M&Ms' beloved characters are getting a new look | CNN Business

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M&M’s branding is getting a refresh.

The candy’s anthropomorphized chocolate characters are being made over, and the logo is also getting a tweak.

But the most noticeable change is to the six M&M characters: new shoes. Green has swapped her go-go boots for sneakers. Brown is sporting lower, more sensible heels. Red and Yellow’s shoes now have laces. Orange’s shoes laces are no longer untied. And Blue’s shoes, while little changed, resemble what Anton Vincent, president of Mars Wrigley North America, described as “a bad version of Uggs.”

M&Ms old logo and characters are shown on the left, and the new versions on the right. Changes include new footwear for the six characters and a straightened-out logo emphasizing the ampersand. M&Ms

Mars Wrigley, which owns M&Ms, is trying to make the characters — particularly the female ones — more “current” and “representative of our consumer,” Vincent said. The revamped footwear is “a subtle cue, but it’s a cue people really pick up on,” he added, noting that Mars gets a lot of feedback on the characters’ shoes.

The logo adjustment is also slight: Instead of resting on its side, it’s set up straight. The new orientation is designed to emphasize the ampersand. The logo was last tweaked in 2019.

The changes are rolling out online this week and they’ll be incorporated into M&Ms’ packaging and other marketing materials this year.

The changes may be subtle, but even small shifts can help brands avoid falling out of fashion, said David Camp, co-founder and managing partner of Metaforce, a marketing company. “Every brand has to continuously reinvent itself to remain relevant.”

M&Ms were introduced in 1941. M&Ms

Better gender representation

M&Ms were first sold in 1941, and the characters arrived on the scene in 1954. Old M&Ms commercials starred Red and Yellow, representing regular and peanut M&Ms. In the late 1990s, new characters were added to the mix. Brown, the most recent addition, joined the crew in 2012.

Over the years the brand has switched between highlighting its characters more heavily or less frequently, Vincent noted. Now, it’s putting them front and center.

M&M's packaging circa 2004. Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

Currently, there are two female characters and four male ones. Adding another couple of female characters to balance out the ratio is possible, said Vincent, but there are “implications” for the product itself. Namely, M&Ms would have to add new permanent colors to its mix.

The solution, then, was to give the female Green and Brown a promotion. They’ll have more prominent placement in ads, with the aim of “a little bit more gender balance,” said Vincent.

M&Ms is using these changes to try to signal its brand identity to customers, who are increasingly drawn to brands they feel align with their own values. “It gives us a good platform to talk about the whole idea around belonging,” Vincent said.

The company is also is placing more “focus on the characters as it relates to the total brand, and then building ourselves a platform to be able to advocate and talk about this idea,” he added.

Other brands have made adjustments to their logos or mascots to keep them up-to-date. One example is Quaker, which in 2012 altered the face of its mascot like a discreet plastic surgeon. (Quaker is owned by Pepsico (PEP)). Changes included “remov[ing] his double chin and smooth[ing] the rolls and plumpness in his face and neck,” The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The new character’s shoulders are also more visible and his hair shorter, to make him seem more fit, and elongating his neck, the Journal noted.

Some brands like Uncle Ben’s and Aunt Jemima recently have revised their logos, mascots or brand names because of problematic and racist origins.

Food packaging contains dangerous chemicals, report says | CNN

CNN —

Alarming levels of dangerous chemicals known as PFAS were discovered in food packaging at a number of well-known fast-food and fast-casual restaurants and grocery store chains, a new report found.

The highest levels of indicators for PFAS were found in food packaging from Nathan’s Famous, Cava, Arby’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Stop & Shop and Sweetgreen, according to an investigation released Thursday by Consumer Reports.

Often called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment, PFAS are used in food packaging to prevent grease and water from soaking through food wrappers and beverage cups. PFAS can also be found in the ink used to print logos and instructions on food containers.

The new report comes more than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public has relied heavily on takeout and grocery deliveries.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) a “public health concern,” citing studies that found the human-made chemicals can harm the immune system and reduce a person’s resistance to infectious diseases.

“There is evidence from human and animal studies that PFAS exposure may reduce antibody responses to vaccines,” stated the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “More research is needed to understand how PFAS exposure may affect illness from COVID-19.”

More than 100 food products tested

The Consumer Reports investigation collected 118 food packaging products sold by 24 companies in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It tested those products for organic fluorine – a marker for PFAS. Researchers then sent samples of products with the highest levels to an independent laboratory that could perform more specific tests, said Michael Hansen, senior staff scientist for advocacy at Consumer Reports.

Regulatory limits for how much PFAS food packaging should contain can vary greatly. In the US, there are no federal limits, leaving action up to the states. Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington have passed bills banning intentional use of PFAS in food packaging, but haven’t yet specified a limit, according to Consumer Reports. In January 2023, a new law in California will set the limit at less than 100 ppm (parts per million).

However, Denmark set a much lower regulatory limit of 20 ppm with great success, said Xenia Trier, a chemicals, environment and human health expert at the European Environment Agency.

“In Denmark we’ve seen both a decrease in noncompliance by industry from 60% to about 30% and a decrease in levels of PFAS in packaging products over the past 10 years,” Trier told CNN. “It does work to set limits and enforce them. It is possible to find alternative solutions and if one manufacturer can make packaging without PFAS, then it should be possible for everybody to do it.”

The Consumer Reports investigation found the highest indicators for PFAS – 876 ppm and 618 ppm – in two types of bags for sides at Nathan’s Famous restaurants.

High indicators of PFAS (in the 500s) were also found in a Chick-fil-A sandwich wrapper and in fiber bowls at Cava, a Mediterranean restaurant chain.

Indicator levels in the 300s and 400s were found in a bag of cookies at Arby’s, bamboo paper plates at Stop & Shop, and in a bag for both cookies and French toast sticks at Burger King.

Levels of PFAS indicators in the 200s were found in a Sweetgreen paper bag for focaccia, additional items at Cava, and in bags for french fries, cookies and Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s.

