Hey Snackers,
It was bound to happen eventually: EasyJet will start charging for overhead luggage space. Next up: the middle seat armrest.
Yesterday, California issued a regional stay-at-home order. Today, we find out the unemployment rate for November — it was 6.9% in October.
American flies the 1st public 737 MAX flight in 20 months to try to show it's now safe
Up in the air... American Airlines just flew the first public Boeing 737 MAX flight since March 2019. The FAA grounded Boeing's troubled airliner after two crashes that killed 346 people. Last month, the 737 MAX was cleared to fly again. But American still has a lot of convincing to do before December 29th, when its first commercial MAX flight departs from Miami. Which brings us to Wednesday...
- American's 1-hour test flight was filled with journalists. The pilot explained changes that were made to the plane to address safety issues.
- American also flew the first of five employee-only “flights to nowhere” on the 737 MAX. It needs to win back employee confidence before it wins back public confidence.
Oh, Boeing... This press stunt reminds us of when NYC marched elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1880s to prove it was safe. But American, which has the world's largest fleet of planes, is eager to get passengers back: out of its nearly 900 planes, 24 are MAXes. That's over $1B worth of planes that have been sitting in parking lots for nearly two years (big L).
This could backfire for American... Unless you’re an aviation geek (#avgeek), you probably don't pay much attention to your plane model — or even if it was Boeing vs. Airbus. But this publicity associates American with the 737 MAX. The FAA's boss said he's now "100% confident" in the plane's safety, and Ryanair just ordered 75 MAXes. That all helped send American shares up 7%, and Boeing up 10% for the week. Still: Southwest says 25% of its customers wouldn't feel comfortable flying on one.
Dunkin's new color-changing drink is the epitome of "Experiential Product"
Sip it on the "ForYou" Page... It'll probably taste better on TikTok than it does in real life. Dunkin' just dropped the Sugarplum Macchiato, a "color-changing" new holiday drink with a light purple ombre effect (read: Insta-bait). When you shake it, the purple mixes with the coffee-colored part to create... a coffee-colored drink. This revolutionary beverage apparently took Dunkin' four years to develop. But it only took 24 hours to go viral (~400K TikTok views).
Unicorn Frapp energy.... Viral drinks are nothing new, from Starbucks' "Pink Drink" to multicolored frappucino monstrosities. But these time-intensive concoctions are scarce during the pandemic. Big chains have been streamlining to focus on simple classics they can get out fast for takeout and delivery.
- McDonald's kicked 100 items off its menu back in June (goodbye, salads).
- Starbucks is keeping its holiday menu simple — the star is Irish Cream Cold Brew (but is it color-changing?).
- Dunkin' hasn't made a "colored flavor swirl" drink since Valentine's Day (Pink Velvet Macchiato).
Experiential Products are the new Experiences... Pre-pandemic, people were splurging on experiences: Coachella tickets, a weekend Airbnb, a baseball game, or a $30 spin class. Now, the non-essential splurging has shifted to experiential products. That includes everything from Peloton bikes, to HelloFresh meal kits, and... Dunkin' Sugarplum Macchiatos.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Whoa: AT&T's Warner Brothers will release all 17 of its 2021 movies on HBO Max at the same time they hit theaters. AMC stock plunged.
- Wrapped: Spotify stock soared to a record this week on "2020 Wrapped" hype (Every. Single. InstaStory.) Bad Bunny hopped to #1 for most streams.
- Choco: Nestle, the world's largest food company, plans to invest $3.6B over the next five years to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
- OFC: Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire podcast startup Wondery for over $300M. Please, do more.
- Trucked: Shares of EV-makers Workhorse and Lordstown fell after USPS delayed awarding a $6B contract for electric trucks (again).
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Friday
- November unemployment rate is released
- Earnings expected from Big Lots
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon
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