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Brands are facing backlash over Pride Month... June 01, 2023 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( TOGETHER WITH [RAD Diversified]( Good morning. It’s June 1, which means the Atlantic hurricane season starts today. If you’re an Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, Jose, Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, or Whitney, you might hear your name pop up in the news at some point over the next several months... …and again in 2029. Did you know? The National Hurricane Center recycles its lists of named hurricanes every six years. —Matty Merritt, Cassandra Cassidy, Molly Liebergall, Abby Rubenstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 12,935.29 -0.63% S&P 4,179.83 -0.61% Dow 32,908.27 -0.41% 10-Year 3.648% +0.0 bps Bitcoin $27,069.73 -2.07% Advance Auto Parts $72.89 -35.04% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00am ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: Stocks [fell]( yesterday as investors nervously watched the progress of the debt ceiling deal in Congress. Plus, new government data showed there were more open jobs last month than expected, raising the possibility that the Fed could keep hiking interest rates. Advance Auto Parts tanked after the car parts seller cut its dividend and outlook for the year.  RETAIL [Corporate Pride isn’t all rainbows this year]( [Target logo with pride sticker peeling off and the word "pride" with question mark added to the end.]( Cameron Abbas Before most brands could even email their BEYOU23 Pride discount codes, companies have already faced backlash from anti-LGBTQ groups. Brands that typically roll out campaigns and merchandise for Pride Month in June are navigating a new climate this year of more vocal critics empowered by right-wing celebrities and politicians. The brands at the center of the controversies Target: Last week, the retailer moved Pride displays to the back of some stores and [pulled]( items created for its Pride collection by the trans designer Erik Carnell, citing violent threats to its store employees. One uproar focused on one of Carnell’s designs that features the phrase “Satan respects pronouns,” which wasn’t part of Target’s collection, but was on his website. The North Face: After the outdoor brand announced its Pride campaign with drag queen Pattie Gonia last Monday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene encouraged her supporters to boycott the brand. Fox News and some conservative Twitter users shared a screenshot showing kids clothing from the line, but those items are currently not on the brand’s site. The North Face’s parent company, VF Corporation, defended the campaign, saying it is “honored and grateful to support partners like Pattie Gonia.” Who else? Bud Light, Kohl’s, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have all recently drawn anti-LGBTQ ire. Even famously conservative Chick-fil-A has seen blowback for having a DEI exec. The threat to business is real Calls to boycott companies usually fade pretty quickly, but Bud Light has seen six straight weeks of declining sales since its controversial partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and brands are nervous. But the beer’s 26% drop in sales for the week ending May 20 (its worst week ever, according to the NY Post) could be attributed to the brand also angering the LGBTQ community and its allies with how it [responded]( to the pushback—something other brands have also done by opting to abandon or alter Pride campaigns at the first sign of trouble. Even so…most companies are still planning to move forward with Pride plans. Coors Light is the main sponsor for Denver’s Pride Parade. And Levi’s and Adidas will also run ads prominently featuring gay and trans models wearing and talking about their products.—MM   TOGETHER WITH RAD DIVERSIFIED [The best-kept secret in real estate]( [RAD Diversified]( Real estate is a lot of work. There’s always a new guru pitching new courses and teaching old tactics that may have worked once upon a time. [Inner Circle]( is different. Do they provide education? Sure. Do they fix, flip, and hold? Yes. So what’s different about Inner Circle? It’s done for you. In this partnership, the company does all the work. [The only thing you have to do is invest in properties](. Inner Circle finds, fixes, manages, and sells ’em. You then reap your return. See how Inner Circle helps members build a legacy that will stand the test of time. Discover real estate investing together. [Learn more today](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [Mark Cuban saying ]Shark Tank/ABC via Giphy Debt ceiling deal gets through the House. We’re this close to not having to hear about the federal debt limit until 2025: The