Connect with us

Business

Ariana Grande Unfollows Starbucks and Promotes Black-Owned Coffee Shops

Published

on

  • Ariana Grande unfollowed Starbucks on social media after learning of its policy prohibiting workers from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel, a policy it later walked back on.
  • The star has instead shifted her support behind several Black-owned coffee shops in Los Angeles, like Nimbus Coffee, Undergrind Cafe, and South LA Cafe.
  • She posted Instagram Stories of her drinks to her 191 million followers, and South LA Cafe said it prompted them to receive a flood of love from her fans.
  • The shop called it, “an example of people with influence and privilege using it to forward the movement.”

Ariana Grande Unfollows Starbucks 

The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor have prompted people all across the country to fight harder against racial injustice and support the Black community. Part of that includes demanding that major businesses and public figures do more with their enormous power.

Now, many are praising Ariana Grande for being one of the biggest stars to user her platform for good. After Starbucks came under intense scrutiny for invoking a policy that prohibited workers from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel (a policy it later walked back on), the singer cut ties with the coffee chain by unfollowing it on social media. 

Fans saw that as a huge move considering Grande worked with Starbucks last year to create a custom drink: the Cloud Macchiato. 

Grande Supports Black-Owned Businesses 

After apparently pulling her support, Grande began purchasing drinks from black-owned businesses in Los Angeles instead. Earlier this week, she posted a drink of her Instagram story from Nimbus Coffee, a Harry Potter-inspired cafe. Another story post featured a beverage from Undergrind Cafe

Reports also surfaced claiming Grande even offered financial support to Heather Sanders’ business, Sorella, after it was damaged during protests. 

But on Wednesday, the full scope of what her support meant to these shops was made clear when South LA Cafe showed kind messages they received after Grande promoted the shop to her 191 million followers.

“Did y’all know that @arianagrande stands with the Movement for Black Lives and Black-Owned businesses like @southlacafe? We’ve been fortunate to win her over from Starbucks this past week, as well as her incredible #arianators,” the post reads.

The post also included screenshots of heartwarming messages from Arianators in places like the Netherlands and Uruguay.  

View this post on Instagram

Did y’all know that @arianagrande stands with the Movement for Black Lives and Black-Owned businesses like @southlacafe? We’ve been fortunate to win her over from Starbucks this past week, as well as her incredible #arianators. (Click the first pic) They showed up in full force for today’s live of the South LA Grocery Giveaway, sending big love for our mission. This is an example of people with influence and privilege using it to forward the movement. We welcome the support and are grateful to be recognized for our impact and community leadership. 🖤 . What a day! Whew! We’re about to unwind, celebrate, and sip on a margarita! 150 folks fed in the grocery giveaway in 29 minutes! One for the record books. If you aren’t up to speed check out all of our posts from today. We’re about to rest up and get ready for another big day tomorrow! Nite. Nite. . . . #southlacafe #southlamarket #southlagrocerygiveaway #arianagrande #arianators

A post shared by South LA Cafe (@southlacafe) on

South LA Coffee, founded by Celia and Joe Ward-Wallace, focuses on creating “a community space to take pride in the history, legacy, and future of the South Central Community.”

Part of their most recent community efforts included giving out free food during coronavirus lockdowns. On Wednesday, the shop prepared 150 bags of groceries to hand out, and in their Instagram post about Ariana and her fans, they wrote, “They showed up in full force for today’s live of the South LA Grocery Giveaway, sending big love for our mission.”

This is an example of people with influence and privilege using it to forward the movement. We welcome the support and are grateful to be recognized for our impact and community leadership.

According to the post, all 150 bags of groceries were picked up in a record 29 minutes, and they plan to do it all again next week.  

In a separate post, the shop thanked all its volunteers, as well as “the super supportive @arianagrande fans who sent us love and support of the Movement for Black Lives in the comments the whole time!”