However, all of the companies listed had additional food packaging that tested at levels below 200 ppm. Four companies – Arby’s, Nathan’s Famous, McDonald’s and Stop & Shop – also sold food in packaging that had no detectable levels of PFAS, the report said.

The Consumer Reports investigation did not test packaging from every food product sold at each company.

“I would not urge consumers to take these brand names and only go to this one or that one, as this investigation only looked at just over 100 products,” said Graham Peaslee, a professor of physics, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

“However, this will hold industry’s toes to the fire, so in that sense, I think it’s a valuable report,” he added. “Measuring and saying PFAS is there and it’s dangerous gets people’s attention, and companies tend to avoid attention like that.”

Health impact of PFAS

PFAS chemicals are in many products: nonstick cookware, infection-resistant surgical gowns and drapes, cell phones, semiconductors, commercial aircraft and low-emission vehicles. The chemicals also are used to make carpeting, clothing, and furniture resistant to stains, water and grease damage.

In use since the 1950s, PFAS are chemicals most Americans have “in their blood,” especially perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA),” according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is charged with protecting the public from hazardous substances.

In the Consumer Reports investigation, the most common chemical found in the food packaging that was tested was PFOA, with PFOS coming in fifth, according to the report.

In addition to impacts on the immune system, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said studies in humans and lab animals have found links between certain PFAS chemicals and an increase in cholesterol levels, alterations in liver enzymes, a higher risk of developing kidney or testicular cancer, small reductions in infant birth weights and an additional risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women.

“PFAS have also caused birth defects, delayed development, and newborn deaths in lab animals,” the agency stated, while adding “not all effects observed in animals may occur in humans.”

As environmental groups and the public began to take notice of the health impacts of the chemicals, manufacturers started to voluntarily phase out the use of PFOS and PFOA in the US. Between 1999 and 2014, blood levels of PFOS in Americans had declined by more than 80% and blood levels of PFOA had declined by more than 60%, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry stated.

However, “as PFOS and PFOA are phased out and replaced, people may be exposed to other PFAS,” the agency continued. Newer versions of PFAS in food packaging appear to be absorbed by food more readily than the older versions, according to a 2016 study.

Studies in Denmark have shown that PFAS do “migrate from the paper into the food,” Trier said. “Even though it was not 100%, we still saw substantial transmission. In general, transmission from packaging to food is increased as the temperature of the food rises and the time spent in wrapping materials increases.”

Industry response

The Consumer Reports investigation mirrored results of reports in 2018 and 2020 by Toxic-Free Future and Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. Those reports found “harmful” levels of PFAS in fast-food packaging and in nearly two-thirds of takeout containers made of paper, like those used at self-serve salad buffets and hot bars.

In response to the 2018 report, Whole Foods became the first grocery chain in North America to publicly commit to remove PFAS from takeout containers and deli and bakery paper. Other companies have followed suit, including Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons, Amazon.com, Cava, Chipotle, Freshii, McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Sweetgreen, Trader Joe’s and Wendy’s, according to Toxic-Free Future.

In the new investigation, Consumer Reports tested 13 food packaging products from retailers that had previously committed to phasing out PFAS. Seven of the 13 had levels of PFAS above 20 ppm, the report said.

Burger King, which had high levels of PFAS in three of six products tested, had not made a public commitment to phase out PFAS, according to Consumer Reports. Early Thursday, parent company Restaurant Brands International announced it will globally phase out any “added” PFAS from “guest-facing packaging materials” at the Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes brands “by the end of 2025 or sooner.”

Nathan’s Famous, which Consumer Reports said also has not made a public commitment to reducing PFAS, told CNN the company had begun phasing out the bags. “One of our goals in this complete package redesign is to reduce PFAS,” said Phil McCann, vice president of marketing at Nathan’s Famous. “Full transition will be complete by December 2022.”

Chick-fil-A told CNN it had been on a four-year journey to phase out PFAS: “Chick-fil-A has eliminated intentionally added PFAS from all newly produced packaging going forward in our supply chain. While some legacy packaging may still be in restaurants, it is expected to be phased out by the end of this summer,” the company tweeted Wednesday.

Cava, which had previously pledged to reduce PFAS but had five out of six products with indicators between 200 ppm and 548 ppm, told CNN that “due to a multitude of factors related to the pandemic, and especially global supply chain shortages, the transition to eliminating added PFAS, which began in August of 2021, is taking longer than planned. Our teams are working with our suppliers to complete the transition within the year.”

A McDonald’s spokesperson said less than 7.5% of the company’s global food packaging contained added PFAS at the end of 2020 and said the company was continuing its search for alternative materials that offered proper grease-resistant barriers, with a goal of reducing deliberately added PFAS by the end of 2025.

Sweetgreen told CNN the company was “proud to share that we are currently in the process of rolling out new PFAS-free focaccia bags that will be available in all Sweetgreen locations by the end of Q2.”

Jennifer Brogan, director of external communications and community relations for Stop & Shop, told CNN the company could “confirm that these Nature’s Promise brand plates have been removed from all store locations.”

A spokesperson from Arby’s told CNN in an email that the company has “minimal packaging materials containing PFAs and is on track to have PFAs removed from all packaging products by the end of 2022.”

Actions the public can take

Experts say people who want to avoid PFAS in their takeout and food delivery packaging should favor companies that have pledged to remove the chemicals.

Take food out of the container as soon as you receive it, and never reheat food in its original container. Instead, remove your food and heat it in ceramic or glass containers, Trier said.

The Consumer Reports investigation found some of the highest levels of PFAS were in paper bags (192.2 ppm) and molded fiber bowls and trays (156.8 ppm). Paper plates tested at 149 ppm, and food wrappers and liners came in at 59.2 ppm.

Don’t be fooled by “environmentally friendly” claims – they don’t guarantee a product is PFAS-free. When Consumer Reports tested those products, some had levels of PFAS above 100 ppm, and most had some detectable levels, the report said.

