With brief, occasional, italicized and sometimes gratuitous commentary…
• The Spoon reports that "Starbucks is trialing Amazon’s biometric payment system, Amazon One, in the Seattle market. The system, which allows customers to pay in-store with the scan of a palm, was spotted in a Starbucks north of the company’s Seattle headquarters in Edmonds, Washington.
"To sign up to use the system, users can pre-enroll at the Amazon One website or inside Starbucks at the Amazon One kiosk … While Starbucks has trialed Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology in the past with Starbucks/Just Walk Out combination concept stores in the New York City market, we were told this is the first time Amazon One has been trialed in an existing Starbucks location."
• The Wall Street Journal reports that Anheuser Busch InBev announced that Daniel Blake, the group vice president in charge of marketing for the company's mainstream brands, has taken a leave of absence as a result of the public relations kerfuffle that followed when the company decided to build acceptance for Bud Light in the transgender community, infuriating its more traditional customer base.
This is in addition to Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, who also took a leave of absence.
While the company said the two execs "decided" to take the leaves, sources tell the Journal that it was not voluntary.
So A-B lied about that. What a surprise. More about this in "Your Views."
• From Politico:
"A major shakeup to U.K. competition law is coming — and Big Tech’s not happy.
"The British government will on Tuesday unveil a wide-ranging Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill that’s been subject to frantic behind-the-scenes lobbying by major tech players. They already appear to have lost the opening battle.
"The legislation aims to rein in Big Tech’s dominance of digital markets, giving regulators powers to impose a new code of conduct on the largest firms. A newly-created Digital Markets Unit will be able to fine tech companies up to 10 percent of global turnover and disqualify directors who don’t comply with the rules."
The code of conduct, the story says, "aims to prevent firms from use their 'market power and strategic position to distort or undermine competition' between users of their services."