View this post on Instagram

It’s a wrap! 150 grocery bags from @southlacafe and @southlamarket which took two days to prepare were gone in 29 minutes flat! THANK YOU to the amazing army of volunteers led by @_miss_destinee, @elijahrashad__, @sssarahford, and @benjimarx, the sponsorship of @immanuelpresla, @cedarssinai & @oatly, and the super supportive @arianagrande fans who sent us love and support of the Movement for Black Lives in the comments the whole time! We will be at it again next Wednesday at 3, line starts at 2, hope we can serve you then. Have a beautiful & blessed day, we are so grateful for your support! 🖤🖤🖤🖤 . If you are inspired by this and want to support our mission, please consider becoming a $10 monthly member or sponsor a $35 South LA Grocery Box for a neighbor in need. You can do both at our website: www.southlacafe.com. . . . #southlacafe #southlamarket #feedingourpeople #fightingfooddeserts

A post shared by South LA Cafe (@southlacafe) on

Fans are happy with Grande for swapping out Starbucks for these Black-owned shops, but that isn’t all she’s done. The music icon has also been very vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement online and was spotted at a protest herself. 

Because Grande is so massively loved, it’s unquestionable that her actions will inspire at least some of her fans to follow her lead in support of the Black Community. 

See what others are saying: (Daily Dot) (Insider) (CapitalFM) 

Business

Amazon to Pay Over $30 Million for Alexa and Ring Privacy Violations

Published

on

Privacy violation charges stack up against the tech giant as the FTC partners up with the DOJ. 


Amazon Pays Up

Amazon agreed to a $30 million settlement for each of these complaints over complaints alleging that its Alexa and Ring products violated customer privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department accused Amazon of retaining children’s geolocation data as well as the recordings of their conversations with Alexa. Additionally, the FTC brought another complaint against Amazon’s Ring for violating their customers’ privacy and failing to complement basic security measures.

In addition to the accusations of retaining data, the FTC also charges Amazon with deceiving their customers, saying requests from parents to delete their children’s recordings and other data went ignored despite repeated assurances that parents can delete the data at any time. 

Amazon says this data was retained to train their Alexa algorithms to better understand children. But their reasoning does not change law. Their actions are still in violation of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, known as COPPA. 

“Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated COPPA and sacrificed privacy for profits,” said Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection in the press release regarding the complaint. “COPPA does not allow companies to keep children’s data forever for any reason, and certainly not to train their algorithms.”

The Settlement’s Details

The proposed settlement that Amazon agreed to on Wednesday includes a $25 million civil penalty as well as requirements to both delete the data in question and never use voice recordings of adults or children in the development or creation of a product again. 

However approval on this settlement is still needed from the federal courts. 

Despite agreeing to the settlement, Amazon denies violating COPPA, saying they designed Amazon Kids for parents to have full control and to comply with the law.

In their complaint against Ring, the FTC accused the company of violating their customers’ privacy by allowing countless employees and hundreds of contractors access to the videos from Ring cameras. 

Leading to situations like one in 2017, when a Ring employee watched thousands of videos belonging to dozens of female customers, including those in their bedrooms and bathrooms. 

Additionally, the FTC says that Ring did not implement basic security protections for years which allowed hackers to take control of their customers’ accounts, cameras, and videos  leading to 55,000 US Ring customers facing hacker attacks. In some cases, hackers could access Ring’s two-way functions to harass, insult, and threaten people – including children. The complaint alleges that Ring’s egregious privacy failings lasted for at least 4 years – between at least 2016 to 2020. 

Amazon responded to the complaint saying that RIng had addressed the concerns before the FTC even began their inquiry. 

The FTC proposed a settlement of $5.8 million in consumer refunds – as well as a demand for Ring to create a privacy and security program. The settlement also awaits federal court approval. 

See what others are saying: (New York Times) (Axios) (CNBC)

Continue Reading

Business

Right-Wingers Are Turning Against Chick-fil-A

Published

on

Some have accused the company of joining a woke “cult” after learning of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative.


Chick-fil-A Goes “Woke”

Conservatives are condemning Chick-fil-A after learning of the fast food chain’s commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Some have accused the brand of bowing “to the Woke mob.” Others have debated boycotting the chain.

It’s unclear when exactly Chick-fil-A began its DEI campaign, but according to LinkedIn, the current Vice President of DEI, Erick McReynolds, has been working in the department since 2020 before taking on his current role in 2021. It is also unclear why right-wingers on Twitter have just now discovered Chick-fil-A’s DEI website, but many spent a chunk of Tuesday morning lambasting the company for working to promote diversity. 

Chick-fil-A’s DEI page is titled “Committed to being Better at Together.” 

“Modeling care for others starts in the restaurant, and we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding and dignity everywhere we do business,” McReynolds said in a statement on the website. 