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Experts also suggest reducing the frequency of takeout meals to once a week or less, and recommend that people instead make food at home.

You can also reach out to your congressional representative and senators and support the bipartisan bill Keep Food Containers Safe from PFAS Act, experts said. Designed to ban the use of any PFAS as a food contact substance, the bill was introduced into both chambers in November.

What is rainbow fentanyl? Colorful pills drive new warnings about ...

CNN —

A new wave of concern has spread across the United States over multi-colored “rainbow fentanyl” pills, powders and blocks – that look similar to candy or sidewalk chalk – being sold and used in several states, and potentially posing a threat to young people.

But parents of young children should not overly panic, and the emergence of this new product is one small part of the larger ongoing opioid crisis.

Rainbow fentanyl comes in bright colors and can be used in the form of pills or powder that contain illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, making them extremely addictive and potentially deadly if someone overdoses while trying to achieve a high off of the drugs.

This multi-colored fentanyl may appeal to young people or fool them into thinking it’s safe, but experts say illicit fentanyl has been hiding in what appears to be other products for a long time, and fentanyl is fentanyl – it’s all dangerous, rainbow or not.

“Colored fentanyl pills have been around for a few years. Typically, they’ve been blue pills labeled ‘M30’ to counterfeit oxycodone, which is a much weaker opioid,” Joseph Palamar, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health, who has studied trends in illicit fentanyl, said in an email to CNN.

“I think the big difference people are concerned about is with regard to accidental ingestion. People are worried that their kids will take one of these pills thinking they’re another drug or even thinking they’re some sort of candy,” Palamar said. “I don’t think the color of the pills greatly increases danger to people who don’t use fentanyl, but there is always a possibility of someone who uses fentanyl leaving their pills around in the reach of children.”

He added, “We need to keep in mind that these pills cost money so people aren’t going to be throwing them on the ground for kids to find. I don’t think people will be giving these pills out as Halloween candy.”

Where rainbow fentanyl warning originated

The US Drug Enforcement Administration released a warning in August advising the public of this “alarming emerging trend” of “colorful fentanyl available across the United States.”

At the time, the agency said that it and its law enforcement partners seized the brightly colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills across 18 states. Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing the nation, according to the DEA.

But the DEA did not specify in its announcement whether rainbow fentanyl had led to overdoses or deaths among young people.

“Rainbow fentanyl – fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes – is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in the August announcement.

Since then, some colleges and universities are cautioning students about the presence and dangers of rainbow fentanyl, and the California Department of Public Health has alerted K-12 school administrators in the state about rainbow fentanyl being “a new trend.”

At Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, physicians have been seeing more fentanyl exposures among both young children and adolescents, Dr. Sam Wang, the hospital’s pediatric toxicologist, told CNN on Friday. While he and his colleagues are aware of rainbow fentanyl warnings, he hasn’t heard any patients or parents mention it.

After all, the bottom line, he said, is that fentanyl is fentanyl, whether it comes in the form of rainbow-colored pills or simply a white powder.

“It’s just coming out in a different form to potentially be more attractive, more quote unquote ‘fun’ to use because it looks potentially fun to take,” said Wang, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

And when young people use illicit drugs, they sometimes don’t know what they really contain, or how dangerous those substances might be.

When it comes to rainbow fentanyl, “the fentanyl itself is going to be the same issue as the counterfeit pharmaceutical fentanyl. We don’t know how much is in it – it can vary. We don’t know the type of fentanyl,” Wang said. “And so those concerns transmit, still, over to this product. It’s just now this looks like it has a potential danger for young children and then also, it’s going to be more attractive for people to use and have consequences from that.”

The rise of fentanyl

The United States has been facing an opioid overdose epidemic – and waves of opioid overdose deaths – for decades, starting with a rise in prescription opioid overdose deaths in the early 2000s, followed by a rise in heroin overdose deaths beginning in 2010 and, most recently, a rise in synthetic opioid overdose deaths that started in 2013, fueled by potent fentanyl.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid intended to help patients, such as those with cancer, manage severe pain. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and typically prescribed in the form of skin patches or lozenges. But most recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdose, and death in the United States are linked to illegally made fentanyl, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The latest data suggest that annual drug overdose deaths have jumped 44% from before the Covid-19 pandemic. There were about 76,000 deaths reported in the 12-month period ending March 2020. The CDC’s latest provisional data show that more than 109,000 people in the United States died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending March 2022.

Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in more than two-thirds of overdose deaths in the year ending March 2022. Deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by a staggering 80% over the past two years, CDC data shows.

Rainbow fentanyl has been receiving attention due to the bright colors of the products, but the illicit fentanyl that the products contain represents a continuation of the ongoing opioid epidemic. The only difference between rainbow fentanyl and the fentanyl products of the past appears to be the coloring.

“The reason it’s colored is just to differentiate products. If we had a regulated market, they would be differentiated in different ways – we do not. It has nothing to do with marketing to kids at all, period, whatsoever,” said Maya Doe Simkins, co-founder of the Opioid Safety and Naloxone Network and co-director of Remedy Alliance, a collection of harm reduction groups that work to make naloxone more accessible.

Simkins likened the different colors of rainbow fentanyl to how people used food coloring in heroin in the past, and she said the colors are sometimes used to differentiate batches.

“It’s just a differentiation between your product, my product or this batch and the next batch,” she said.

Increasing fentanyl seizures

Illicit fentanyl has long been hiding in drugs, and its presence appears to be on the rise.

A study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence in May, found that the number of fentanyl-containing powder and pills seized by law enforcement in the United States rose between 2018 and 2021.

The weight of powder fentanyl seizures increased from 298.2 kilograms in 2018 to 2,416 kilograms in 2021, and the number of pills seized increased from 42,202 in 2018 to 2,089,186 in 2021, according to the study, of which Palamar was the lead author.

