(NEW YORK) — After a summer in the sun, Jessica Auriana said she felt like her hair was left dry and brittle.
Looking for a refresh, the 44-year-old said she turned to her hairstylist, who suggested the Olaplex hair care line as a possible solution to her problems.
Auriana said she purchased a shampoo, conditioner and clarifying shampoo from the brand and used the products for two months, and claims she suffered hair loss.
“I think by that point I had probably lost 20% of my hair,” Auriana told Good Morning America. “I’m outside daily … I started to feel the wind and air on my scalp in places that I’ve never felt it.”
Auriana is now part of a lawsuit against Olaplex, a hair care line popular with influencers and some celebrities that promises to restore “damaged and compromised hair by repairing from the inside out” leaving users with “healthy, beautiful, shiny, touchable hair,” according to marketing materials on the company’s website and social media.
Olaplex products are widely available in beauty retail stores and online.
In the lawsuit, filed on Feb. 9 in California, Auriana and more than two dozen women across the country claim they have been left with hair that is worse off than before they used Olaplex products.
They claim in the lawsuit that Olaplex hair products they used left them, in some cases, with bald spots, allergic reactions, open sores and hair that is “dry, brittle, frizzy and dull.” One plaintiff claims in the lawsuit the treatments made her hair look “as if it were cut with a weedwhacker.”
Collectively, the plaintiffs are seeking more than $75,000 in damages.
Rachel Bentley, co-counsel on the lawsuit, said the monetary damages are “for the injuries our clients sustained.”
She told GMA, “We are seeking punitive damages to deter Olaplex from engaging in the any further wrongful conduct.”
Olaplex has not recalled any of its products.
The company has denied the claims made in the lawsuit, telling GMA in a statement, “Olaplex products do not cause hair loss or hair breakage. Olaplex products are safe and effective, as millions of our customers can happily attest.”
The company also stated it has gone “above and beyond industry beauty standards” by publicly releasing test results from “independent third-party laboratories” on its website.
“We have full confidence and believe in the safety and efficacy of our products,” the company continued. “There are a wide variety of reasons for hair breakage or hair loss, as medical and scientific experts have publicly stated, including lifestyle, various medical conditions and medications, the aftereffects of COVID, skin conditions and more. Anyone experiencing consistent hair breakage should consult their stylist and dermatologist to best understand their unique hair and skin needs.”
“Complaints like the ones referenced in this article are, sadly, a fact of life in our industry, and have been made against other brands in the category for years,” Olaplex said. “We are prepared to vigorously defend our Company, our brand, and our products against these baseless accusations.”
Experts say consumers should consult their stylists or a dermatologist if they’re experiencing hair loss to help determine the cause.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit say consumers should do their “due diligence” when it comes to choosing beauty products.
“Do your research,” Amy Davis, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. told GMA. “Do your due diligence and make sure that you are protecting yourself as a consumer when you’re buying beauty products.”
(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices rose 6.4% last month compared to a year ago, continuing a months-long slowdown of price increases despite blockbuster job growth that revealed an economy running hotter than expected, government data on Tuesday showed.
The data marked the seventh consecutive month of smaller price hikes. In December, year-over-year inflation was 6.5%.
Inflation has fallen significantly from a summer peak but is more than triple the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
The Fed earlier this month imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.
So far, the economy has largely defied an anticipated slowdown.
The economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January, more than double the employment growth a month prior and well above the breakneck pace of some 400,000 monthly jobs added on average last year, according to government data released earlier this month.
In turn, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank’s fight against inflation has “a long way to go,” citing the jobs data.
Speaking at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Powell said the “extraordinarily strong” job figures took the Fed by surprise.
“It kind of shows you why we think this will be a process that takes a significant period of time,” he added.
Still, the Fed has transitioned to a slower pace of rate hikes in recent months, suggesting confidence that the central bank has begun to tame inflation.
