List of All Articles with Tag 'ties'

YouTuber MrBeast is being counter-sued for $100 million by Virtual Dining Concepts, the company behind Beast Burger restaurants. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, shared in June that he was going to be “moving on” from his Beast Burger restaurants in order to concentrate more on his snack business with his chocolate bar brand Feastables. Just over two years ago Donaldson partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC) to launch over 2,000 ‘ghost kitchens’ to make Beast Burger available across the United States. VDC are suing Donaldson for failing to honour his contractual obligations, as well as intentional tortious interference. The lawsuit was filed on Monday morning in the Supreme Court of the State of New York for the County of New York. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The suit, obtained by Variety, is a response to Donaldson suing VDC and its parent company last month, wanting to terminate the deal for his restaurant chain, alleging the burgers it served were called “disgusting,” “revolting” and “inedible” which damaged his reputation. Last week, VDC hit back at the suit claiming it was “riddled with false statements and inaccuracies”, as well as calling it “meritless” and “ill-advised”. “This case is about a social media celebrity who believes his fame means that his word does not matter, that the facts do not matter, and that he can renege and breach his contractual obligations without consequence,” the suit states. “He is mistaken.” The counter-suit claims that Donaldson had breached the parties’ agreements and interfered with business dealings. As a result, it has damaged the reputation of MrBeast Burger and VDC, turned away customers and ruined relationships with suppliers and vendors. The lawsuit also contains examples of deleted tweets from the YouTube star’s account where he writes that he wished to close the burger business, writing: “the company I partnered with won’t let me stop even though it’s terrible for my brand.” VDC was co-founded by Robert Earl, who is the founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood. The company has backed celebrity brands including those from Mariah Carey and Mario Lopez. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

China's exports fell 14.5% in July year-on-year, while imports contracted 12.4%, customs data showed on Tuesday, in the

WASHINGTON General Motors warned the Biden administration's vehicle emissions rules could cost the auto industry $100 billion in

By Hannah Lang and Matt Tracy U.S. financial technology companies are tightening their lending standards, a move that