“We found that not only has fentanyl seizures been increasing, but the proportion of pills seized to overall fentanyl seizures has been increasing. The proportion of pill seizures increased from 14% in early 2018 to 29% in late 2021,” Palamar wrote in his email to CNN.

“We don’t have information regarding what these seized pills were purported to be, but we think many were disguised as oxycodone or even Xanax,” he wrote. “Seizures of these counterfeit pills have been increasing at a rapid rate, suggesting increasing availability, and availability is going to continue to increase.”

With this increase, counterfeit pills have been more difficult to identify, but Palamar said that people can use test strips to detect traces of illicit fentanyl if they have concerns.

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“People can purchase fentanyl test strips for as little as a dollar. Most of these strips are meant for urine testing but they can detect the presence of fentanyl if used correctly,” Palamar wrote.

“I highly recommend that anyone who plans to use an illegally purchased pill or an illegal powder like cocaine test the drug before using,” he added. “There are also hundreds of newer fentanyl analogs and other opioids that can be very dangerous that test strips can’t detect. I do worry that test strips will give some people a false sense of security, but they’re something.”

This 77-year old ice cream chain is getting a makeover

New York CNN Business —

Baskin-Robbins is making some changes.

The 77-year old ice cream shop is tweaking its logo, employee uniforms and packaging to update the brand. It’s the first major update for Baskin-Robbins since 2006, according to the company. It will also sell merchandise, including bikes and bucket hats, from a dedicated online store for the first time. And Baskin-Robbins will unveil new flavors as part of the refresh.

For years, the Baskin-Robbins logo has been pink and blue. “BR” and the words “Baskin Robbins” were printed in a blocky, childish font.

In the new logo that playful font is gone, replaced by a crisper version. The new branding comes in brown and pink, brown and blue, and pink and white.

In other words, the new Baskin-Robbins is all grown up. The makeover has been a long time coming.

“When we really think about the journey … it started four years ago,” said Jason Maceda, Baskin-Robbins president. That included “really listening to our guests.”

Old (L) and new versions of the Baskin-Robbins logo. Baskin-Robbins

Baskin-Robbins’ leadership team heard that some customers felt very attached to the brand, which they associated with childhood trips with parents or grandparents. But they also heard that there were “some opportunities in being more relevant,” Maceda said.

It’s important for brands like Baskin-Robbins to gain traction with younger consumers -— not just people who remember it from their youth -— so they have new customers coming in.

The company’s leadership has been addressing the feedback in a few ways. In late 2018, for example, Baskin-Robbins introduced a new layout and design for some stores. These so-called “Moments” stores feature a more modern design, digital menu boards, more ice cream display cases and more toppings and offerings.

So far, there are about 70 of these stores altogether, Maceda said. That’s still just a small portion of the over 7,700 Baskin-Robbins stores open globally.

The rollout of the “Moments’ stores slowed during the pandemic, Maceda noted, adding that he’s “excited to get that going again.”

Still, the pandemic was good for ice cream sales. Baskin-Robbins was taken private in 2020 and doesn’t publicly disclose sales figures. But Maceda said sales grew 3.5% in 2020, and 10.9% last year. Overall, ice cream sales at US scoop shops grew 4.4% from 2019 to 2021, according to Euromonitor International.

To help keep that momentum going, Baskin-Robbins hopes to make a splash with its new look, flavors and merchandise.

Bikes, bucket hats and ube ice cream

Some examples of Baskin-Robbins' merchandise. Baskin-Robbins

The new branding draws on the company’s history, noted Jerid Grandinetti, VP of marketing and culinary at Baskin-Robbins.

Brothers-in-law Irvine “Irv” Robbins and Burton “Burt” Baskin founded the ice cream company in 1945. But they didn’t brand it as “Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream” until 1953.

“The original advertising campaign in 1953 was built around circus iconography,” said Grandinetti. That campaign used the pink and brown that Baskin-Robbins is reviving today.

That was also the year that Baskin-Robbins introduced the idea of 31 flavors, one for every day of the month. Both the new and old logos have “31” hidden between the B and the R when the letters are placed together.

Today, Baskin-Robbins has hundreds of flavors in its portfolio. But it still has room for more.

Part of the refresh includes three new limited-time flavors: One is Non-Dairy Mint Chocochunk, another is Totally Unwrapped, made with peanut butter and chocolate ice creams, caramel swirls, fudge-covered pretzels, and fudge and caramel covered peanuts. Grandinetti refers to that one as a “deconstructed candy bar.”

The third flavor, Ube Coconut Swirl, is made with coconut and ube (a purple yam commonly used in Filipino desserts) ice creams with ube-flavored swirls.

Totally Unwrapped is the April flavor of the month, while the other two will be available through the spring, and could stick around for longer depending on how customers react.

In addition to the new flavors and its new look, the company is rolling out some swag, including branded scrunchies, sweatshirts, bucket hats and even bicycles.

Bikes may seem like an odd choice of swag for an ice cream company. But the brand’s new tagline, “Seize the Yay,” is about celebrating small, joyous moments. And nothing says “yay” like a ride on an ice-cream themed bike.

“We want to make sure that we celebrate along with our guests,” said Grandinetti. “What better way to do that than to provide some fun buzzworthy” items, like a bicycle, as well as clothing that can be “part of their everyday lifestyle.”

Diwali is having a mainstream moment in the US | CNN Business

CNN —

Diwali seems to be everywhere this year.

More and more major brands are recognizing the festival of lights, running ad campaigns and stocking products related to the holiday in the US. South Asian Americans who celebrate Diwali can now pick up fireworks from Costco, greeting cards from Hallmark and party decorations from Target.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism. The holiday also has significance for Sikhs and Jains, and is celebrated not just in India, but in Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries with South Asian diasporas.

The growing acknowledgment of the holiday in the US is a marked shift for many first- and second-generation South Asian Americans who grew up celebrating the festival at home but rarely saw it acknowledged outside of their communities, says Soni Satpathy-Singh, who runs the meal delivery review website Meal Matchmaker.