Over the next three years, consumers expect inflation to fall to 2.7%, hovering just above the central bank’s target, the New York Federal Reserve found in a survey released on Monday.
The combination of strong hiring and easing inflation has buoyed hopes among some economists that the U.S. could avert a recession.
A report released by the International Monetary Fund last month predicted that U.S. economic growth would cool to 1.4% this year from 2% last year, but it found the U.S. could avoid a downturn.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected recession fears in an interview last Monday with ABC News’ Good Morning America, saying the economy remains “strong and resilient.”
Many consumers, however, remain pessimistic.
Four in 10 Americans say they’re worse off financially since Biden became president, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month. The figure marks the highest share of discontented respondents since the outlets began conducting the poll 37 years ago.
Home sales fell for the 11th consecutive month in December, reaching their lowest rate since November 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell in December, ending the typically busy holiday shopping season with a whimper.
(NEW YORK) — Inflation data set for release on Tuesday will show whether the U.S. continued a months-long streak of easing price increases despite blockbuster job growth last month that revealed an economy running hotter than expected.
Forecasters predict that year-over-year inflation stood at 6.2% in January, which would mark the seventh consecutive month of cooling price hikes. In December, year-over-year inflation was 6.5%.
The data amounts to a significant slowdown from a summer peak but is more than triple the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
The Fed earlier this month imposed the latest in an aggressive string of borrowing cost increases as it tries to slash price hikes by slowing the economy and choking off demand. The approach, however, risks tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.
So far, the economy has largely defied an anticipated slowdown.
The economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January, more than double the employment growth a month prior and well above the breakneck pace of some 400,000 monthly jobs added on average last year, according to government data released earlier this month.
In turn, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank’s fight against inflation has “a long way to go,” citing the jobs data.
Speaking at The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Powell said the “extraordinarily strong” job figures took the Fed by surprise.
“It kind of shows you why we think this will be a process that takes a significant period of time,” he added.
Still, the Fed has transitioned to a slower pace of rate hikes in recent months, suggesting confidence that the central bank has begun to tame inflation.
Over the next three years, consumers expect inflation to fall to 2.7%, hovering just above the central bank’s target, the New York Federal Reserve found in a survey released on Monday.
The combination of strong hiring and easing inflation has buoyed hopes among some economists that the U.S. could avert a recession.
A report released by the International Monetary Fund last month predicted that U.S. economic growth would cool to 1.4% this year from 2% last year, but it found the U.S. could avoid a downturn.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rejected recession fears in an interview last Monday with ABC News’ Good Morning America, saying the economy remains “strong and resilient.”
Many consumers, however, remain pessimistic.
Four in 10 Americans say they’re worse off financially since Biden became president, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released earlier this month. The figure marks the highest share of discontented respondents since the outlets began conducting the poll 37 years ago.
Home sales fell for the 11th consecutive month in December, reaching their lowest rate since November 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales fell in December, ending the typically busy holiday shopping season with a whimper.
(NEW YORK) — Robots holding platters of plantains and shrimp zoom between tables at Sergio’s, a Cuban restaurant in Miami, where the waist-high machines use artificial intelligence to evade strollers, toddlers and even each other.
The restaurant brought in the androids after the pandemic struck, said Carlos Gazuita, the CEO of the chain restaurant.
People had flocked to Florida, bringing a surge of customers. Waiters though quickly suffered burn out, he said. Sergio’s was struggling to retain staff while an infection could leave Gazuita short a server for as long as two weeks. He said he had to close off sections of some restaurants.
“It was out of desperation,” he said.
The extra help has allowed Gazuita to cut wait staff by as much as 20%, while lightening the load for waiters relieved of carrying food and dishes, he said. The move has also delivered savings, he added, since the robots cost about $2 per hour.
Gazuita said he hopes to add more robots, eventually supplementing dishwashers. He acknowledged, however, the anxiety among some staffers that AI could take away much-needed jobs.
