Beer Consumption in the U.S. Hits Lowest Point in Decades
Micky Mouse goes Public, Xiaomi introduces electric car, Hershey gets sued,
In 2023, beer consumption in the United States reached its lowest point in a generation, with shipments on track to fall below 200 million barrels for the first time since 1999, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. Anheuser Busch, particularly impacted, led the decline, facing challenges in both domestic-premium brands like Bud Light and the hard seltzer category.
A boycott against Bud Light, triggered by a sponsorship with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, contributed to the decline but wasn't the sole factor as a growing number of consumers choose to abstain from alcoholic beverages altogether.
The beer industry also faces intensified competition from new alcohol products introduced by non-traditional producers, such as large soft drink and energy companies venturing into the alcoholic beverage market. Despite the overall decline, major beer makers maintained financial resilience due to rising prices and a shift towards more expensive brands, notably imports like Modelo Especial, which became the top-selling beer in the U.S. for 2023.
Beer sales in other parts of the world remained strong, contributing to growing profits.
Mickey Mouse Steps into the Public Domain:
On January 1, 2024, an early version of Disney's iconic character, Mickey Mouse, is poised to enter the public domain as the copyright for "Steamboat Willie" expires after 95 years. Under current US law, copyright protection typically expires 70 years after a creator's death or 95 years after publication, leading to the entry of "Steamboat Willie" into the public domain.
The original "Steamboat Willie," released in 1928, played a pivotal role in propelling both Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney into the limelight. The character, with its distinctive features such as spindly legs and small oval eyes, lacks the modern Mickey's gloves and oversized shoes.
Some notable works entering the public domain in 2024 include "Lady Chatterley’s Lover", "The Threepenny Opera", Buster Keaton’s "The Cameraman", Cole Porter’s "Let’s Do It", AA Milne's "House at Pooh Corner", and JM Barrie's "Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up."
Xiaomi Unveils SU7 Electric Car, Aiming to Rival Tesla and Porsche
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has officially revealed its first electric vehicle, the SU7, as it ventures into the competitive electric car market. The SU7, with "SU" standing for Speed Ultra, comes in two versions, offering a driving range of up to 668 km for the base model and 800 km for the top-tier model.
The SU7 accelerates 0-100 km/h in 2.78 seconds, boasts fast charging for 220 km in 5 minutes, and achieves a top speed of 265 km/h. Xiaomi aims to distinguish itself by positioning the SU7 as a smart device through the integration of Xiaomi's "HyperOS," an architecture developed over six years that seamlessly links Xiaomi's diverse range of products, including smartphones, smart home devices, and the SU7 electric car, ensuring a unified digital experience by maintaining consistency in-app access, preferences, and settings across diverse devices within the Xiaomi ecosystem.
Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun aims to make the SU7, set for a Chinese market debut in a few months, a 'dream car' akin to Porsche and Tesla, backed by a substantial 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) investment in collaboration with BAIC Group for production in Beijing, with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles.
Florida Woman Sues Hershey for $5 Million.
Cynthia Kelly, a resident of Tampa, Florida, has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against The Hershey Company, seeking $5 million in damages. Kelly claims that she purchased a bag of Reese's peanut butter pumpkins for $4.49 at Aldi in October 2023, believing that the product would feature a cute carving of a pumpkin's mouth and eyes, as shown on the packaging. However, upon unwrapping the chocolate, she discovered that the actual candies did not have detailed carvings, leading her to feel deceived by the product's pictures.
The lawsuit claims that Hershey's labels are "materially misleading," tricking consumers with false representations of explicitly carved-out artistic designs. Products, including footballs, bats, and white chocolate ghosts also lack the carved features shown on the wrappers. Hershey has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Things to know:
GitHub has officially rolled out its Copilot Chat feature, providing developers with a powerful AI coding assistant. GitHub Copilot Chat, powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 has transitioned from beta and is now generally available for all paid users. Its capabilities include explaining code concepts, suggesting improvements, generating code snippets based on existing code, and detecting errors in a developer's code.
BlendJet Inc. is recalling 4.8 million BlendJet 2 Portable Blenders in the U.S. and Canada due to potential fire and laceration risks. The affected blenders, sold for $50 to $75 at retailers like Costco, Walmart, Target, and online from October 2020 to November 2023, may overheat, catch fire, or experience blade breakage. Blenders with serial numbers 5201-5542 are affected. To obtain a free replacement, affected consumers must remove and cut up the base's rubber seal and submit a photo on BlendJet Inc.'s website.
Nvidia has introduced a slower version of its gaming chip, the GeForce RTX 4090D Series, specifically designed for the Chinese market to comply with new U.S. export rules. This move comes in response to the Biden administration's restrictions on certain advanced AI chips being exported to China, citing national security concerns. Priced at 12,999 yuan ($1,836), this gaming chip has 11% fewer processing cores (CUDA) and, a lower power draw of 425W instead of 450W, making it around 5% slower in gaming and creating compared to the models sold outside of China. Nvidia's previous models, the A800 and H800, which were created to comply with earlier export rules were blocked for sale, along with the RTX 4090. In response, Nvidia pledged to develop chips meeting the updated criteria set by the White House.
Americans will spend approximately $32 billion less on fuel compared to 2023 and a substantial $79 billion less than in 2022, as forecasted by GasBuddy. The average price per gallon is estimated to be $3.38, showcasing an improvement from 2023's $3.51 and a drop from the high of $3.95 in 2022. GasBuddy's projections suggest that gas prices won't reach $4 a gallon in any single month in 2024. The monthly national average is anticipated to peak at $3.67 in May and then decline to $2.99 by December 2024.
Google has agreed to settle a $5 billion lawsuit that accused the tech giant of tracking users' internet activities even when using the "incognito" mode in its Chrome browser. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleged that Google misled users by suggesting that their internet activities would not be tracked in incognito mode while still collecting users' site visits and activities. While terms remain undisclosed, the original suit sought $5 billion on behalf of users, with a finalized agreement expected by February 24, 2024. The case, covering millions of users since June 1, 2016, sought a minimum of $5,000 in damages per user.
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress of L’Oreal, has achieved a milestone by becoming the first woman to amass a $100 billion fortune, as per reports. The surge in Bettencourt Meyers' wealth was propelled by L’Oreal's soaring stock, experiencing a remarkable 35% increase this year. In 2022, L’Oreal, a company renowned for brands like Lancome and Maybelline has reported sales exceeding €38 billion ($42 billion). The L’Oreal heiress entered the spotlight through a legal battle following her mother's death in 2017, a saga depicted in the recent Netflix documentary, "L’Affaire Bettencourt."