US got one step closer to averting default on June 5 when the House [approved]( the deal struck between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a 314–117 vote last night. Democrats had to help McCarthy get the bill to raise the borrowing limit onto the floor of the GOP-controlled House for the vote, but after they did, it passed swiftly. Now, the deal moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to work to pass it quickly. Amazon to pay over $30 million for privacy violations. The e-commerce giant has agreed to shell out the cash to [settle]( a pair of lawsuits lodged by the Federal Trade Commission. It will cough up $5.8 million to resolve claims that it let employees and contractors access footage from Ring doorbell cameras and another $25 million because Alexa allegedly improperly retained information from children. Amazon’s also facing criticism from its staff—hundreds of corporate employees walked out yesterday to protest the company’s layoffs, return to office mandate, and contributions to climate change. ​Diddy says his booze brands didn’t get enough love. Not all celebrity liquor brands are success stories like Ryan Reynolds’s Aviation Gin: Sean Diddy Combs claims in a [lawsuit]( against Diageo that his Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila brands were set up to fail. The suit seeks billions, asserting that the alcohol giant treated them as inferior “urban” lines while lavishing resources on other brands, like George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila. Diddy alleges his race was a factor in the company’s behavior, but Diageo claims it’s just a “business dispute” that’s all about the Benjamins. INTERNATIONAL [China is the new hotspot for US CEOs]( [Pins with photos of Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon in the style of Find My Friends hovering over a map of Shanghai ]( Photos: Getty Images, Collage: Morning Brew There are places you can reliably find high-profile CEOs: the Juvet Landscape Hotel, Burning Man, and this week…China. CEOs including Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, Laxman Narasimhan of Starbucks, and Elon Musk of Tesla have been flooding the country. And they’re not just there because they found a flight deal on Skiplagged: US executives are trying to strengthen relationships in China, a critical market for many American companies, as tensions rise between the two nations. These visits are reviving conversations about “decoupling,” questioning what would happen if the two economies tried to stand on their own (something that both Musk and Dimon explicitly came out against). The US–China relationship isn’t exactly simpatico at the moment…and it hasn’t been for a while because of concerns over human rights, Taiwan, and China’s relationship with Russia. While the CEOs were en route, China refused a meeting between the two countries’ defense chiefs, and the US accused a Chinese jet of approaching a US plane last week in an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver.” Zoom out: Whatever is happening on the political front, the presence of these top execs in China reinforces what experts say—that the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies rely on each other too much right now to sever ties.—CC   SPONSORED BY DIVVY [Divvy]( Get a Benjamin for boosting efficiency. [Divvy]( gives you real-time reporting and easy-to-use financial controls so you can see every cent spent and stop overspending before it happens—all without a single spreadsheet. Get a $100 Amazon gift card just for [hopping on a demo](. AI [Chatbot set to replace US eating disorder helpline pulled for pushing diets]( [Tessa the chatbot told people to count their calories and do weekly weigh-ins.]( Cameron Abbas / Morning Brew In this edition of AI that backfires: Today, a chatbot was supposed to officially replace one of the largest eating disorder helplines until it was taken offline earlier this week for encouraging calorie restriction and other unhealthy behaviors it was designed to advise against. The National Eating Disorder Association Helpline already fired all its human workers, so they have no live support to offer right now. The nonprofit says the dismissals were a planned move to make way for the so-called wellness [chatbot]( named Tessa, but former staffers claim it was a union-busting maneuver. In March, the NEDA told its six helpline employees and 200 volunteers that their roles were being replaced by Tessa just four days after it was notified of its duty to recognize its employees’ newly formed union. But Tessa lacks the human touch the helpline had provided since 1999: One [activist]( trying out Tessa said it told her to try to lose one to two pounds per week by having a calorie deficit, cutting down on processed and high-sugar foods, and doing weekly weigh-ins. What now? Tessa is only offline “temporarily” until it’s rid of the “bug” that triggered dieting advice for some of the 2,500 people who tried it out, NEDA CEO Liz Thompson told the Daily Dot. Meanwhile, the helpline’s sacked union members have filed unfair labor practice charges.