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In a week when the Dow Jones industrial average plunged to its lowest level since, uh, January, this also happened: When Amazon.com advertises its Alexa-powered speakers during Sunday’s Super Bowl, there will be celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson, Anthony Hopkins and Cardi B, left, and the word “Alexa” will be uttered 10 times. But if you happen to have an Echo in your living room, Amazon promises it isn’t going to perk up and try to respond. A spokeswoman won’t say exactly why, just that “we do alter our Alexa advertisements ... to minimize Echo devices falsely responding in customers’ homes.” A 2014 Amazon patent describes a system that would accomplish just that.
Panera Bread, which has made an effort to strip artificial colors and sweeteners from its food, says it will help other companies do the same — for a price, of course. Removing artificial ingredients is a popular move for food companies wanting to attract people who have become increasingly concerned about what’s in their food. The Clean Consultant business would help companies identify changes they can make and direct them to suppliers.
Starbucks has started a credit card, but hooking customers might be a tall order. The card, released through JPMorgan Chase and Visa, has a $49 annual fee and lets cardholders earn free drinks and food with purchases they make at the coffee chain and elsewhere. Of course, Starbucks does already have a rewards program for items people buy at its shops.
“Dilly dilly” proved to be more like “nilly willy” when it came to selling beer. The
Anheuser-Busch ad campaign, which featured people in a medieval court clinking bottles to the made-up phrase, accompanied a 5.7 percent drop in Bud Light sales in 2017, according to Beer Insights.
A California appeals court revived a class-action suit against Tinder that alleges age discrimination. Law360 reported that the suit claims Tinder charges more for people over 30. That’s right: It swipes their money.