Pop superstar Taylor Swift completed her Eras Tour in 2024, ending a two-year global phenomenon that became the highest grossing tour of all time. Eras was Swift’s first tour since COVID-19, and its economic impact was such a drastic change from lockdown that financial analysts started calling it the “TSwift Lift.” And even though the tour has come to a close, it could still have a gargantuan cultural impact in 2025 as the U.S. Department of Justice sues Ticketmaster, the Continue reading
Have you ever gotten the feeling that Siri, the voice-activated digital assistant on Apple devices, was eavesdropping on your private conversations? Have you noticed online ads for a particular brand after talking about it out loud? If you said yes, you’re not alone. A 2019 class-action lawsuit representing tens of millions of people accused Apple of violating user privacy by making unauthorized recordings through Siri and sharing them with advertisers. For example, two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said Continue reading
Since the late 1980s, Americans have marked the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday, the “official” start of the holiday sale season and the busiest shopping day of the year. Stores like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy used to draw huge crowds by offering massive discounts to the first shoppers to come through the doors. As time passed and e-commerce became more common, though, the one-day sales bonanza expanded to include online deals. Now Amazon is the undisputed champion of Continue reading
Last summer, a viral social media stunt claimed to show people withdrawing huge amounts of cash by exploiting a “glitch” at JPMorgan Chase bank ATMs. The unverified rumor claimed that anyone could deposit a large check to their own account using a mobile device and then withdraw “unlimited money” from an ATM before the bank cleared the check. Some people tried the stunt with varying levels of success. In one case in Houston, a man wearing a mask deposited a Continue reading
Last month, we wrote about the global technology meltdown that impacted more than 8.5 million computers and caused at least $10 billion in financial damage. Triggered by the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, a faulty software update crashed Microsoft products around the world and in the process revealed how fragile our global technology infrastructure can be. Air transportation was one of the sectors affected most by the outage as airlines were unable to scan boarding passes or track crew members. Carriers canceled Continue reading
Consumers across the world have different tastes and preferences when it comes to food. For instance, a dish that people think is mild in one place might be considered extremely spicy in another part of the world. As the global economy pushes products across national and cultural lines, many businesses have come to discover the potential difficulties of selling food to customers in unfamiliar markets. In fact, an instant ramen company in South Korea learned this lesson the hard way Continue reading
A few weeks ago, we examined TikTok’s uncanny ability to provide entrepreneurs with major marketing opportunities at the expense of brand control. The potential downsides of the latter became clear last week when President Biden signed a bill into law that could ban the social network in the U.S. Under the provisions of the bill, which passed both the House and Senate with considerable support, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has 270 days to sell the app to an American Continue reading
On the morning of March 26th, the Dali, an enormous container ship, crashed into one of the supporting structures of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed soon after. This tragic incident killed six workers on site and caused at least one major injury, along with an economic impact that spans the globe. The Port of Baltimore must remain closed for a few more weeks while the wreckage is cleared, which will require at least seven container ships and hundreds Continue reading
The world of plush toys is not typically known as a hotbed of conflict, but that all changed last month when two big names in the industry clashed in court. The legal battle began when the parent companies of Squishmallows sued Build-A-Bear Workshop, alleging that its new “Skoosherz” line looked suspiciously squishy. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, comparing the Squishmallows original products to Build-a-Bear’s copycats speaks volumes,” said Moez Kaba, an attorney representing Squishmallows’ parent companies Kelly Continue reading