Chick-fil-A is no stranger to boycott campaigns, though those efforts usually come from the opposite side of the political aisle. The company, known for its strong Christian ties, has been criticized for donating to groups with anti-LGBTQ missions. As a result, many on the left have refused to eat there, while it has been a haven for those on the right. 

Conservatives, however, have become increasingly outraged by DEI initiatives. Chick-fil-A’s website, which only vaguely outlines its DEI efforts, still seems to be enough for the right to change its tune about the brand. 

“Even our beloved Chick-Fil-A has fallen to the DEI cult,” one person tweeted. “the same agenda that is turning our beloved military woke.”

“It’s becoming an epidemic that even Christian companies are being strong-armed to participate in,” the tweet continued. 

Old Clip of Chairman Resurfaces 

Some have also started resurfacing an old clip of Chick-fil-A Chairman Dan Cathy speaking on a panel about racism during the summer of 2020. During the discussion, he talked about repentance and said that if you ever see someone who needs their shoes shined, you should do it. He then walked over to a Black person on the panel, got on his knees, and shined their shoes.

“There’s a time in which we need to have, you know, some personal action here, and maybe we need to give them a hug, too,” Cathy said while shining the shoes.

“I bought about 1,500 of these and I gave them to all our Chick-fil-A operators and staff a number of years ago,” Cathy continued, in reference to his shoe-shining brush. “So, any expressions of a contrite heart, of a sense of humility, a sense of shame, a sense of embarrassment begat with an apologetic heart — I think that’s what our world needs to hear today.”

The clip caused a stir when the events first unfolded, and has prompted a new wave of anger now. Some are accusing Cathy of being “a woke, anti-American, anti-white BLM boot licker” who thinks all white people need to shamefully shine the shoes of Black people to apologize for racism, though that is not what he said. 

These boycott calls are just the latest from conservatives who have been on a rampage against any company supporting any social cause they deem as “woke.” Earlier this year, the political right took a stand against Bud Light after it included a trans influencer in a sponsored Instagram post. Just last week, Target and Kohls faced boycotts over items in their Pride Month collections. 

See what others are saying: (The Hill) (Rolling Stone) (AL)

Continue Reading

Business

Bioré Apologizes For Referencing School Shooting in Mental Health Ad Campaign 

Published

on

 “Our tonality was completely inappropriate. We are so sorry,” the skincare brand said.


Video Faces Backlash

The skincare brand Bioré apologized this week for partnering with a school shooting survivor as part of its Mental Health Awareness Month campaign. 

“We are committed to continuing our mental health mission, but we promise to do it in a better way,” the company said in an Instagram post on Sunday. 

Last week, influencer and recent Michigan State University graduate Cecilee Max-Brown posted a video to TikTok sponsored by Bioré where she discussed the numerous challenges she had faced throughout the year. Among them was a school shooting on her college’s campus, which killed three people in February. 

“Life has thrown countless obstacles at me this year, from the school shooting to having no idea what life is going to look like after college,” Max-Brown says in the video. “In honor of mental health awareness month, I’m partnering with Bioré skin care to strip away the stigma of anxiety. 

“We want you to get it all out, not only what’s in your pores, but most importantly, what’s on your mind, too,” she continued. 

In the 50-second video, Max-Brown went on to discuss more details about her mental health struggles, as well as how “seeing the effects of gun violence firsthand” has impacted her and led to “countless anxiety attacks.”

“I will never forget the feeling of terror that I had walking around campus for weeks in a place I considered home,” she said before closing the video by encouraging her followers to participate in Bioré’s mental health campaign.

Bioré Apologizes

The video ignited swift outrage from people who accused Bioré of using a school shooting to sell products. In its apology, the brand admitted the video was misguided. 

In the past, Bioré said it has worked with influencers to discuss and reduce mental health stigmas, as the subject is a top priority for its consumers. 

“This time, however, we did it the wrong way,” the company said. “We lacked sensitivity around an incredibly serious tragedy, and our tonality was completely inappropriate. We are so sorry.”

Max-Brown also apologized on TikTok, writing that the video was intended to spread awareness, not suggest a product fixed the struggles she has experienced as a result of the shooting.

“I did not mean to desensitize the traumatic event that took place as I know the effects that it has had on me and the Spartan community,” she wrote. 

Max-Brown has since removed the initial sponsored video from her account.

See what others are saying: (The New York Times) (NBC News) (The Independent)

Continue Reading