“Could you lose jobs? Maybe,” he said. “But could you pay more to the employees? The balance might overall help people.”
Sergio’s is hardly alone. Coinciding with the tightest U.S. job market in more than a half century, business adoption of AI surged during the pandemic but did not cause job losses, experts told ABC News. While data on the scale of displacement remains limited, they said, anecdotes confirm that the technology cut some positions while creating others.
Still, AI is expected to displace more and more jobs going forward, they added, citing buzzy language bot ChatGPT as a breakthrough that could threaten even white-collar positions. AI will enhance productivity and increase compensation for some jobs but it risks leaving out workers who fail to keep up, they said.
“We’ve seen an increase in AI-related displacement and redefinition of work accelerated during COVID,” Anu Madgavkar, the head of labor market research at the McKinsey Global Institute, told ABC News. “We would expect this to rise going forward.”
“The shift in the demand for work into higher-paid, better-skilled jobs could result in inequality,” she added.
So far, however, AI has fallen short of the disruptive, job-killing force that some observers feared, David Autor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in technological change and the labor force, told ABC News.
He pointed to the near-historic tightness of the job market. Jobs are plentiful despite high-profile layoffs at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter and Goldman Sachs. Last month, the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, the lowest figure since 1969.
As of December, the U.S. economy had 11 million unfilled job openings, government data showed.
“I don’t think there’s been a lot of job displacement yet,” Autor said. “There’s evidence firms are starting to do that. In aggregate, I haven’t seen any direct evidence that it comes to a lot or is even detectable at this point.”
The lack of significant job losses owes to a delay between the discovery of a technology and its effect on the way businesses operate and employees work, he said. The technology needs to advance far enough to reliably improve production, he added, noting that the sector where its impact has been most pronounced — tech — employs relatively few workers.
“There’s usually quite a lag between when a technology exists in the lab and when it has a very big effect on the way that we work,” he said.
But the pandemic turbocharged the adoption of AI, said Madgavkar of the Mckinsey Global Institute.
Companies were forced to adapt to the disruption brought about by health fears, social distancing and supply chain bottlenecks.
“Because of COVID, where you had all sorts of constraints around delivering work in the traditional way, companies and employers got focused on how you automate,” she said.
Artificial intelligence could displace roughly 15% of workers, or 400 million people, worldwide between 2016 and 2030, according to a McKinsey study. In a scenario of wide AI adoption, the share of jobs displaced could rise to as much as 30%, the firm found.
While such dire predictions haven’t materialized yet, the technology poses an imminent threat to the prevalence of accessible, high-quality jobs, said Autor. As AI heightens the demand for workers with advanced training and skills, he added, the technology risks creating a bottleneck with more high-paying jobs at the top but fewer good positions for everyone else.
“The thing we shouldn’t be worried about at present or for quite a while is the quantity of jobs,” he said. “We should be worried about the quality of jobs.”
Rockwell Automation, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based $32 billion company that offers AI products for manufacturers, saw demand spike during the pandemic since supply chain disruptions prompted countries like the U.S. to expand manufacturing within their borders, Dave Vasko, the company’s senior director of advanced technology at Rockwell Automation, told ABC News.
“No doubt, demand has gone up,” he said, noting a shortage of available workers in the manufacturing sector. “Companies are trying to make existing workers more productive.”
Vasko called fears of AI-induced job losses “overblown,” rejecting concerns that the technology could, for instance, make blue-collar jobs in manufacturing unavailable to workers who lack a college degree.
“These are really incremental skills,” he said.
Another company that saw a spike in demand in recent years is Bear Robot, the Silicon Valley-based maker of the robots carrying plates of food at Sergio’s.
Founded in 2017, the company has raised $120 million and employs 250 people, with robots active in roughly 3,000 restaurants, hotels and casinos, said Juan Higueros, a co-founder and chief operating officer.
