Food Conglomerates That Take In Organic Brands Have Learned To Leave Them Alone

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(m01229)

Big players in the packaged food industry have used a tactic of “if you can’t beat ’em, acquire ’em” when it comes to brands in the natural and organic foods sector. Yet what initially seemed like perfect corporate marriages of convenience may not be working out as well as anyone had originally planned.

Large food players like General Mills, Hormel, and Campbell Soup seemed to assume that taking in small companies with reputations for sustainable behavior and healthy products would result in a halo effect for them, making the food conglomerate seem less evil.

Instead, consumers who prefer natural, small, and local brands or who are deeply concerned about the issue of labeling food that contains genetically modified organisms or who don’t want to be customers of the brand’s new parent company simply drop or avoid the brands. “I would assume that when a smaller company is being bought by a larger company, they usually have to modify their products to meet the needs of a larger amount of people,” one shopper at a natural foods co-op told Reuters.

The new corporate overlords, however, have found that isn’t really the case. They usually leave current leaders in place at their new acquisitions instead of absorbing them into the corporate fold. While mergers and acquisitions are usually about combining staff, resources, and supply chains, that doesn’t really work when you’re the company that sells both Cascadian Farm and Count Chocula.

That means acquiring a natural brand isn’t really about extracting more profits from the new acquisition: Hormel can’t just slap Applegate Organics labels on products that come from its regular suppliers and processing plants without destroying the brand. The head marketer at Applegate told Reuters that he emphasizes to customers that the same farmers still supply the companies, and they are ultimately supporting those farmers and the cause of organic meat.

What these acquisitions do is bring larger food companies, which consumers are starting to mistrust, into the natural food market by selling brands that are already established. Natural foods are the fastest-growing segment in the industry, and the big players want to be part of that as existing brands grow.

Big Food’s natural brand acquisitions prosper best when left alone [Reuters]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Live The Dream: Get Cinnabons And Fudgie The Whales Delivered To Your Door

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Not the ice cream in question. (Morton Fox)

The startup Postmates is carving out a unique place for itself in the economy: they exist to provide delivery for companies that aren’t interested in doing it themselves. While they perform same-day deliveries of merchandise from pretty much any store, their special niche this year has been signing up companies like Chipotle, Starbucks, and 7-Eleven, that you’ve secretly always wanted delivered, now they’ve added the parent company of Carvel, Cinnabon, and Moe’s to the mix.

There probably aren’t many situations in which you’d want an ice cream cake delivered to your door, but it could happen. The company, Focus Brands, also owns Auntie Annie’s, McAlister’s Deli, and Schlotzsky’s, so it’s not all sugary treats.

Postmates charges a delivery fee based on how busy they are and also a service fee based on the amount of your order. That means you could theoretically order a single cinnamon roll as long as you’re happy to pay at least five bucks on top of that.

Unfortunately, the service won’t be available in every city where Focus Brands has restaurants, or even in every City where Postmates currently operates: you’ll be able to order in from these restaurants only in New York City, Dallas, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland for now.

Hey couch potatoes! Carvel and Cinnabon will soon come to you [CNN]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

U.K. Orders Google To Forget 9 News Articles About The “Right To Be Forgotten”

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(frankieleon)

Although Europeans in 28 countries have the option to ask Google to remove Internet search results about themselves under certain conditions, Google is pushing back against a new “right to be forgotten” request — one that seeks to remove nine news articles about the “right to be forgotten” itself from its internet search results.

The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office has ordered Google to scrub the articles in question from the internet, because they mention a man who previously made a successful “right to be forgotten” request.

See, “the right to be forgotten” rule in the European Union says Google and other search engines have to remove links to outdated or inaccurate information about a person if they request they do so. That keeps defamatory statements, arrest records for minor crimes and other information a person might like to keep hidden in their present from coming back to haunt them whenever their name is searched on the Internet.

Though Google complied and took down links related to a man’s conviction for a minor crime committed 10 years ago, ICO says news articles since then about Google doing so have mentioned the man’s name and details about that conviction.

