All Business stories

Roblaw$ shirts upset Canada’s largest grocer

The Loblaw corporation has previously beefed with Frito-Lay and other smaller suppliers. Now, it’s in a spat with a guy making novelty T-shirts.   

Driving the news: Toronto-based artist Christopher Lambe was forced to remove products from his Etsy store that lambasted grocery store chain Loblaw and its high prices after the company filed a copyright infringement complaint through Etsy. Lambe is disputing the case.

Temu really wants you to shop like a billionaire

If you tuned into the Super Bowl on Sunday, you were bombarded with no fewer than three ads (plus more before and after the game) urging you to “shop like a billionaire.” That was part of a hyper-aggressive marketing campaign by Chinese e-commerce retailer Temu to conquer the North American market.

Why it matters: Temu’s big spending marketing blitz — one 30-second Super Bowl ad spot was selling for US$7 million, and Temu had six — is unprecedented, and its sheer scale is disrupting both retail and ad markets in North America.

Sony buys MJ rights as music catalogues become chart-topping investments

The competition might’ve been tough for the King of Pop’s music library, but Sony and its big chequebook told the other investors to beat it

What happened: Sony is acquiring half of Michael Jackson’s music catalogue for around US$600 million, a deal that will make it the most valuable catalogue ever sold, per Axios.

Psychedelic drugs take a step toward the mainstream

As they did with shirtless hippies in the ’60s, psychedelic drugs are having a moment—but this time around, it’s investors (with their shirts very much on) swooning over ‘shrooms.

Driving the news: Start-ups developing psychedelic drug treatments had a milestone January, bringing in US$163 million in investments, marking the second-biggest month of fundraising ever recorded for the sector, per the Financial Times

AI may be spying on your work chats

Think twice before sending that disparaging Slack message about your manager. Someone—or rather, something—could be watching. 

What happened: A growing number of large employers are using AI tools to monitor the messages employees send on company systems.

Bud Light goes back to its sporty roots

Months after a consumer boycott that lost Bud Light the status as America’s top-selling beer to Modelo, the beer brand has chosen the Super Bowl as the next stop of its comeback tour

Driving the news: Per The Wall Street Journal, Bud Light is banking on a 60-second Super Bowl ad slot to get back in with the guys. The brand is attempting to recover from backlash for its campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which led to a slump in sales. 

Bowling is on a Canadian roll

At the height of the pandemic, nothing could be more frightening than repeatedly touching a germ-infested item hundreds of other strangers had handled. Now, we can’t get enough of it! 

In case you couldn’t tell, we’re talking about bowling.  

Driving the news: U.K.-based bowling operator Hollywood Bowl Group (HBG) is pursuing an aggressive expansion in Canada — with plans to open up to 10 new alleys within the next five years — as it posts yearly revenue gains better than a game-winning strike. 

Does your company need a chief AI officer?

If you want your company’s AI adoption to go smoothly, maybe you should put it in a corner office.

Driving the news: Companies across sectors have been hiring chief AI officers (CAIOs), from Accenture and GE HealthCare to eBay and Ashley.

Adam Neumann wants WeWork to take him back

In what could be the most shocking reunion since Ben Affleck and J-Lo, WeWork co-founder and ex-CEO Adam Neumann has sent the proverbial “u up?” text to his old business. 

Driving the news: For months now, Neumann’s latest venture, Flow Global, has been trying to acquire WeWork out of bankruptcy and provide financing to keep it running.

Canada tops global rankings for EV battery outlook

After a big year of spending, Canada’s no longer the underdog in the EV battery space.

What happened: Canada has surpassed China as the world’s most promising country for lithium-ion battery production, according to a new global ranking — a sign that its efforts to become an EV manufacturing hub are starting to pay off, per The Globe and Mail.