Eight years ago, Satpathy-Singh wrote a piece for Brown Girl Magazine lamenting that Diwali hadn’t caught the attention of mass market retailers, despite the Indian American population’s growing numbers and high incomes. Today, the landscape looks much different.

“It’s interesting to see how much has developed over the last eight years just in terms of things you can buy to celebrate Diwali,” she told CNN. “Growing up, we would buy diyas from India or [use] things that my parents already had at home. There was no venturing out to buy stuff for a party, partly because it wasn’t even available.”

The proliferation of Diwali ad campaigns and products, marketing strategists and business owners say, reflects just how much the South Asian population in the US has grown in recent years.

Consumers are looking for meaning

It’s not hard to understand why more businesses are taking notice of Diwali, says Dhatri Navanayagam, a senior strategy director at the marketing agency Essence Global.

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the US, and are projected to become the country’s largest immigrant group by the middle of the century, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. At 4.6 million people, Indian Americans account for about 21% of that group, more than doubling in population from 2000 to 2019.

Indian Americans also have a median household income of $119,000 – well above that of the overall population.

Diwali, then, presents a significant commercial opportunity for businesses, given that it’s tradition to give gifts, ignite firecrackers and feast with friends and family. But it’s not enough to just slap “Happy Diwali” branding on a product – consumers are looking for products and marketing campaigns that feel genuine and meaningful, according to Navanayagam.

“Brands are increasingly leaning into understanding what consumers need from them during this festival and how they can actually step up and help,” she says.

Lego stands out as a notable example, says Navanayagam. In addition to highlighting Diwali gift ideas, the company’s website features instructions for creating a rangoli using Lego pieces that people already have at home – an initiative that feels particularly relevant given the financial pressures that many consumers are currently facing, she adds.

Satpathy-Singh, too, has noticed some companies making more of an effort. The cookware brand Our Place, which makes the cult favorite Always Pan, is selling a Diwali fry set for consumers making samosas, jalebis or murukku as part of their celebrations. And the party supplier Big Dot of Happiness makes Diwali decorations that she’s bought in years past.

But she’s also seen efforts that don’t feel particularly thoughtful, such as Edible Arrangements’ Diwali-themed platter. Though the brand acknowledged Diwali, its assortment was made up of chocolate-covered strawberries and mini cheesecakes with sprinkles, which she felt had little relevance to the festival.

“There was no Indian flavor profile or anything reminiscent of Diwali mithai (sweets),” she adds. “It was just something commercially slapped on.”

South Asian entrepreneurs have been doing this longer

Though big brands have only recently begun to acknowledge Diwali, South Asian entrepreneurs and small business owners have been developing unique offerings around the holiday for a while, says Malai founder Pooja Bavishi.

Malai, a Brooklyn-based ice cream business inspired by South Asian flavors and ingredients, started selling its Diwali Celebration Box in 2019. The items in the collection – which in past years have included gulab jamun ice cream cake and Parle-G masala chai ice cream sandwiches – cater to a new generation of Indian Americans who are looking for an updated twist on familiar flavors, Bavishi says. And it’s proved immensely popular with customers.

“One of the main goals of Malai is to show that these flavors and these products are part of American culture and they should not be exoticized at all,” she adds.

Brooklyn-based Malai started selling a Diwali Celebration Box in 2019. From Malai

Etsy has been another mainstay for Diwali products, with candles, craft kits and other gifts, Satpathy-Singh says. Navanayagam points to South Asian-owned small businesses Madhu Chocolate and TAGMO Treats, both of whom cater to a younger generation of conscious consumers. Austin-based Madhu Chocolate, which prides itself on being sustainably sourced, introduced a Diwali chocolate bar that is masala chai flavored with Parle-G crumbles. New York-based TAGMO Treats, meanwhile, offers Diwali mithai that pays homage to home cooks.

“These local chocolate companies are using familiarity in the style of Indian flavors with modern sustainable relevance for the younger South Asian generation,” Navanayagam says. “It shows more understanding of how a different generation is celebrating Diwali and what it means to them.”

Is the festival getting over-commercialized?

As Diwali becomes more widely acknowledged and celebrated in the US, there are also concerns about whether the holiday might become over-commercialized, as some critics in India have long bemoaned, or whether mainstream brands are merely capitalizing on the holiday for their own ends.

Some of that is inevitable, says Satpathy-Singh.

“When anything in any culture becomes mainstream, you do run the risk of appropriation,” she says. “Sometimes I wonder if that just comes hand in hand with visibility.”

Bavishi is encouraged by the recent abundance of Diwali products, both from small businesses and mainstream retailers. Her family didn’t have many traditions around Diwali when she was growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, partly because it wasn’t very accessible at the time. That’s no longer the case.

“It is really great that there is acknowledgment for these holidays. For a really long time there wasn’t even that acknowledgment,” she adds. “But it has to be done carefully.”

There are, of course, deeper questions that merit exploration. Does it matter whether the person or company behind a Diwali product is South Asian or not? What is the line between celebration and appropriation? For Satpathy-Singh, the fact that these conversations are even being had is progress in itself.

“Is that good? Is that bad? Does that mean we’ve arrived? I don’t know yet what the answer is,” Satpathy-Singh says, referring to mainstream retailers selling Diwali products. “But I just think it’s powerful that we’ve arrived at this point where we can think through these things.”

Analysis: As 'Candy,' Jessica Biel is the ultimate frenemy | CNN

A version of this story appeared in Pop Life Chronicles, CNN’s weekly entertainment newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

CNN —

Is it just me or is this year flying by?

How are we almost halfway through 2022 already?

I need things to slow down a little bit. Perhaps we can all contribute to that if we sit down for a minute and consume some content.

