Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Budget 2025: Carney earmarks $89.7 billion in new spending to counter U.S. protectionism (Globe and Mail)
• Coca-Cola injects 'holidays are coming' ads with an upgraded dose of AI (WSJ)
• Shein's Paris store debut triggers explosive backlash (Globe and Mail)
• The real reason food prices jump every November and February (Agri-Food Analytics Lab)
• Burger King braces for the demise of the penny (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Martha Stewart's empire monetized more than just domesticity (Bloomberg)
• Macy's probe found employee acted alone in $151 million accounting scandal (WSJ)
• Hershey's main owner rejects Mondelez's offer as too low (Bloomberg)
• Failure of Kroger-Albertsons merger may curb grocers' advertising ambitions (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): Back-stabbing and threats of a 'suicide parachute' at Hershey (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Food industry pushes back against Kamala Harris' 'price gouging' claim (WSJ)
• Alain Bouchard takes one more big swing to cement his Couche-Tard legacy (Globe and Mail)
• Starbucks's new boss gets an unusual perk: Remote work (WSJ)
• How Walmart became an advertising powerhouse (FT)
• SkipTheDishes and Just Eat cut about 800 jobs in Canada mid restructuring (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Customers are fed up with anti-theft measures at stores. Retailers are blaming organized crime (CBC)
• Amazon's appearance at Upfronts highlights push beyond digital ads and into traditional media (CNBC)
• McDonald's makes new pitch to inflation-weary eaters: A meal for $5 (WSJ)
• Olive oil is how much now? Prices jump - again - amid worldwide shortage (CBC)
• From the archives (1985): The McBurger stand that started it all (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Weston, McCain met to discuss bread prices, plaintiffs in class action lawsuit allege (Globe and Mail)
• Large grocers took advantage of pandemic supply chain disruptions, F.T.C says (NYT)
• Poland's grocery price war is spurring losses in retailer shares (Bloomberg)
• With TikTok under fire, brands that rely on it worry (NYT)
• Food weaponization makes a deadly comeback (Foreign Affairs)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Wonder, Mac Lore's food-delivery startup, raises $700 million (WSJ)
• Beauty stores like Sephora draw teens driven by social media (NYT)
• Dynamic pricing is coming for grocery stores (NPR)
• Canada's inflation rate takes a surprising dip to 2.8% (Globe and Mail)
• How AI is transforming the business of advertising (FT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Something went terribly wrong with online ads (The Atlantic)
• Surge pricing for burgers and shakes? Wendy's giving it a whirl (NYT)
• Luxury retail is about 'emotions, not transactions' (McKinsey)
• Exclusive deals between insurance companies and pharmacies becoming more prevalent (Globe and Mail)
• Wendy's makes it clear after backlash: No surge pricing (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The power of celebration (Medium)
• Chocolate chip ice cream has fallen out of favor (NYT)
• Exclusive deals between insurance companies and pharmacies becoming more prevalent in Canada (Globe and Mail)
• Dunkin's Ben Affleck Super Bowl merch is hot right now (WSJ)
• It's not just wages. Retailers are mistreating employees in more insidious ways (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• $7 million for 30 seconds? To advertisers, the Super Bowl is worth it (NYT)
• 'Scared' food CEOs are calling Ozempic maker for advice (Bloomberg)
• Who created butter chicken? India's great curry clash (NYT)
• Sainsbury's to cut costs by £1 billion and launch share buyback (FT) 
  
• From the archives (2020): Want to be more productive? Try doing less (HBR)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Anthony Albanese announces year-long investigation into Australian supermarket prices (The Guardian)
• Shein backers offer to sell at 30% discount as IPO prospects dim (Bloomberg)
• The curious history of Pac-Man snacks (The Guardian)
• Does negative advertising pay off for consumer brands (WSJ)
• From the archives (2013): Michael Mauboussin: Measuring the moat (Credit Suisse)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Google is finally killing cookies. Advertisers still aren't ready (WSJ)
• AI is coming for the influencers (New York Magazine)
• Aldi and Lidl hail Christmas boost from bargain hunters (BBC)
• Carrefour drops PepsiCo products in France over price increases (NYT)
• Behind cheap stuff from Shein and Temu: A hard bargain with suppliers (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy & Competitors (Medium)
• Brands wanted to cut out stores. Not anymore (WSJ)
• Agri-Committee Report #10 (House of Commons)
• Baggu's totes find a Gen Z audience (NYT)
• After Bud Light debacle, AB InBev takes a bow at ad-biz Oscars (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• How Hasbro plans to revive its toy business (WSJ)
• How online advertisers label you (The Markup)
• Bunge finalizing $30 billion-plus merger with Viterra (Reuters)
• Andy Jassy urged to refocus in open letter from Bernstein analyst (CNBC)
• Energy drinks are surging. So are their caffeine levels (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The Syrian family that rebuilt a chocolate empire in Nova Scotia (NYT)
• Aldi sales soar as UK shoppers battle record inflation (CNN)
• Google and Meta's advertising dominance fades as TikTok, streamers emerge (WSJ)
• Shopify tells employees to just say no to meetings (Bloomberg)
• How Russia's war on Ukraine is worsening global starvation (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy, choice, and the road not taken (Medium)
• He's an outspoken defender of meat. Industry funds his research, files show (NYT)
• Restaurant staffers are returning to work after Covid flight (WSJ)
• Fast food, grocery chains sued over mobile-ordering patents (Bloomberg)
• Misleading ads fueled rapid growth of online mental health companies (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Canada's Food Price Report 2023 (Dalhousie University)
• Forecasters split on how high Bank of Canada will push next rate hike (Globe and Mail)
• Fashion in the metaverse: What avatars are wearing (WSJ)
• Census shows high rate of undergraduate and college education among Canadians, but complex trends lie behind it (Globe and Mail)
• Ad firms predict slower advertising growth in 2023 (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Creating an competitive edge in omnichannel grocery fulfillment (McKinsey)
• Supply chain woes hit a cherished commodity in Maine (Washington Post)
• The bizarre world of online grocery store conversions (WSJ)
• Amazon has a $31 billion a year advertising business (CNBC)
• The rise of the $2.5 billion ugly shoe empire (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• WV's assessment of healthcare customers (Wittington Ventures)
• Inflation pressure hits consumers as firms pass along higher costs (Globe and Mail)
• Apple and Google are killing the ad cookie. Here's why (Bloomberg)
• This online grocery site lets you filter online retailers by their values (Fast Company)
• Walmart expands delivery to your fridge, pandemic be damned (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• What the demise of cookies and third-party identifies means to digital advertising (McKinsey)
• The quality of your coffee may soon be determined by a robot (Bloomberg)
• Oprah-backed Oatly files for IPO (WSJ)
• Walmart+ usage is hampered by customer confusion, survey says (Bloomberg)
• Mall department stores are struggling. The pandemic has pushed them to the edge of extinction (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The state of fashion 2021 (BoF)
• Goodbye blazers, hello 'coatigans': Women adjust attire to work at home (NYT)
• Google, Facebook, and Amazon gain as Coronavirus reshapes ad spending (WSJ)
• Cultured meat has been approved for consumers for first time (MIT Technology Review)
• From the archives (2018): The great retail bifurcation (Deloitte)