At the outset of the pandemic, millions of hospitality workers were sent home amid widespread shutdowns. As the industry reopened, many didn’t return. The industry has about two million unfilled positions, government data showed.
Worker shortages have bedeviled the hospitality industry for years, Higueros said.
“When COVID hit, it got tremendously worse,” he added. “It’s a very tiresome and very hard job.”
He said the robots function primarily as a “sidekick” for waiters but acknowledged that they allow managers to staff fewer employees on a given shift, such as overnight, when slow customer traffic may not warrant a large workforce.
Rather than hurt waiters, the robots help make their job easier, Higueros said. No longer required to lift heavy trays of plates and lug the empty dishes back to the kitchen, the servers can focus on providing affable service to a larger number of tables, ensuring the workers more tips, he added.
The robots will make restaurants more profitable and careers in hospitality more sustainable, leading to job creation, Higueros said.
“People will look back and say, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe how we used to do things,'” he said.
In a sense, the purported effect of AI robots on wait staff aligns with a best-case scenario described by Autor: artificial intelligence makes jobs more productive, and in turn more lucrative.
But the adoption of AI throughout the economy — and the adjoining need for skilled jobs — may push a flood of workers without those skills to professions like hospitality, where a glut of applicants could drive down pay, Autor said. At the same time, the tech sector could drive growth in highly paid jobs.
“It becomes very polarized,” he said.
Still, education and skills programs could help workers make the transition, spreading the fruit borne by greater productivity to a larger number of workers. Society will determine how AI gets implemented, Autor said, and, in turn, what it does to the workforce.
“It’s not up to the technology to choose this,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — That old laptop, cellphone and TV remote may have a newfound purpose: powering the next generation of electric vehicles.
Luxury brand Audi recently partnered with Redwood Materials, a battery recycling startup, to collect rechargeable batteries found in everyday consumer devices — phones, hearing aides, electric toothbrushes and video game controllers. At least 10 Audi dealerships in the U.S. have so far opted into the burgeoning program, with more expected to join in the coming months.
Devices dropped off at dealerships are shipped to Redwood’s Nevada facilities for the sorting, recycling and remanufacturing of cobalt and lithium — two minerals required for EV battery production.
Audi is the first automaker to partner with Redwood to “support the collection of household lithium-ion batteries alongside larger EV battery recycling efforts,” according to a spokesperson.
Five percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. last year were EVs, a percentage that will rapidly increase as less expensive models arrive on the market and Americans become more familiar with charging. Growing interest in EVs has accelerated the push for valuable minerals like cobalt, nickel and lithium that are extracted from overseas mines at heavy environmental and humanitarian costs.
Recycling of consumer batteries can reduce the forced extraction of precious minerals and create a domestic supply that meets the government’s and automakers’ EV goals, according to Alexis Georgeson, Redwood’s vice president of government relations and communications.
“The U.S. is one of the largest consumers of lithium-ion devices,” she told ABC News. “Consumers are itching to get rid of these devices. There’s a tremendous opportunity for recycling.”
According to Redwood’s data, Americans throw out 150 million phones each year and less than 5% of devices containing lithium-ion are recycled. Historically, consumers had to pay to ship their used devices to recycling centers, resulting in the “abysmal” recycling rate, Georgeson said. (Redwood offers free shipping but does not reimburse consumers for the cost of the device.)
Redwood says its “technology can recover, on average, more than 95% of materials like nickel, cobalt, copper, aluminum, lithium and graphite in a lithium-ion battery. These materials can then go directly back into the supply chain to make batteries for new electric vehicles and energy storage products.” The company announced on Thursday that it had secured a $2 billion Department of Energy loan to expand its campus and scale domestic battery cell production in the U.S.
Redwood also recycles “end-of-life” battery packs from automakers like Toyota, Ford, Volvo, Volkswagen and Audi. Lithium, nickel and cobalt are extracted and remanufactured into cathode — a core component of an EV battery. Tesla battery supplier Panasonic has partnered with Redwood for remanufactured anode foil — which Redwood makes from scrap taken from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada.