Three things to watch

‘Candy’

(From left) Melanie Lynskey as Betty Gore and Jessica Biel in the title role are shown in "Candy." Tina Rowden/Hulu

Jessica Biel is the ultimate frenemy in this limited series, based on a real-life, gruesome crime from the 1980s.

Biel portrays Candy Montgomery, a Texas housewife with the “perfect” life who has an affair with her best friend’s husband that ends in murder.

Come for the wigs and ’80s fashion, and stay for the Lizzie Borden of it all.

“Candy” is currently streaming on Hulu.

‘Hacks’ Season 2

(From left) Jean Smart as Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels star in "Hacks" on HBO Max. Karen Ballard/HBO Max

Critics and viewers both seem to love “Hacks” — and rightfully so.

Jean Smart’s portrayal as legendary comedian Deborah Vance, who links up with young comedy writer Ava Daniels, played by the equally talented Hannah Einbinder, has resulted in some excellent TV.

The show is back with a new season of their odd-couple energy, and it’s still just as funny and yet evolving at the same time.

Season two is streaming on HBO Max.

‘Bling Empire’ Season 2

(From left) Anna Shay, Kane Lim and Kelly Mi Li are shown in a scene from the second season of "Bling Empire." Ser Baffo/Netflix

Speaking of new seasons, one of my favorite reality shows from last year is returning.

“Bling Empire” focuses on a group of prosperous Asian friends, which means all of the good living, all of the fashion and — of course — all of the drama.

New episodes start streaming on Netflix this Friday.

Two things to listen to

Kendrick Lamar performs during Lollapalooza Buenos Aires 2019 at Hipódromo de San Isidro on March 31, 2019, in Argentina. Santiago Bluguermann/Getty Images

Five years after his last critically acclaimed studio album, Kendrick Lamar is finally dropping a new project.

Rap aficionados have been eagerly awaiting “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” and the rapper stoked the excitement even more with the music video for his single “The Heart Part 5.” The special effects are impressive, to say the least, as Lamar’s face morphs into other stars including Kanye West, Will Smith, O.J. Simpson and Jussie Smollett.

There’s a reason Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018, and listeners are ready for his lyrics.

The new album is out Friday.

Florence Welch (center) performs with Florence + the Machine bandmates Tom Monger (left) and Robert Ackroyd (right) during The New Yorker Festival on October 11, 2019, in New York City. Brad Barket/Getty Images North America

Florence Welch caught Covid and watched a lot of vampire content, including “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.”

That’s what the Florence + the Machine lead singer told The New York Times as she talked about her band’s latest album, “Dance Fever.”

“The whole record is a ‘be careful what you wish for’ fable,” Welch told the publication. “The monster of the performance heard me: You don’t want to tour anymore? Sit still for a year. How do you feel now?”

Watching horror films during the pandemic has resulted in what the Times called “a collection of haunting rock songs that are frothing for release.”

Pour it on us, as “Dance Fever” is out Friday.

One thing to talk about

Anthony Anderson found fame as Andre "Dre" Johnson on the hit ABC comedy "Black-ish." Craig Sjodin/ABC

Hurray for Anthony Anderson!

The “Black-ish” star recently graduated from Howard University, which he said was “30 years in the making.”

I love seeing people, celebs in particular, showing that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. When a star does something like return to school to complete a degree, it can definitely influence others.

Especially because when you are already accomplished, including being rich and famous, there can be less motivation to do something like return to school.

So bravo to Anderson for completing his goal and reminding us that it’s possible.

Something to sip on

Headliner Harry Styles makes his onstage entrance during Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 15. Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun/USA Today Network/Reuters

Another celeb who is using his fame to inspire is Harry Styles.

In his cover story for Better Homes & Gardens (I so love typing those words), the One Direction member turned solo star and actor speaks candidly about how he was at first hesitant about entering into therapy five years ago.

“I thought it meant that you were broken,” he said. “I wanted to be the one who could say I didn’t need it.”

Now, he has said therapy helped him to “open up rooms in himself,” which is apropos, given that his latest album, due May 20, is titled “Harry’s House.”

“I think that accepting living, being happy, hurting in the extremes, that is the most alive you can be,” Styles said. “Losing it crying, losing it laughing — there’s no way, I don’t think, to feel more alive than that.”

Here’s to feeling alive!

What did you like about today’s newsletter? What did we miss? Pop in to poplife@cnn.com and say hello!

It's time to admit it: Mitt Romney was right about Russia | CNN Politics

CNN —

A decade ago, Mitt Romney went on CNN and made a statement that was widely perceived as a major mistake.

“Russia, this is, without question, our number one geopolitical foe,” Romney, who would be the Republican presidential nominee in the 2012 race against President Barack Obama, told Wolf Blitzer in March of that year. “They — they fight every cause for the world’s worst actors.”

Obama and his team pounced on the comment, insisting that it showed Romney was hopelessly out of touch when it came to the threats facing the US.

In the third presidential debate between the two candidates in October 2012, Obama went directly after Romney for that remark. “When you were asked, ‘What’s the biggest geopolitical threat facing America,’ you said ‘Russia.’ Not al Qaeda; you said Russia,” Obama said. “And, the 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”

The 80s called! Boom! Roasted!

At the time, the attack worked. Obama cast himself as the candidate who understood the current threats – led by al Qaeda. Romney was the candidate still stuck in the Cold War age, a black-and-white figure in a colorful – and complex – world.

But today, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into eastern Ukraine, Romney’s comments look very, very different. And by “different,” I mean “right,” as even some Democrats are now acknowledging.

“This action by Putin further confirms that Mitt Romney was right when he called Russia the number one geopolitical foe,” California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said on CNN Monday night.

Given that, it’s worth revisiting the context around what Romney said and why.

He was reacting to a hot-mic moment between Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier in 2012. In that exchange, Obama told Medvedev: “This is my last election. And after my election, I have more flexibility.”

Republicans were up in arms, insisting that Obama was taking a hard line with Russia publicly while, apparently, making clear to the country’s leader that he was open to compromise.

