Aston fans. With a new CEO and funds to let Andy Palmer's team fire up the product development process, Aston says it is ready to not only replace all of its current product lines but add "up to three new models" to its line-up. It has confirmed one of those, a production version of the striking, if controversial, DBX crossover first shown at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.
  • Germany Rules That Using Ad-Blocking Software Is Legal
    It was ad-blocking technology versus publishers in a German courtroom after some German newspapers took AdBlock Plus to court. The outlets, including Die Zeit and Handelsblatt, claim that the browser plugin was an anti-competitive product that threatened their businesses. Judges in Hamburg, however, ruled in favor of the company. AdBlock Plus has a controversial whitelisting service, where advertisers basically have to pay to be exposed to web users.
  • Century 21 Rolling Out Cardboard Cutout Video Series
    Real estate company Century 21 is running a new video campaign called "Moved by Moving" that uses cardboard cutouts as sets. The sets were developed to show how Century 21 agents ease the moving process for their clients.The brand has been pushing the videos out to its network of more than 101,000 agents worldwide - in part through Hootsuite, thanks to a new partnership it formed with the social media management tool in March, per Century 21 spokesman.
  • Chipotle Offers Delivery Through Postmates
    Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has begun offering delivery for online and mobile orders in 67 cities using the Postmates app. The app-based delivery service follows an Uber-style model of independent contractors who use their own vehicles. The service for the Denver-based fast-casual chain will be available in markets where Postmates operates, per Chipotle.
  • Lincoln May Be Ready To Give Up The Letter Names
    Lincoln's resurrected Continental suggests not only that Ford is serious about investing in the brand, but also that it may be seriously ready to give up the MK-whatever names. Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the company's Americas operations told a crowd that the company was happy with the response it got to the name. The Continental is slated to replace the MKS sedan, which was part of the original wave of MK vehicles. The MKZ, MKX, MKT and the recently introduced MKC are the others.
  • Harley-Davidson Quarterly Profit Hurt By Strong Dollar
    A strong dollar let Harley-Davidson's competitors undercut the Milwaukee manufacturer's prices in the first quarter, hurting sales and prompting it to lower 2015 shipment forecasts. The company does most of its business in the U.S., so the news sent stocks sliding 9%. The company's U.S. market share had slipped close to 5 percentage points to 51.3% in the quarter, as competitors like Honda and Suzuki offered discounts of up to $3,000 per bike.
  • Hormel Says With Bird Flu, Turkey Production Down
    An avian flu outbreak affecting 5.3 million chickens in Iowa having a big effect on Hormel Foods Corp. The company announced that flu-related bird losses will reduce its turkey production, putting pressure on profits. Prior to this, the largest outbreak affected 310,000 at a Hormel-owned turkey farm in Meeker County. Of the 28 Minnesota farms stricken by the flu, 18 have been suppliers to Hormel's Jennie-O turkey division. A Hormel-owned farm in Wisconsin was hit by bird flu last week.
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