“There is increased demand for automakers to get recycled content into their vehicles,” said Georgeson. “The new EV tax credit is contingent on automakers having domestically sourced their metals — whether that’s mined domestically or recycled domestically. The devices collected could end up back in a new Audi.”
The battery is the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, accounting for 30% to 40% of the cost, according to Arun Kumar, a managing director at consulting firm AlixPartners. Raw materials needed for an EV can total $6,719 compared to $2,423 for internal combustion vehicles.
According to a recent AlixPartners survey, 97% of battery electric vehicle (BEV) owners are likely to buy another one.
“Once people buy EVs the loyalty rate is off the charts,” he told ABC News. “There’s no chance these consumers are going back to vehicles with internal combustion engines.”
The U.S. does not want to depend on foreign nations like China to satiate its green ambitions, he argued, adding that it would be “bad” if the U.S. lags in battery capacity and minerals as sales of EVs take off. Recycled materials, however, can only meet 20% of the global demand for cobalt and lithium, Kumar noted.
China owns the largest share of lithium and nickel, according to AlixPartners data, and also controls mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for three-quarters of the world’s mined cobalt supply.
“We have to find mines locally in North America,” Kumar said. “The whole earth has enough materials to support growth in EVs. The extraction of minerals can be safer — we don’t want to degrade the environment.”
Boosting ownership of EVs and building out the nation’s charging infrastructure have become top priorities for the Biden administration. In August the president signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivizes automakers to buy batteries and materials from domestic suppliers and U.S. allies. Half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 will be zero-emissions cars and trucks, according to Biden’s target.
Automakers like Mercedes, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are now investing billions of dollars in battery factories in the U.S. The industry is planning to spend an estimated $1.2 trillion through 2030 to develop and build new battery-powered vehicles, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
Gernot Wagner, a climate economist and professor at Columbia Business School, applauds Redwood for trying to tap into this “large reservoir” of old devices and helping Americans “Marie Kondo” their homes and apartments to better the environment.
“There’s so much demand for these metals right now. Companies are looking anyplace for them,” he told ABC News. “It’s certainly true that many of us have too many old electric devices sitting around that we no longer use and don’t really know what to do with.”
Whether other companies adopt Redwood’s business model will depend on two factors, Wagner pointed out.
“If it pays, there will surely be new entrants. If it doesn’t — or this company is so successful to corner the entire market — there won’t be others,” he said. “Moving from internal combustion engines to EVs is fundamentally a good thing. We’ve got to make EVs work while also minimizing other impacts on the planet. It’s better to recycle than mine from scratch.”
(NEW YORK) — Outside his packed resume of movie and television credits, Ben Affleck has become famous in meme form with his hands full of Dunkin’ iced coffee, doughnuts and more.
The Quincy, Massachusetts-based coffee chain, beloved by the Boston-raised actor, starred in a Super Bowl ad after weeks of hinting of an upcoming cameo — but a surprise appearance from Jennifer Lopez made the commercial all the better.
Affleck surprised Dunkin’ customers by working the drive-thru, helping local Bostonians get their caffeine fix: “Welcome to Dunkin’, we’re a very friendly establishment. America runs on Dunkin’. This is the Dunkin’ run partner. What do you need?”
In a twist, Lopez, who married Affleck last year, pulled up to the window.
“What are you doing here? Is this what you do when you say you’re going to work all day?” she asks in the commercial.
Earlier this week, the coffee brand posted a close-up shot of a Dunkin’ iced coffee with on-screen text that that read, “Something’s Ben Brewing” and Sunday’s date for Super Bowl LVII.
“Feelin’ like we could all use some Dunkin’ today,” the caption read.
Instagram users filled the comments with a range of ideas as to what it meant, with Affleck the resounding guess by many fans.