In his original interview, Blitzer was asking Romney about Russia in the context of that Obama hot-mic moment. And while his comment about Russia as America’s “number one geopolitical foe” is what drew the most attention and derision, it was far from the only comment Romney made about that subject in his interview with Blitzer.

“Russia is not a friendly character on the world stage,” Romney said at one point. “And for this President to be looking for greater flexibility, where he doesn’t have to answer to the American people in his relations with Russia, is very, very troubling, very alarming.”

Pressed by Blitzer on his assertion about the threat posed by Russia, Romney added this:

“Well, I’m saying in terms of a geopolitical opponent, the nation that lines up with the world’s worst actors. Of course, the greatest threat that the world faces is a nuclear Iran. A nuclear North Korea is already troubling enough.

“But when these – these terrible actors pursue their course in the world and we go to the United Nations looking for ways to stop them, when – when Assad, for instance, is murdering his own people, we go – we go to the United Nations, and who is it that always stands up for the world’s worst actors?

“It is always Russia, typically with China alongside.”

What looked like a major flub during the 2012 campaign – and was used as a political cudgel by Obama – now looks very, very different. It should serve as a reminder that history is not written in the moment – and that what something looks like in that moment is not a guarantee of what it will always look like.

The surprising backstory of AriZona Iced Tea's name | CNN Business

New York CNN Business —

When Don Vultaggio was considering names for his new iced tea business three decades ago, he wanted something that connoted a “warm and healthy environment.”

That meant getting far away from Brooklyn, where Vultaggio grew up. But not too far away: His friends called his New York home the Santa Fe house, because of its adobe-style design, filled with pink, yellow and turquoise colors. So he settled on “Santa Fe” for the name of the drink.

It didn’t stick.

“When I put Santa Fe on the package, it didn’t look right,” Vultaggio told CNN Business. “I thought it looked like a train.”

Thinking of places that were close to Santa Fe that would look better on a can, Vultaggio settled on Arizona – where he’d never been. In fact, Vultaggio hadn’t even traveled west of the Mississippi.

“I always associated Arizona with a healthy, clean and dry feel that was different from the Brooklyn feel,” he said. “Having a name associated with a lifestyle, which is an environment and climate that made you want to grab a refreshing iced tea. That’s why the name seemed to make sense to me.”

AriZona was almost called Santa Fe. Adobe Stock

AriZona Beverages, which makes the famous 99-cent iced teas, began in New York City in the early 1990s. Vultaggio, the company’s cofounder, said he was inspired by Snapple, which was founded in 1972 and became a cultural phenomenon. The “Snapple Lady” commercials turned the juice and iced tea company into a huge success, as sales boomed throughout the 90s.

Having had his own success with a malt liquor business, Vultaggio and his partners pivoted to selling iced tea in the same-sized 23-ounce cans as their malt liquor. That helped AriZona stand out against Snapple’s 16-ounce can.

They wanted to keep it the same price, too. And give the logo a stylized capital Z that he said just looks better on its cans.

The vibrant can, with its eye-catching checkerboard patterns and colors, was inspired by his Santa Fe house, because of the “continuous feedback and accolades we would receive from everyone” for his home’s design.

AriZona’s design is a “great point of differentiation with its competitors,” according to Andres Nicholls, global executive creative director at consultancy and design firm Prophet. “It’s been an excellent tool and place to express their personality and quickly say to the market ‘we are not like everybody else.’”

Nicholls said the brand has “been pretty fearless and consistent in their approach and have created a very distinctive design.”

AriZona Iced Tea made its debut in 1992 and became an immediate hit. Its product line has blossomed beyond tea and now encompasses hundreds of products that include snacks, candy, coffee and alcohol. One of its most popular drinks is the Arnold Palmer, a half-tea, half-lemonade beverage based off the golf great’s drink of choice.

But just as eye-catching as the design is the 99-cent price for its tall boy iced teas, is its cost, which should be adjusted to more than $2 according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ price calculator. But that 1992 price is staying put.

“Our customers don’t need another price increase,” he told CNN International anchor Richard Quest in June. “We maintain that price to give customers a reason to buy us.”

Manufacturing costs have risen everywhere, but Vultaggio credits actions “behind the scenes” that keep the tea’s profit margins robust. “We’ve been able to do it by light-weighting the can, run the cans faster on the line, have more facilities in America so we get closer to market,” he said.

The eye-catching design also helps maintain its market dominance, because AriZona doesn’t advertise as much as competitors like Snapple. Rather, the brand relies on its creativity to grab customers’ attention.

“We use packaging and a value story, then a great product inside,” Vultaggio said. “The first time a person buys us is because of the package. And forever more, they’re buying it because it tastes great.”

Candace Cameron Bure criticized by JoJo Siwa and others over ...

CNN —

Months after they had a public back and forth, JoJo Siwa is voicing her disappointment with Candace Cameron Bure.

The singer/dancer, 19, posted on her verified Instagram about Cameron Bure after the former “Full House” star talked to the Wall Street Journal about her work with the faith-based channel, Great American Family.

When asked if the Great American Family will include LGBTQ storylines in their projects, Cameron Bure said, “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”

Siwa identifies as queer and shared a screen grab of a headline which read, “Candace Cameron Bure’s plans for new cable channel: No gays.”

“Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press,” Siwa wrote. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”

In July Siwa posted a video on TikTok that went viral in which she shared a photo of Cameron Bure as the “rudest celebrity” she had ever met, later revealing she had felt ignored by the star at an event when she was a child and tried to meet her.

Cameron Bure responded in a video on her verified Instagram account, explaining that she was “shocked” by the designation and said everything was “all good” after the pair connected and discussed it.

Siwa wasn’t the only one upset by Cameron Bure’s recent comment.

Actress Hilarie Burton slammed her and Bill Abbott, chief executive of Great American Media, for “bigotry.”

“That guy and his network are disgusting,” Burton tweeted. “You too Candy. There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.”