—ML   GRAB BAG [Key performance indicators](#) [Nuggets mascot Rocky the mountain lion]Getty/Doug Pensinger Stat: The Denver Nuggets are favored to win this year’s NBA championship, but no matter what the scoreboard says, the team will have one guaranteed winner on the court: its mascot, Rocky. The mountain lion is the highest-paid mascot in the league, raking in a $625,000 annual [salary]( according to Sports Business Journal. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be googling “how to apply for NBA mascot jobs.” Quote: “You had me at ‘Hello’ ” In an inspirational story for all us regular folks, former Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza announced her [engagement]( to a fan she met when he approached her and asked for a selfie. Her future groom, Arthur Borges, isn’t exactly a regular guy, though—he’s a model. Muguruza told the New York Post that when he first approached her in Central Park to wish her luck at the US Open and snap a photo, she was left thinking, “Wow, he’s so handsome.” Read: The strange survival of Guinness World Records. ([The Guardian]( NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Jamie Dimon]( hinted that he might want to run for office after he finishes his run as JPMorgan’s CEO, and he’s already got at least one supporter: fellow finance bigwig Bill Ackman, who thinks he should [challenge Biden]( now. - [Adidas]( has released the first batch of Yeezy sneakers it plans to sell in its effort to dump $1 billion worth of stock after cutting ties with rapper Ye over his antisemitic remarks. - [Danny Masterson]( the former That ’70s Show star and prominent Scientologist, has been found guilty of two counts of forcible rape. The jury deadlocked on a third count. - [New Zealand Air]( is weighing passengers before they get on the plane. The airline says knowing the average passenger weight will help improve fuel efficiency. - [Al Pacino]( the 83-year-old actor who brought you Tony Montana and Michael Corleone, is preparing to welcome a baby with his girlfriend Noor Alfallah, 29. For those keeping score among actors who famously portrayed mobsters, Robert De Niro, age 79, recently had his seventh child. RECS [To do list Thursday] Getting buzz: The Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off yesterday. Can you spell [last year’s words]( In the zone: Learn what [USDA gardening zone]( you live in so you can pick plants that will thrive. Forget bathing suit shopping: A guide to the world’s [best nude beaches](. Not everything needs reinvention: As this very honest review of a new-fangled hammer shows ([YouTube](. At least it has a bottle opener. Hello, futurists: Let Tech Brew’s newsletter show you how to automate and innovate your business. [Subscribe for free today](. Save up to $2k on every flight for life: Get [93% off]( Dollar Flight Club’s lifetime membership and snag deals like round trip to Hawaii from $109. Hurry, [offer ends at midnight]( *This is sponsored advertising content. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Brew Mini: Coca-Cola’s first diet soda (three letters) is your sample clue of the day. Think you know your beverage history? [Solve the Mini here](. Three Headlines and a Lie Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than a meeting agenda for a 4pm on a summer Friday. Can you spot the odd one out? - Maryland license plates now inadvertently [advertising]( Filipino online casino - Indian official [suspended]( after he drains reservoir to retrieve phone he dropped while taking selfie - Woman [accused]( of breaking into restaurant to make salad, ruining $500 worth of food items - A Barbie movie extra said producers [banned]( the song ‘Barbie Girl’ at the wrap party SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=a905682a]( AROUND THE BREW [3…2…1…Liftoff!]( [………Liftoff!]( Ever wonder what it takes to get a satellite company off the ground? [Tech Brew]( interviewed CEOs from the industry. The housing market is confusing. Tune in to [our conversation with Zillow]( to hear about the pros and cons of renting and buying. Trying to raise money in choppy waters? We’ve got you covered. Watch our [free virtual event]( with two startup experts to learn more. ANSWER We made up the “Barbie Girl” one. Written by [Neal Freyman]( [Abigail Rubenstein]( [Matty Merritt]( [Cassandra Cassidy]( and [Molly Liebergall]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. 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