Team Rocket Takes Control?
What’s Good?
Walt Disney Studios Animation Workers Ratify Contract
Production management workers for Walt Disney Animation Studios have officially ratified their first union contract.
Under this contract, these production workers will now receive wage increases along with protections for pensions and health benefits.
February 28th Economic Blackout Update
Last week, we mentioned that some businesses were impacted by the blackout, while others saw few negative (or positive) effects. This week, we can confirm that Target, currently in the midst of a “fast” from many consumers, saw website visitors drop 9 percent compared to Friday, February 14th, while app visitors declined 14 percent in the same time frame.
Meanwhile, Costco’s web traffic increased 28 percent for the same time period, with app traffic rising 3 percent. Costco has maintained their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, while Target announced they would roll back theirs.
The 40-day Target Fast continues this week and all the way through April 17th.
Tesla Takedown Intensifies
The Tesla Takedown has accelerated over the past week, with protests at dealerships seeing significant news coverage.
Tesla’s stock price has fallen nearly 50 percent from its peak in mid-December of 2024, losing all of its post-election gains.
The biggest reason we know that the protests are having an impact is that 47 has called them “illegal boycotts” and took time out of his busy day to film an infomercial for Elon Musk and his car company. 47 also “purchased” a vehicle. Presumably, the next several weeks will see it sitting in a service bay to cover the 37 recall notices against it.
The biggest challenge Tesla faces is that the people most likely to want to purchase an EV are the very ones who’ve been alienated.
Even Bill Cypher Is Giving These Stories Side Eye
The Washington Post saw another editor depart in the wake of owner Jeff Bezos’s change to opinion policy. After the publication declined to publish her editorial criticizing the new rules, Associate Editor Ruth Marcus submitted her resignation.
Blackrock, the nation’s largest asset manager, told its employees that it would no longer pursue “aspirational workplace representation goals,” code for them ending DEI programs.
AND… software development company Niantic Labs has agreed to sell its videogame division to the Saudi Arabia-owned mobile company Scopely. The games that will go over to Scopely include the wildly popular Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now, and Pikmin Bloom. Scopely is a subsidiary of the Saudi company Savvy Games Group, which was itself created by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The PIF’s chairman is Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, which means at least some of the game revenue will go to the man accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi.
It’s a Think Piece…
As we all struggle to spend our dollars ethically, one of my favorite writers, John Scalzi, takes a moment to walk us through his own thought processes on the subject.
Thank You…
We owe a huge thank you to our friend Mac, who created our new Donut Bee graphics and logo.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Kim