YouTube’s most subscribed person MrBeast has launched his chocolate bar range, Feastables in the UK. The 25-year-old's products have been on sale in America since January last year before bringing them across the pond with retailers ASDA and SPAR stocking the sweet treats. Some of the flavours from the range include Crunch, Deez Nutz, Milk Chocolate and Original Chocolate. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The chocolate bars are made from just five ingredients including organic cocoa and milk from grass-fed cows, to "change the way you snack". In a post to Twitter, MrBeast - real name Jimmy Donaldson - shared his excitement at the news of his Feastables flying off the shelves. "Feastables launched in the UK 10 days ago but every day before I can tweet about it the stores sell out. Trying to get more over!!! Y’all are crazy," he wrote. With a fanbase of 166 million subscribers on YouTube, it has been predicted that MrBeast's Feastables will be as in demand as Logan Paul and KSI's Prime drink where the product constantly sold out. Due to demand, it led to fans of the YouTubers spending thousands on getting their hands on the energy drink through third-party sellers. Now, those third-party sellers are already popping up online via Amazon and Facebook Marketplace putting bars of the chocolate up for sale. Feastables have been available to purchase in ASDA since July 9, and SPAR launched the products in stores on July 10th with the 60kg bars in Crunch, Deez Nutz, Milk Chocolate and Original Chocolate bars being priced from £2 to £2.49 each. Previously, Donaldson’s virtual restaurant brand Beast Burger back in 2020 so this isn't the first time he is entering the food market. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime has defended the levels of caffeine in its beverages after facing a backlash. It comes after health experts called on the US Food and Drug Administration to investigate the energy drink company. A 12 oz can of Prime, which was founded by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI, contains 200mg of caffeine, equivalent to about half a dozen Coke cans or nearly two Red Bulls. The brand released a statement to People on July 11, saying: “PRIME Energy, sold in a can, dropped in 2023 and contains a comparable amount of caffeine to other top selling energy drinks, all falling within the legal limit of the countries it’s sold in.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The spokesperson for the brand said that the drink “complied with all FDA guidelines” prior to hitting the market and indicated on the packaging that PRIME energy drinks are “not made for anyone under the age of 18.” “As a brand, our top priority is consumer safety, so we welcome discussions with the FDA or any other organisation regarding suggested industry changes they feel are necessary in order to protect consumers,” they added. Earlier this week, New York Senator Charles Schumer urged the FDA to launch a probe into Paul’s energy drink, which became an overnight sensation when it launched last year. “One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, or a toy – it’s a beverage,” the Democratic senator said in a letter to the FDA. “But buyer and parents beware because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets." Prime has become a phenomenon since being launched in 2022, to the extent it’s sold for ridiculous prices, made one shop in Wakefield go viral, and even been reviewed by foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. The collaboration between Paul and KSI (real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji) was announced back in January last year, with the pair just recently touring Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo to promote the drink. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Kim Kardashian has always been a hot topic, but there's no denying her impressive business mentality with several deals under her belt, including her well-received shape-wear brand, Skims. But now, the reality star has kickstarted a new venture, and it includes a partnership for an energy drink – and people are divided. In a recent Instagram upload, The Kardashians star shared her surprise collaboration with Alani Nutrition with a brand new drink called KIMADE. The photo shows the mother-of-four posing in a swimsuit (Skims, no doubt), stilettos, jewellery and a pink can of the new beverage. "KIMADE. Coming soon with @AlaniNutrition," she wrote as the caption with a lemon and love heart emoji for good measure. The post was flooded with thousands of comments, with some diehard fans on board with the new collab. Others weren't so convinced. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter One brutal comment read: "The fact that Kim K will do anything to stay relevant!" Another added: "I hope all u don’t buy this!" One person bluntly said: "It's giving desperate." Meanwhile, a third expressed how they believed the collab was more suited for her sister, Khloe Kardashian. "I feel like this collab would’ve made more sense for Khloe," they wrote. Anyway, for those interested in the new KIMADE drop, founder Alani Nu Founder Katy Hearn said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Kim, who is such an amazing female powerhouse and entrepreneur," "Kim's dedication to both her family and creating innovative brands perfectly align with our brand values, making this partnership such a natural fit. We are so excited for everyone to try this flavor, which we know is going to be one of our best yet!" It's said to be available on 17 July online, before a wider US supermarket rollout. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Carolina Mandl NEW YORK Retail investors bought roughly $7 billion of equities last week, showing a near