A representative for Dunkin’ told ABC News and Good Morning America that the teaser posts were all they could share ahead of the big game.
“We’re airing our first-ever Super Bowl ad this year, but you’ll have to tune in on Sunday to see what’s ‘Ben’ brewing,” Jill Nelson, chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
In the meantime, a photographer snapped a shot of Affleck sporting the black Dunkin’ t-shirt and matching visor complete with a headset as he leaned out the drive-through window of a Boston Dunkin’ location on Jan. 10.
(NEW YORK) — Some people watched Super Bowl LVII for the big game, while others watched for the halftime show when superstar Rihanna made her long-awaited return to music and, of course, we can’t forget the commercials.
Companies from Bud Light to PopCorners teased their commercials and spent big money ahead of the game, with Variety reporting that advertisers could be shelling out between $6 million to $7 million for 30 seconds of commercial time — and their ads aren’t not lacking in star power.
Here are some of the most anticipated and buzzed-about commercials from Sunday’s game:
PopCorners and Breaking Bad stars
Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul reprised their Emmy award-winning roles for PopCorners’ latest commercial airing during Super Bowl LVII.
The duo created PopCorners, a brand that makes probably addicting and definitely not illegal chips.
General Motors, Netflix and Will Ferrell
General Motors and Netflix have teamed up with comedian Will Ferrell to promote the car manufacturer’s latest line of electric vehicles. The ad shows Ferrell driving different EVs as he makes his way through multiple Netflix shows, such as Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Squid Game.
Have yourself a ‘Hamm and Brie’ sandwich with Hellman’s
Hellmann’s enlisted a “miniature” John Hamm and Brie Larson for its latest Super Bowl commercial, where they are inside a fridge with a jar of its famous mayonnaise. The ad also features Pete Davidson, who makes a “ham and brie” sandwich.
Bud Light and Miles Teller
Bud Light got Miles Teller, star of Top Gun: Maverick, one of the biggest movies of 2022, and his wife Keleigh Teller, an actress who’s appeared in a Taylor Swift music video, for its latest Super Bowl commercial.
The commercial shows the couple dancing to the catchy wait music while on hold.
Clueless with Alicia Silverstone
As if this commercial from Rakuten couldn’t be more iconic. The company recruited Clueless star Alicia Silverstone to reprise her role as Cher in this Super Bowl ad promoting the app’s cash-back feature when users go shopping.
Pepsi Zero Sugar’s master class in acting with Ben Stiller and Steve Martin
Pepsi, known for getting big talent for its Super Bowl commercials, got actors Ben Stiller and Steve Martin to promote its Pepsi Zero Sugar line.
The company released two teasers of Stiller and Martin and the two go back and forth on who’s the better actor.
Something’s Ben Brewing
Dunkin’ has enlisted A-list actor and Dunkin’ lover Ben Affleck for its new Super Bowl ad. The company unveiled the commercial, which shows Affleck surprising unsuspected drive-thru customers by taking their orders during Sunday’s game. The actor’s wife, Jennifer Lopez, also appears in the ad.
Uber Eats gets Diddy to create ‘one’ hit
Uber Eats brought on music mogul Diddy to help come up with one hit song for Uber One, its membership service that helps users save money when ordering food. In the ad, Diddy enlists Montell Jordan, Kelis and Ylvis to do Uber-centric versions of their hit songs.
Rémy Martin teams with the GOAT
Tennis legend Serena Williams stars in Rémy Martin’s new “inch by Inch” commercial advertising its cognac. The brand has released a few teasers featuring the 23-time Grand Slam champion ahead of Sunday’s big game.
Bookings.com books Melissa McCarthy for a vacation
Bookings.com has booked the hilarious Melissa McCarthy for its latest Super Bowl commercial urging people to use its site to reserve a vacation “somewhere, anywhere.”
