Uncle Ben's Rebrand

 

Uncle Ben's Rice will change its name to Ben's Original and remove the image of a smiling, grey-haired black man from its packaging. The change follows through on a pledge its owner Mars Food made in June to review the brand amid global protests over police brutality and racism. Uncle Ben's entered the market in the 1940s and was for decades the best-selling rice in the US. Its marketing has been criticised for perpetuating racial stereotypes. Titles such as uncle and aunt were used in southern US states to refer to black people, instead of the more formal and respectful "Miss" or "Mister". The name Uncle Ben's was supposedly inspired by a Texas farmer known for his high-quality rice. The company asked the head waiter at a fancy Chicago restaurant, Frank Brown, to pose as the face of the brand, which launched in 1947.  In 2007, the company sought to update its marketing with a campaign that cast Ben as chairman of the board, a move away from the previous, more servile presentation."We understand the inequities that were associated with the name and face of the previous brand, and as we announced in June, we have committed to change," Mars said. The new packaging is expected to begin reaching shops in 2021.

Ben's

Adidas x Lego

Adidas has launched a new pair of trainers in partnership with Lego, taking inspiration from the world-famous children’s toy for its brand new footwear. Adidas first launched its ZX footwear series in 1984, manufacturing shoes specifically with runners in mind. More than three decades later, the classic ZX 8000 silhouette has been reimagined for the sportswear company’s collaboration with Lego, which was founded in Denmark in the mid-20th century.  The shoes are designed to celebrate the classic Lego brick, incorporating bold primary colours and green on panels across the shoes. The trainers are being released on Friday 25 September exclusively through the Adidas app, which can be downloaded on the Apple App Store and on Google Play. In the UK, the bold footwear is retailing at £99.95. 

Lego x Adidas

Console Wars

Sony has matched the price of the forthcoming flagship PlayStation 5 to that of Microsoft's Xbox Series X.  Last time round, the PS4 significantly undercut the Xbox One at launch. Sony also confirmed the PS5's "digital edition" - which does not have a disc drive - would cost about 40% more than the low-end Xbox Series S. Both PS5 consoles are set to be released on 19 November in the UK, and 12 November in the US, Japan and Australia. That puts them slightly later than Microsoft's 10 November launch date. Sony was the clear leader in the previous generation of the so-called console wars. The various PlayStation 4 consoles outsold the Xbox One range by a factor of more than two to one. But the £449 cost of the Japanese firm's new top-end machine and £360 price of the digital edition means it may be a closer battle this time, at least to begin with.Some industry-watchers believe Microsoft's combination of a £250 price for the XBox Series S and the value offered by the Xbox Game Pass subscription service could give the US firm an advantage.

Console Wars

An Expensive Cup of Coffee

A coffee shop in London is selling what it claims is “the most expensive cup of coffee in the UK” for £50, with only 15 servings of the costly brew available. Queens of Mayfair, which was opened by sisters Grace and Victoria Sheppard in March 2020, is located on Queen Street in Mayfair. The Ethiopan “Cup of Excellence” Queens Coffee being sold by the artisan coffee shop was purchased at auction by the company’s roaster. The rare beans, which won first place at the Cup of Excellence Competition, typically retail for approximately £2,000 per kilogram. Once the coffee has been prepared at Queens of Mayfair – a process that involves the beans being ground by hand – it is served to customers in a crystal wine glass. The coffee shop states that one serving of the coffee could be enough for either one or two people.

Expensive Coffee

Pringles Recycling Nightmare

The distinctive Pringles tube is being re-designed after criticism that it’s almost impossible to recycle. The current container for the potato-based snack was condemned as a recycler’s nightmare. It's a complex construction with a metal base, plastic cap, metal tear-off lid, and foil-lined cardboard sleeve. The Recycling Association dubbed it the number one recycling villain – along with the Lucozade Sports bottle. Now Pringles' maker Kellogg's is trialling a simpler can – although experts say it’s not a full solution. The existing version is particularly troublesome because it combines so many different materials. The new designs have been 12 months in the making. Pringles have a shelf life of 15 months - and three million cans are made across Europe every day.

Pringles Recycling

Haribo Stocks Run Low at Tesco

Tesco is allowing stocks of Haribo sweets to dwindle from its shelves following a row with the confectioner over price cuts. The supermarket giant is demanding suppliers lower prices to allow it to compete with German discounter Aldi. Haribo and Tesco have failed to reach a deal and ranges such as Tangfastics and Starmix are unavailable online. In March, Tesco launched its "Aldi Price Match" campaign, to match the prices on hundreds of its goods with the German discounter. It subsequently asked suppliers to cut their prices as part of a strategy to take Aldi. Companies were told they had until 10 July to agree. While many sectors have struggled during the coronavirus pandemic, supermarkets have thrived after customers initially panic-bought produce and demand for online grocery deliveries surged.

Haribo Stocks

Lego Continuing To Build

The rise of the kidult helped boost UK toy sales during the coronavirus lockdown, with Lego the latest business to benefit from parents joining their children on the playmat while pubs, cinemas and playgrounds were closed. Despite hundreds of stores being shut during the pandemic Lego remains on track to open 120 new shops this year. The Danish toy firm said bricks-and-mortar stores had a solid future, despite the drop in footfall on high streets and social distancing restrictions in shops. "When our stores have reopened after lockdown, there have been queues," boss Niels Christiansen said."We give people the brand experience in our shops which we can't do outside." It comes as the toy firm announced revenues of DKK 15.7bn (£1.8bn) for the first half of the year, up 7%, while operating profit grew by 11%. The company currently has 612 stores across the globe, with 14 in the UK. Of the new stores it is opening, 46 were launched in the first half of the year. Overall, 80 of them will be based in China. Alongside its store openings, the firm said e-commerce remained vital to the business, with visits to its website doubling to 100 million in the first half of 2020.

Lego Lockdown

Coffee Crisis

It’s the multibillion-pound industry that kept on growing, based on a bean that Britons couldn’t seem to get enough of: coffee. Until, that is, the pandemic struck. As is the case with many businesses hit hard by coronavirus, the ubiquitous coffee chains that have powered city centres and high streets across the UK are in deep trouble. This week, Costa announced it is cutting more than 1,500 jobs. Pret a Manger is losing almost 3,000 staff and closing 30 outlets. The problems are laid bare in figures that would undermine any business model: spending on takeaway hot drinks in the UK slumped nearly 90% in April, the peak of the high street lockdown, according to the market research firm Kantar. The demise of the barista undoubtedly goes hand in hand with the struggles of city centres caused by the emptying of office blocks and a massive slowdown in travel and tourism. Pret a Manger is to offer customers up to five coffees a day if they sign up to a monthly subscription service. The chain is hoping that the price tag of £20 is low enough to win back some of the business lost in the pandemic.

Coffee Crisis

Swizzles Drumstick Chocolate

The Drumstick lolly is a childhood classic – it always turned up in a party bag after a birthday and pulling it apart as you chewed was all part of the fun. But if you fancy an updated version of the raspberry and milk flavour lolly, creators Swizzels is now making a chocolate bar with a Drumstick filling. It’s a soft milk flavour chew with real dried raspberry pieces, covered in milk chocolate and you can currently pick up a bar at Home Bargains for 99p. The bar is wrapped in the Drumstick yellow and red colours. This is a good example to use for product development for Ansoff & Boston Matrix.

Drumstick Chocolate