đ Remember: Your body is a temple. Which is why you should not order No. 40, the bestselling dish from a pizzeria in DĂŒsseldorf, Germany, that came with a hidden side of cocaine. Seems the shopâs slogan, âWe deliver everything home to you,â included more than pizza.
đ§ On the pod: The NFLâs growing flirtation with Europe.
NEWS FLASH
đČ Peloton keeps peddling its bikes: Ever since wealthy young professionals returned to their offices and Equinoxes, Peloton has struggled to sell its pricey stationary bikes. Now, itâs trying a new tactic: Costco will sell Pelotonâs Bike+ for $2k in 300 of its US stores and for $2.2k on its website for a limited time â a discount from its retail price of ~$2.5k. It remains to be seen if the 36% of Costco customers with household incomes of $125k+ will throw a stationary bike into their cart to balance out an industrial quantity of cookies.
đ€ Elon Musk said Blade Runner 2049 “sucked.” Here’s why: The movie’s production company Alcon Entertainment is suing Musk, Tesla, and Warner Bros. Discovery for using AI-generated images of the film during Teslaâs Robotaxi launch event, alleging copyright infringement. The suit claims Alcon denied WBDâs request to use images and clips from the film, wanting no affiliation with any company owned by Musk, whom it accused of âhighly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech.â Alcon is pursuing partnerships with other auto brands for its forthcoming âBlade Runner 2099â TV series.
đ Stay hydrated, people: Whole Foods released its top 10 forecasted food and beverage trends for 2025. They include international snacks, Asian fusion, crunchy textures, teas, sourdough, aquatic plants (seaweed, sea moss, etc.), high-protein foods, hydration boosters and alternative waters, sustainable products, and compostable packaging. So, yeah, sounds very Whole Foods.
MORE NEWS TO KNOW
Walmart is rolling out a prescription delivery service in six states, with plans to expand it across 49 states by the end of January. The service will cost $9.95 per delivery and looks to grow the 12% of Walmartâs annual US revenue from its health and wellness category.
Meta has banned accounts that track celebrity jets, including 38 run by Jack Sweeney. This data is publicly available, but Metaâs Oversight Board deemed such accounts a risk to public figures.
Poshmark will reverse course on its increased seller fees on Oct. 24. Per CEO Manish Chandra, the idea was to achieve greater parity in fees between customers and sellers, but customers just spent less, reducing sales overall.
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Does inflation make us feel bad because we hate conflict?
Inflation doesnât just suck at checkout. It actually puts many workers at odds with whatâs in their best interest, per a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
As Business Insiderpoints out, most inflation research considers the economic costs of inflation, but this particular survey is unique in weighing its emotional toll.
What kind of emotions?
Well, not the rage you feel when realizing how much a pint of blueberries now costs, though that is relevant.
As everyday things cost more, workers want raises that reflect those changes; however, employers often offer the same percentage increases, regardless of inflation. Workers are then left to choose between accepting whatâs essentially a pay cut or engaging in conflict.
The study found that 79% of US workers would accept what was offered, leaving a median of 1.75% of their wages on the table, while just 21% would work to increase it through methods like:
Conversations with their supervisors
Securing an offer elsewhere as a bargaining chip
Asking their union to negotiate
Of those who did ask, 67% listed inflation as a factor, while only 19.7% said they always negotiate for more. Unionized workers were the least likely to accept the default wage, while younger, higher-earning, and government workers were more likely to accept.
Whatâs the holdup?
The study found that people who didnât ask believed they could have secured a salary increase if they did â theyâre just that averse to conflict.
So, what makes asking for a raise â a normal part of remaining with an employer â so uncomfortable?
A 2023 study found that 58% of surveyed Americans were apprehensive to even ask, even though 80% believed theyâd earned one. Top reasons included being unsure of how to ask, fear of rejection, and concern over job security.
That last part may be particularly anxiety-inducing now, as companies perform layoffs and slow hiring efforts following post-pandemic hiring sprees, and amid economic and election concerns.
Feeling inspired to ask for a raise? Here are some tips from the University of New Hampshireâs College of Professional Studies.
More bad news about the housing market? Shocker. Americans are increasingly finding themselves priced out of supposedly âaffordableâ cities as exclusive zip codes expand nationwide. We crunched the numbers â take a look.
Counting sheep (and profits):Trends explains why bed rotting on your vacay could be a $70B market, and the opportunities you shouldnât hit snooze on.
NEWSWORTHY NUMBER
The average price the tooth fairy â or, parents and grandparents for those of you dispelled of the myth â pays US children per baby tooth, per an Affordable Dentures & Implants survey of 4k Americans. The price of a tooth has increased over time, with those same adults reporting an average payment of $2.83 per tooth when they were kids. Another modern touch: While 86% of tooth fairies left cash, 1% paid in bitcoin.
AROUND THE WEB
đ On this day: In 1958, author Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature for Doctor Zhivago, though the Soviet Union had banned the book and forced him to renounce his award.
đ” Thatâs cool:Hearing Things, an independent, worker-owned music publication.
đ My First Million: Shoji Morimoto makes $80k per year renting himself out to friendless people.