Bradley Cooper and his mom attempt a T-Mobile commercial
Nine-time Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper stars alongside his mother, Gloria Campano, in T-Mobile’s Super Bowl commercial about them making a commercial for T-Mobile.
The two enjoy a funny back and forth while Campano ribs him the way only a mother can.
M&M’s get a little help from Maya Rudolph
M&M’s revealed its latest Super Bowl commercial with the hilarious Maya Rudolph, the news spokesperson for M&Ms, promoting “candy-coated clam bites.”
The commercial comes after the company paused advertisements with its “spokes candies” and announced it was enlisting Rudolph as the brand’s new face.
Eyes. Lips. Face. with Jennifer Coolidge
Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge stars in e.l.f. Cosmetic’s first-ever commercial, which aired during Sunday’s game. The commercial featured a zany and somewhat clumsy Coolidge doing what she does best: bringing the laughs.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers about possible entrapment hazards in Baby Trend Sit N’ Stand Double and Ultra strollers after one death was reported.
The agency and stroller manufacturer announced Thursday that model numbers beginning with “SS76” or “SS66” have a risk of entrapment between “the pivoting front canopy and the arm rest or seat back.”
“The space in front of and behind the strollers’ pivoting front canopy can entrap a child’s head or neck if a non-occupant child climbs on the exterior of the stroller or when a child in the front seat of the stroller is not securely restrained in the seat using all five points of the harness. Entrapment could lead to a loss of consciousness, serious injury, or death,” the warning stated.
The stroller company received at least one report of neck entrapment that resulted in the asphyxiation death of a non-occupant 14-month-old, the warning said. Baby Trend was also aware of one report that resulted in neck bruises to a 17-month-old.
“Consumers can mitigate the hazard by removing and separately storing the canopy when not in use, not allowing children to play on the strollers, and always fully securing children in the strollers with the built-in five-point harness,” the warning said.
The strollers, sold nationwide since 2009, are available online at Amazon and Bed Bath & Beyond and at retailers including Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and buybuy BABY.
The two affected products have a black or silver frame and a black tray at the front with oval cutouts on the sides with “Sit N’ Stand” printed in white on the sides.
Consumers are encouraged to report incidents or injuries associated with the Baby Trend Sit N’ Stand Double or Ultra strollers or with any product to CPSC.
(NEW YORK) — Outside his packed resume of movie and television credits, Ben Affleck has become famous in meme form with his hands full of Dunkin’ iced coffee, doughnuts and more.
In recent days, the Quincy, Massachusetts-based coffee chain, beloved by the Boston-raised actor, has been hinting at an upcoming debut Super Bowl ad — and the latest hint includes a voiceover with a familiar Boston accent.
Dunkin’ released a new video on social media Thursday with what fans speculate is Affleck’s voice saying, “Welcome to Dunkin’ we’re a very friendly establishment. America runs on Dunkin’. This is the Dunkin’ run partner. What do you need?”
“Instead of wondering what could have been we started wondering what could have Ben,” Dunkin wrote in the caption.
Earlier this week, the coffee brand posted a close-up shot of a Dunkin’ iced coffee with on-screen text that read, “Something’s Ben Brewing” and Sunday’s date for Super Bowl LVII.
“Feelin’ like we could all use some Dunkin’ today,” the caption read.
Instagram users filled the comments with a range of ideas as to what it meant, with Affleck the resounding guess by many fans.
A representative for Dunkin’ told ABC News and Good Morning America that the teaser posts were all they could share ahead of the big game.
“We’re airing our first-ever Super Bowl ad this year, but you’ll have to tune in on Sunday to see what’s ‘Ben’ brewing,” Jill Nelson, chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
In the meantime, a photographer snapped a shot of Affleck sporting the black Dunkin’ t-shirt and matching visor complete with a headset as he leaned out the drive-through window of a Boston Dunkin’ location on Jan. 10.
