
Andy Byron: US tech CEO resigns after Coldplay concert embrace goes viral
The company statement said on Saturday: "As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met."The firm said its board would begin a search for the next leader and their chief product officer would keep serving as interim CEO. The video of the pair swaying to music at Wednesday night's concert and quickly trying to hide gained millions of views. After seeing the pair duck, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin said to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."Astronomer announced it was launching an investigation into the relationship and placed the CEO on leave shortly after the video went viral.
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Reuters
2 minutes ago
- Reuters
Albemarle posts surprise second-quarter profit
July 30 (Reuters) - Albemarle (ALB.N), opens new tab, the world's largest producer of lithium for rechargeable batteries, posted a surprise second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by rising demand for the metal. Shares of the company rose 5.6% after the bell. Lithium's use in electric vehicles, large-scale battery storage and other electronic applications has grown rapidly, with demand up 24% last year and likely to grow 12% annually for the next decade, according to data from consultancy Fastmarkets. However, prices have fallen more than 90% in the past two years due in part to oversupply in China, fueling layoffs, corporate buyouts and project delays across the globe. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company reported an adjusted profit of 11 cents per share, compared with analysts' expectations of 82 cents loss per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.


The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
American Eagle's 'good jeans' ads with Sydney Sweeney spark a debate on race and beauty standards
U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz included 'clever, even provocative language' and was 'definitely going to push buttons,' the company's chief marketing officer told trade media outlets. It has. The question now is whether some of the public reactions the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended. Titled 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,' the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to 'woke' American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word 'genes' instead of 'jeans' when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor known for the HBO series 'Euphoria' and 'White Lotus.' Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod, either unintentional or deliberate, to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits. Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said the criticism could have been avoided if the ads showed models of various races making the 'genes' pun. 'You can either say this was ignorance, or this was laziness, or say that this is intentional,' Collins said. 'Either one of the three aren't good.' Other commenters on social media accused detractors of reading too much into the campaign's message. 'I love how the leftist meltdown over the Sydney Sweeney ad has only resulted in a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes getting 1000x the exposure for her 'good genes,'" former Fox News host Megyn Kelly wrote Tuesday on X. American Eagle didn't respond to queries from AP for comment. A snapshot of American Eagle The ad blitz comes as the teen retailer, like many merchants, wrestles with sluggish consumer spending and higher costs from tariffs. American Eagle reported in late May that total sales were down 5% for its February-April quarter compared to a year earlier. A day after Sweeney was announced as the company's latest celebrity collaborator, American Eagle's stock closed more than 4% up. The company's shares were trading nearly 2% on Wednesday. Like many trendy clothing brands, American Eagle has to differentiate itself from other mid-priced chains with a famous face or by saying something edgy, according to Alan Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. Adamson said the Sweeney campaign shares a lineage with Calvin Klein jeans ads from 1980 that featured a 15-year-old Brooke Shields saying, 'You want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.' Some TV networks declined to air the spots because of its suggestive double entendre and Shields' age. 'It's the same playbook: a very hot model saying provocative things shot in an interesting way,' he said. Billboards, Instagram and Snapchat Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers told industry news website Retail Brew last week that 'Sydney is the biggest get in the history of American Eagle,' and the company planned to promote the partnership in a way that matched. The campaign features videos of Sweeney wearing slouchy jeans in various settings. Her image will appear on 3-D billboards in Times Square and elsewhere, on Snapchat speaking to users, and in an AI-enabled try-on feature. American Eagle also plans to launch a limited edition Sydney jean to raise awareness of domestic violence and to donate the sales proceeds to the nonprofit Crisis Text Line. In a news release about the ads, the company noted 'Sweeney's girl next door charm and main character energy – paired with her ability to not take herself too seriously – is the hallmark of this bold, playful campaign.' Jeans, genes and their many meanings In one video, Sweeney walks toward an American Eagle billboard of her and the tagline 'Sydney Sweeney has great genes.' She crosses out 'genes' and replaces it with 'jeans.' But what critics