Bure responded on Wednesday in a statement provided to CNN.

“All of you who know me, know beyond question that I have great love and affection for all people,” her statement read in part. “It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone.”

Cameron Bure added that people of all “identities” contribute at Great American Family, both on screen and off.

“I have long wanted to find a home for more faith-based programming. I am grateful to be an integral part of a young and growing network,” her statement continued. “I had also expressed in my interview, which was not included, that people of all ethnicities and identities have and will continue to contribute to the network in great ways both in front of and behind the camera, which I encourage and fully support. I’ve never been interested in proselytizing through my storytelling, but in celebrating God’s greatness in our lives through the stories I tell.”

'Sick to my stomach': Dollar Tree fanatics protest new $1.25 prices ...

New York CNN Business —

“I am not happy!”

“Does NOT sit right with me.”

“Calamity.”

“Sick to my stomach.”

Dollar Tree’s recent decision to end $1 prices after 35 years and raise most items at stores to $1.25 has elicited an angry response from many loyal customers on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

Video bloggers with hundreds of thousands of followers posted videos of their reactions to the price hike — or entering a store for the first time and seeing Dollar Tree’s ubiquitous green and yellow “Everything’s $1” circles replaced with $1.25 signs.

A sign displaying $1.25 price is posted on the shelves of a Dollar Tree store in Alhambra, California, December 10, 2021. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Some shoppers have started derisively calling the chain “$1.25 Tree” and say it should change its name.

The criticism highlights the risks that Dollar Tree — the last of the big dollar store chains to actually sell nearly everything for a dollar — took when it abandoned its $1 brand identity.

“I wish they wouldn’t have done that because most of their shoppers are people who are not getting paid a lot of money,” said Leniza Costa, a beauty influencer in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who is “known for always going” to Dollar Tree.

Costa won’t shop at Dollar Tree (DLTR) as often and instead will look to purchase $1 items at Walmart (WMT).

“This is the worst time to increase the price, when everything else is so much,” she said.

We won’t know for certain whether customers are turning their backs on Dollar Tree’s new prices until it reports its quarterly results in the coming weeks. But there are signs the move may be alienating some shoppers.

A weekly online survey of around 500 consumers by Coresight Research, a retail research and advisory firm, found a 6.2% drop from December 27 to January 3 in the number of customers who said they had bought non-food items at Dollar Tree compared to the prior two weeks. A steeper decline of 12.2% was recorded among shoppers ages 45 to 60. Other chains, including Walmart and Dollar General, did not see similar drops in the surveys.

Dollar Tree added the $1.25 prices to more than 2,000 stores in December (it has around 8,700 US stores), and Coresight said in a report that its “decline in shopper numbers appears to coincide with its price hike.” The firm cautioned against an “overreliance on a single week’s data point,” but said the latest figures “may reflect a shopper exodus on the back” of the price change.

“We have had a very positive response from the overwhelming majority of our customers around the $1.25 price point and the extreme value and broader product selection it has enabled, especially in these inflationary times,” a Dollar Tree spokesperson said in an email. “We look forward to providing more details on this initiative during our next earnings call.”

‘Our niche’

The $1 price was almost sacrosanct to Dollar Tree, which sells toys, home furnishings, kitchenware, holiday decorations, stationary, party supplies, arts and crafts, books, food, household essentials and other items.

Macon Brock, a Dollar Tree founder, said in his 2017 autobiography that “I viewed the dollar-only concept as sacred. It was everything. Without it, we’d be just another discount retailer.”

“Ditch the dollar, I believed, and we’d surrender our niche,” he wrote.

As recently as August, Dollar Tree chief executive Michael Witynski said the company was committed to $1. “This dollar price point is going to be more important than ever,” he said on an analyst call.

Selling everything for $1 was also easy on Dollar Tree store operations. Workers didn’t have to constantly spend time changing price displays in aisles or tags on shelves, and it was simple for customers on tight budgets to keep track as they shopped.

Dollar Tree raised prices because its business was pressured by having to keep everything under $1. Labor, transportation, fuel, merchandise and shipping costs have surged, squeezing the company’s profits.

Some merchandise also suffered as a result of the $1 strategy. The chain had to discontinue several “customer favorites,” the company said in November, particularly in packaged and frozen foods. Raising prices will give Dollar Tree flexibility to reintroduce those items, expand its selection and bring in new products to draw customers, according to the company.

Dollar Tree's move to $1.25 comes with risks for the brand. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Dollar Tree had started selling items at $1.25 and $1.50 at some stores and said it got positive positive customer feedback on the test, leading the company to announce in November that it will move to $1.25 at all of its stores.

On December 12, in response to an activist investor pushing for broader changes at the company, including nominating an entirely new board of directors, Dollar Tree’s board said the price hike has been successful thus far.

The performance of stores with $1.25 prices “continues to validate our earlier tests and demonstrates the success of the Company’s strategy and execution,” the board said in a statement. The board said the move to $1.25 “was not a decision the Company took lightly, and required careful planning, including to ensure that it continues to provide a meaningful assortment with extreme value” to shoppers.

But some retail analysts have said the decision was rushed, jeopardizes the brand’s image and will lead shoppers to turn to competitors such as Dollar General (DG), which sells around 20% of its products for $1.

The price change “saddened” the Scent Maven, a video blogger who posts about her hauls at Dollar Tree and other stores, and will lead her to shop there less often. (She spoke under the condition that her name be withheld from the story to protect her identity.)

“We all, in the Dollar Tree community, hoped it wouldn’t happen,” she said, adding that $1 was a price “you could count on.”

“There was no doing math in your head or anything like that,” she said. “You know you could go to the Dollar Tree with $10 and walk out with 10 items.”

Although Dollar Tree has put up new signs at stores that say it will offer new items and “more thrills” at $1.25, she has yet to see the change.

“It’s like they’re promising you something more for 25 cents. But it’s not. It’s all the same quality and types of products.”