(NEW YORK) — Authorities in Texas have launched an investigation into the marketing claims of the anti-fraud service Home Title Lock, looking to determine whether the California-based company that’s been promoted by Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich and other right-wing personalities has misled consumers through its ads and promotional materials.
“I won’t tolerate false, misleading, or deceptive advertisements targeted to any Texas consumers — especially Texas seniors,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch conservative, said in a recent statement announcing his office’s probe. “If Home Title Lock is misrepresenting its services or the need for its services, I will put a stop to its unlawful behavior.”
Last year, ABC News published an in-depth investigation of Home Title Lock and its advertising practices, raising questions about several claims made by the company, including claims about the scope of the crime known as “home title theft.”
A home’s title is essentially its proof of ownership, and for nearly $20 a month — or $199 a year — Home Title Lock promises to monitor a homeowner’s title “24/7” and help stop title theft, which can happen when a con artist uses fraudulent documents to claim ownership of someone else’s home and swindle lenders or even sell the property.
Home Title Lock also vows to help victims reclaim their homes if needed, including covering legal fees.
In advertising materials on TV, radio and online, Home Title Lock has at times described title theft as a threat “exploding across America.” Since 2018 and until recently, a frequent part of Home Title Lock’s pitch has been the claim that “according to the FBI,” title theft is “one of the fastest growing” crimes in the country.
But the FBI told ABC News it couldn’t find any evidence that the agency ever described home title theft that way, and the FBI reports that Home Title Lock cites to support its claims don’t offer any statistics specific to home title theft.
Since ABC News published its findings in June, Home Title Lock has made changes to some of its marketing materials, now claiming on its website that FBI reports show “real estate fraud” — not home title theft specifically — “is one of the fastest growing cybercrimes in America.”
But as ABC News previously noted, those FBI reports show the number of Americans victimized by “real estate/rental” crime has actually remained relatively steady over the past several years, with 11,562 victims in 2015 and 11,578 in 2021.
At the time, a spokesperson for Home Title Lock defended his company’s claims, pointing to a dramatic increase in the amount of money real estate fraud victims lose each year.
In announcing its investigation, the Texas attorney general’s office said investigators are trying to determine if Home Title Lock was “potentially violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misleading consumers with deceptive statements concerning the prevalence of home title theft and the need for Home Title Lock’s services.”
In December, six months after the ABC News report, Paxton’s office issued a “civil investigative demand” to Home Title Lock, ordering it to hand over 27 categories of documents, including information “substantiating” how it describes its services, records “substantiating” how is characterizes FBI reports, and “internal correspondence [and] email … that refer or relate to the frequency with which home title theft occurs.”
In a statement provided Tuesday to ABC News, Home Title Lock said, “We have responded to the Texas attorney general’s office in the matter, and provided all requested information. We are confident that the Texas attorney general will be satisfied with what is presented and remain focused on protecting homeowners against title fraud.”
Speaking to ABC News last year, the Home Title Lock spokesperson strongly disputed that his company’s ads overstate title theft’s spread throughout America, insisting the crime is “not that rare” and “empty suits” wouldn’t understand “what we see and hear every day.”
“We find title theft coast to coast, border to border, all the time. It’s everywhere,” he said.
There is little dispute that home title theft is a real crime with potentially devastating consequences — that’s why many local governments offer free title-notification services or are taking other measures to help protect homeowners. But Paxton’s office is investigating whether Home Title Lock’s ads may be overstating the occurrence of the crime.
In its statement announcing the investigation, Paxton’s office noted that Home Title Lock “has received scrutiny in recent months over questionable claims in its advertisements,” calling news reports about it — and its marketing to “older customers” — concerning.
The spokesperson for Home Title Lock told ABC News that the company markets its service to “people 45 and older who are essentially conservative.”
That helps explain why so many of Home Title Lock’s ads and promotional materials have featured high-profile conservative personalities such as Gingrich and Giuliani.