found the most troubling was a teaser video in which Sweeney says, 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.' The video appeared on American Eagle's Facebook page and other social media channels but is not part of the official campaign. While remarking that someone has good genes is sometimes used as a compliment, the phrase also has sinister connotations. Eugenics gained popularity in early 20th century America, and Nazi Germany embraced it to carry out Adolf Hitler's plan for an Aryan master race. Civil rights activists have noted signs of eugenics regaining a foothold through the far right's promotion of the 'great replacement theory,' a racist ideology that alleges a conspiracy to diminish the influence of white people. Shalini Shankar, a cultural and linguistic anthropologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said she had problems with American Eagle's 'genes' versus 'jeans' because it exacerbates a limited concept of beauty. 'American Eagle, I guess, wants to rebrand itself for a particular kind of white privileged American,' Shankar said. 'And that is the kind of aspirational image they want to circulate for people who want to wear their denim.' A cultural shift in advertising Many critics compared the American Eagle ad to a misstep by Pepsi in 2017, when it released a TV ad that showed model Kendall Jenner offer a can of soda to a police officer while ostensibly stepping away from a photo shoot to join a crowd of protesters. Viewers mocked the spot for appearing to trivialize protests of police killings of Black people. Pepsi apologed and pulled the ad. The demonstrations that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis pushed many U.S. companies to make their advertising better reflect consumers of all races. Some marketers say they've observed another shift since President Donald Trump returned to office and moved to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Jazmin Burrell, founder of brand consulting agency Lizzie Della Creative Strategies, said she's noticed while shopping with her teenage daughter more ads and signs that prominently feature white models. 'I can see us going back to a world where diversity is not really the standard expectation in advertising,' Burrell said. American Eagle's past and future American Eagle has been praised for diverse marketing in the past, including creating a denim hijab in 2017 for customers who wore the traditional Muslim head scarves. Its Aerie lingerie brand was recognized for creating a wide range of sizes. A year ago, the company released a limited edition denim collection with tennis player Coco Gauff. The retailer has an ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion program that is primarily geared toward employees. Two days before announcing the Sweeney campaign, American Eagle named the latest recipients of its scholarship award for employees who are driving anti-racism, equality and social justice initiatives. Marketing experts offer mixed opinions on whether the attention surrounding 'good jeans' will be good for business. 'They were probably thinking that this is going to be their moment," Myles Worthington, the founder and CEO of marketing and creative agency WORTHI. "But this is doing the opposite and deeply distorting their brand." Melissa Murphy, a marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, said she liked certain parts of the campaign but hoped it would be expanded to showcase people besides Sweeney for the 'sake of the brand.' Other experts say the buzz is good even if it's not uniformly positive. 'If you try to follow all the rules, you'll make lots of people happy, but you'll fail,' Adamson said. 'The rocket won't take off. '


The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
She was at home eating chocolate and listening to Pink Floyd's Money. Then a scratcher made her a millionaire
A lucky Illinois woman was at home listening to Pink Floyd's 'Money' when she scratched her newly purchased lottery ticket and realized she won $1 million. 'I was planning on playing a different scratch-off game,' the winner, who chose not to be identified but went by the nickname Wishing Fish, told Illinois Lottery officials. 'But as I looked over the other options, this ticket stood out. It was as if my vision blocked out all the other tickets – this one was meant to be.' Wishing Fish bought her lucky ticket, Ultimate Bonus Payout, at a Jewel-Osco supermarket in Cary, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago, lottery officials said. The new millionaire recalled the moment she finished her scratch-off and realized she won big. 'I was at home eating a chocolate bar with the song 'Money' by Pink Floyd playing in the background. I scratched the last symbol and immediately FaceTimed my son, repeating over and over, 'I'm going to have a heart attack – I just won $1 million!'' she said. With her good fortune, Wishing Fish says she hopes to help some of her loved ones – and take a nice trip. 'I plan to share the winnings with about 15 family members, with my three kids – who are now grown – getting the biggest share. I'm also helping a close friend with four children get settled into an apartment,' she said. She added: 'I want to buy a car with a sunroof and take a vacation somewhere in the Keys with my husband, where I can swim with dolphins – just a few things on my bucket list.' Her win marked the 35th scratch-off prize worth $1 million or more won by an Illinois Lottery player this year, according to lottery officials. More than 35 million winning scratch-offs have been sold across the state so far this year, and have awarded more than $937 million in prizes.