Boxer and rapper KSI and YouTuber-turned-WWE-star Logan Paul sure have hit the jackpot with their drinks company Prime, to the extent it’s sold for ridiculous prices, made one shop in Wakefield go viral, and even been reviewed by foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay. The collaboration between Paul and KSI (real name Olajide “JJ” Olatunji) was announced back in January last year, with the pair just recently touring Munich, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo to promote the drink. Prime has even become the drinks partner for both Arsenal and Barcelona football clubs. However, such success has also caught the attention of legislators, with one US senator, Democrat Chuck Schumer, calling for the company to be investigated by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). In a letter to the regulator, Mr Schumer wrote: “A simple search on social media for Prime will generate an eye-popping amount of sponsored content, which is advertising. “This content and all the claims made should be investigated, along with the ingredients and the caffeine content in the Prime energy drink.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter While Prime Hydration is caffeine-free, the Prime Energy brand contains 200mg of caffeine per 12 ounces, which is about the same as six cans of Coca-Cola or almost two Red Bulls. On Twitter, Mr Schumer went further and claimed the drink contains so much of the stimulant that it “could endanger kids’ health”, but is being “marketed to kids” anyway. “Parents and paediatricians are worried. The FDA must investigate Prime for its absurd caffeine content and its marketing targeting kids on social media,” he wrote. Representatives for Prime, meanwhile, argue the product is clearly labelled as “not recommended for children under 18”. Although the FDA is yet to announce an investigation into the drinks brand, and therefore it’s not yet at risk of being banned in the US, how much money would KSI and Logan Paul stand to lose if such a decision was ever taken? Some insight into just how popular the brand is was given by Paul during an interview on the Australian radio show The Kyle and Jackie O Show in February, in which he said they had garnered “$250m in retail sales [and] $110m gross internally”. “In January of this year, we did $45m,” he added. But of course, Olatunji and Paul won’t see all of that money, with Prime being part of the Congo Brands company and the YouTuber duo reportedly having a combined share of 20 per cent in the brand. Although we don't have the exact estimations, but we imagine the answer to the big question is that the pair would certainly lose a lot of money if they were blocked from selling in a market as big as America. That’s yet to happen, though, and so instead, Prime looks to be getting more and more popular… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Jake Paul is arguably one of the most well-known influencers in the world right now, but unfortunately for gambling firm Ladbrokes, the YouTuber-turned-boxer’s widespread appeal has landed them in a bit of trouble with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The independent advertising watchdog, which regulates the advertising industry, enforces rules drawn up by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), which has some pretty strict rules when it comes to gambling ads. In addition to requiring said adverts to be “socially responsible” and “protect children … from being harmed or exploited”, the CAP’s code states marketing communications must not be “likely to be of strong appeal to children or young persons, especially by reflecting or being associated with youth culture”. “They must not include a person or character whose example is likely to be followed by those aged under 18 years or who has a strong appeal to those aged under 18,” it reads. After Ladbrokes shared a promoted tweet in February featuring Paul – following his defeat to Tommy Fury – in which Twitter users were encouraged to vote on “what’s next for Jake Paul”, a single complaint was made to the ASA as to whether it may be in breach of the Code. Responding to the ASA’s enquiries, the betting company noted the advert contained no calls to action, promotions or links back to its website – and was “age-gated” so only users who had confirmed their age as being over 18 could see it. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The ad was specifically targeted at users aged 25 and over, receiving close to 16,500 impressions with just over 47 per cent of these being from individuals aged between 20 and 29 years. Ladbrokes also cited demographics for Paul’s following across several social media platforms, showing that the percentage of users aged between 13 and 17 years old was below 20 per cent on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. On Twitter, zero per cent of his followers were reportedly registered as being under 18. The company also directed ASA to the watchdog’s own guidance on “protecting under-18s” from advertising about gambling and lotteries, in which it states “sports like … boxing … are more adult-oriented and unlikely to be of inherent ‘strong’ appeal” to children and young people. Zing. However, in a decision which saw the regulator uphold the complaint against Ladbrokes, the ASA ruled there was still a responsibility to comply with the rule about not appealing to under-18s because the advert “appeared in a medium where under-18s could not be entirely excluded from the audience”. It continued: “CAP guidance stated that sportspeople involved in clearly adult-oriented sports who were ‘notable’ stars with significant social media and general profiles which made them well-known to under-18s were considered moderate risk in terms of how likely they were to be of strong appeal to under-18s. “We also considered that Jake Paul would primarily be known for making YouTube videos and that he had a large social media following. We acknowledged that he had within the last few years turned to boxing. “However, because of his career on YouTube, we considered that he had a high profile within the sport and was well known outside of the sport and social media.” Although they noted Paul had no followers aged under 18 on Twitter, where the ad was located, the ASA concluded the content creator was still of “inherent strong appeal” to under-18s because “such large numbers” of his followers were in that demographic. They also mentioned Paul’s appearance on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark between 2016 and 2018 about two teenagers, with the target audience for the show likely to be “around the same age”. As such, they found Paul still had a “strong appeal” to under-18s and that Ladbroke’s advert was “irresponsible”. Not the first time Paul and “irresponsible” have appeared in the same sentence, to be honest… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Lots of low-wage workers just received a boost in pay, as more than a dozen states and localities increased their minimum wages.

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