Plane Wrong

Hi, today we're exploring: (1) Apple’s other announcement this week, (2) Why America’s restaurant business is booming and (3) Air travel etiquette. Good morning! There’s drama in the world of Big Hot Dog, as champ [Joey Chestnut is banned]( from the annual Nathan’s hot dog competition over a vegan sponsorship deal. Today we're exploring: - Affirmly in the red: BNPL giant Affirm has racked up huge losses. - Table for two: America’s love of dining out is only growing. - Plane wrong: The dos and don’ts of air travel. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! All eyes have been on Apple’s big [AI announcement]( this week (the “A” is for “Apple”, apparently) but the company also [announced]( yesterday that Apple Pay users across the US will soon be able to use Affirm for "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) purchases. That gives Affirm access to millions of new potential users, sending the company’s shares up more than 11% on the news. BNPL has been a battleground, with some of the early-movers in the space — like Affirm and Klarna — facing competition from [PayPal]( to [Walmart]( as companies realized that chunking up payments into multiple slices maybe wasn’t actually rocket science? Not to be outdone, Affirm has been busy innovating too, with new features [announced last week]( such as the ability to pay in 2 installments. Launch now, regulate later The BNPL sector has also faced scrutiny from the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]( which recently classified such lenders similarly to credit card providers (which probably should have happened sooner) requiring them to offer similar safeguards and protections. While this partnership might not be Apple’s most headline-grabbing of the week, for unprofitable Affirm it’s a big deal. Indeed, since 2019, the company has amassed $2.8 billion in cumulative losses, with only a single profitable quarter. Affirm primarily generates revenue in two ways: charging interest on certain loans and collecting merchant fees, where businesses pay a commission for the service — the idea being that the sale might not have occurred without the BNPL option. However, offering 0% interest and no late fees for over a year is risky, requiring a substantial provision for potential defaults, a large cost for Affirm. With marketing expenses and other overheads, being sustainably profitable has been difficult for Affirm — joining forces with one of the largest companies on the planet may help. [Read this on the web instead]( Turning tables Despite some evidence that the backbone of the American economy, the mighty consumer, could be [starting to crack]( under the weight of inflation, the nation’s restaurant industry remains on track for a record year. Data out [last week]( from the National Restaurant Association revealed that America’s restaurants — from fine dining to fast food — are set to haul in a total of $1.1 trillion this year, the highest figure on record, a few days later the WSJ reported that the hottest corner of the retail real estate market is the [restaurant business](. Those reports underscore one simple fact: America has been dining out more and more, and its showing no intention of stopping. Indeed, data from the USDA reveals that 53% of household food expenditure is now spent on food away from home, up from 41% in 1997. That steady shift of about ~12% is associated with so many facets of modern life. The rise of convenience consumption, two-earner households, “foodie” culture, higher incomes, and cheaper and more available fast food have all played their part in America becoming a country that cooks less and eats out more. On a longer time horizon, another trend is fascinating — America has been spending less of its income on food throughout the 20th century ([chart here](. But, in the last few years, that has started to tick back up, coinciding with the rise of spending on food away from home. Our takeaway? Food is increasingly an experience that America is willing to splurge on... even when inflation is hurting. [Read this on the web instead]( Not onboard In case you didn’t hear: [air travel is back](. That means that airplane etiquette will be tested to its limits once again this summer. But, much like beauty, the flight from hell lies firmly in the eye of the beholder, with each individual nightmarish mid-air vision differing slightly from person to person… To some, the thought of an over-friendly airborne neighbor who’s eager to spend ~80% of the 7 hour flight engaged in small talk is enough to make them fork out for that business upgrade, while others might be more horrified by a shoeless seat buddy or a chilling overdependence on the overhead AC. According to a [recent survey from YouGov]( however, there are some common gripes that the vast majority of Americans share when it comes to onboard behavior. Topping the list — ahead of getting drunk, leaving your seat during turbulence, or ignoring the safety demonstration — was letting children play in the aisles. It’s good to see more general annoyances and pains cropping up in the list alongside safety anxieties too: 81% of Americans agree that it’s just not okay to watch a movie or TV show without headphones while flying, 74% take umbrage with armrest hogs, and 65% say it’s unacceptable to leave your trash in the backseat pocket at the end of the journey. [Read this on the web instead]( More Data • Nearly a fifth of billionaires went to just [5 colleges](. • The Women’s National Basketball Association said that May was the league’s best attended [opening month in 26 years](. • After its most recent raise and meme stock mania, GameStop has now banked $3B in [the last 25 days](. • Fires in Brazilian wetlands [surge 980%](. • A typical single-family home in the US now costs over $18,000 per year in [“hidden expenses”](. Hi-Viz Off the charts: Which stripped-back social media platform, that was the hottest app of summer 2022, was just [acquired]( for $537M? [Answer below.] [Answer here](. 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