🇺🇸 TikTok ban vote
Hey Snackers,
We might be seeing a lot more waist-up shots on Major League Baseball broadcasts this season. The new player uniforms — a Nike and Fanatics collab — feature redesigned pants that are lightweight, more flexible, and (whoops) almost fully see-through.
The S&P 500 rose to another record yesterday, despite February inflation data coming in slightly hotter than expected. Traders are still betting on a 70% chance that the Fed will cut rates in June. Tech led the day’s gains, while Boeing’s stock losses on the year grew to 27%.
The House is voting on a bill that could ban TikTok in the US, threatening the Tikonomy
Ticked off… US leaders have been trying to ban TikTok over national-security concerns since 2020, but now the app’s facing what could be its biggest existential threat yet. Today the House of Representatives is set to vote on a congressional bill that could lead to a US-wide TikTok ban. President Biden said that if Congress passed the bill, he’d sign it into law. The bipartisan legislation would force TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to separate from the app within 180 days or be banned in the States. The bill’s expected to pass in the House, but its fate in the Senate is cloudier.
Not just TikTok: While the Tok was singled out, the bill says that any app controlled by a “foreign adversary” (ahem, China) must be banned or divested. Divesting could include selling to a US company or spinning off.
Two sides: Supporters say the bill’s necessary to protect American data from the Chinese gov’t. TikTok and other critics argue it would curb free-expression rights for 170M American TikTok users.
ForYou rage… TikTok — which called the bill an “outright ban” — has been sending users push alerts, urging them to contact Congress (the strategy seems to be working). ByteDance doesn’t want to lose its TikTok cash machine, though it does own several other big apps, including Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sister app (the OG TikTok). Refresher: TikTok isn’t available in China, and American platforms like Google and Facebook are blocked there.
Long saga: Senators intro’d a Tik-ban bill last year (which was stalled). Montana passed a statewide ban, but a judge blocked it (now it’s appealing). Former President Trump tried a nationwide ban in 2020. This week he pivoted, saying a ban would only help Meta.
The Tikonomy is fragile… TikTok’s more than just lip syncs and hand dances. It’s created a multibillion-dollar economy that companies base their strategies on, from record labels tailoring songs to TikTok tastes to beauty brands going viral off product videos. If the TikTok economy collapses, it’ll be a major win for rivals Meta, Google, and Snap, who each have TikTok copycats ready to step in.
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Liquid Death becomes a $1.4B canned-water unicorn after years of splashy marketing
Solid life… Liquid Death has raised $67M in fresh funding, doubling its valuation from $700M to $1.4B. The water biz, known for its skull-adorned aluminum cans, said it planned to use the cash to push further into new bevs: in addition to plain ol’ H2O tallboys, Liquid Death has expanded to flavored water, iced tea, and a flavored drinking powder called “Death Dust.”
Live death: After launching in 2019, Liquid Death teamed up with Live Nation to sell its beer-like cans at concerts. It became a staple for festivalgoers looking for a non-boozy option. Now it’s in fridges nationwide at Whole Foods, Publix, Ralphs, and more.
Can-do attitude: The private company said it made $45M in sales in 2021, and that tripled to $130M a year later, fueled by online sales and flavored waters like “Berry It Alive.”
“Murder Your Thirst”… Labeling bevs like they’re poisonous may sound like a bad idea, but the edgy marketing strategy has worked for Liquid Death. It has nearly 8M followers across Instagram and TikTok, where unconventional posts — like screenshots of negative customer comments (picture: “Hopefully, they’ll go bankrupt”) — rack up tens of thousands of likes. Some other offbeat marketing plays:Â
2020: Punk bands like Rise Against and Anti-Flag helped the brand record an album inspired by comments left by Liquid Death haters.
2021: Liquid Death sold skateboards printed with red paint mixed with Tony Hawk’s blood.Â
Last year: Arnold Palmer’s estate sent Liquid Death a cease-and-desist after the brand named its lemon tea “Armless Palmer.” (It renamed the drink to “Dead Billionaire.”)
It’s what’s on the outside that matters… Packaging can be more valuable than the product. Liquid Death’s cofounder was a graphic designer who wanted to make H2O look as cool as a hazy IPA. Now folks are spending $20 on a case of canned water and the company is worth almost as much as Bumble.
What else we’re Snackin’
Choppy: Boeing’s troubles are causing wake turbulence for Delta, United, and Southwest. FAA certification of Boeing’s Max 10 is now delayed indefinitely, which could cause the plane maker to fall years behind on deliveries.
XiaomEV: Smartphone maker Xiaomi said it’ll start delivering its first EVs this month. The biz is the latest Chinese player to fight Tesla for market share, with the US automaker falling behind BYD last year.
Brick: Lego’s sales grew 2% last year, out-building the broader toy industry, which saw sales dip 7%. The stackable-blocks icon still got stepped on by customers choosing cheaper sets and a pullback in China.
Airbnpeep: Airbnb said it’ll ban the use of indoor cameras in its rentals (yep, that wasn’t already a thing). Guests have complained of being recorded in common areas like living rooms.
Chipd: Three authors sued Nvidia, saying the chip champ trained its AI model using their works without permission. Writers continue to throw the book at AI over copyright, suing companies like OpenAI and Microsoft.
Wednesday
Earnings expected from Adidas, Dollar Tree, Lennar, Petco, and Williams-Sonoma
Authors of this Snacks own shares of: Alphabet, Delta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Snap, and Tesla