Google declined the request, ICO says, arguing that the articles concern one of its decisions to delist a search result and that they were an essential part of a recent news story relating to a matter of significant public importance.

But ICO deputy commissioner David Smith wrote in a statement that the same “right to be forgotten” rules apply here, just as they did when Google agreed to take down the other web results for the man.

“Google was right, in its original decision, to accept that search results relating to the complainant’s historic conviction were no longer relevant and were having a negative impact on privacy,” Smith says. “It is wrong of them to now refuse to remove newer links that reveal the same details and have the same negative impact.”

Are those “right to be forgotten” stories about individual requests in the public interest? Yes, ICO says, but they shouldn’t show up on a Google search for that person’s name, as that completely defeats the purpose of having the other mentions removed in the first place.

“Let’s be clear,” commissioner Smith wrote. “We understand that links being removed as a result of this court ruling is something that newspapers want to write about. And we understand that people need to be able to find these stories through search engines like Google. But that does not need them to be revealed when searching on the original complainant’s name.”

In July, a complaint filed here in the U.S. with the Federal Trade Commission by advocacy group Consumer Watchdog argues not just that Google should be honoring “right to be forgotten” requests stateside, but that the company’s refusal to do so is a violation of federal law.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

NHTSA Denies Second Petition To Open Investigation Into Unintended Acceleration Of Toyota Vehicles

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(frankieleon)

For the second time this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would not open a probe into millions of Toyota vehicles regarding possible unintended acceleration.

The agency announced in documents [PDF] on Friday that it had denied a June petition [PDF] to investigate “low-speed surging” – also known as unintended acceleration – in several Toyota and Lexus vehicles after determining that crashes cited in the appeal were consistent with driver error.

Back in June, a California man requested that the agency look into cars in which the vehicle begins “accelerating and the engine RPM increases even when the accelerator pedal is not depressed.”

The petition was based on his interpretation of Event Data Recorder data from a crash his wife experienced in a 2009 Lexus ES350 vehicle and from two other crashes involving a 2010 Toyota Corolla and a 2009 Toyota Camry.

With regard to his wife’s accident, the man alleged that the car’s electronic throttle control malfunctioned when it crashed into bushes, as she did not press the gas – an assertion supported by data recording from the vehicle.

However, according to documents posted by NHTSA on Friday, the agency evaluated the petition and found that the three crashes were consistent with pedal misapplications by the driver mistaking the accelerator pedal for the brake when attempting to park.

“The petitioner’s allegations regarding the three crashes are based upon several misconceptions about the manner in which the EDR samples and records pre-crash data in the ES350, Corolla and Camry vehicles,” NHTSA states. “In each of the three crashes, the vehicles accelerated as the drivers were attempting to park the vehicles. All three accelerations occurred as the vehicles were entering the intended parking spaces and in the times and positions where driver braking should be initiated to safely park the vehicles.”

NHTSA determined that based on investigators’ analysis it is unlikely that the agency would issue an order requiring notification and remedy of a defect related to vehicle safety.

This is the second time in three months that NHTSA has denied a petition related to an investigation into unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles: Back in May, the agency said it wouldn’t open a probe into low-speed surging in nearly 1.7 million model year 2006 to 2010 Toyota Corollas, citing similar findings.

NHTSA investigators evaluated that petition by performing over 2,000 miles of test driving of the petitioner’s vehicle, reviewing a June 2014 accident report and vehicle data recorder, as well as reviewing nearly 160 similar consumer complaints submitted by the petitioner.

Had the agency approved the two petitions, it would have marked the second and third for Toyota regarding unintended acceleration in the last six years.

The previous investigation, which began in 2009 following the tragic death of an off-duty California Highway Patrolman and his family in a Lexus, ended in March 2014 when the automaker reached a deal with the Department of Justice to pay $1.2 billion to close a criminal probe over the issue.

In the California case, the vehicle went off the road at around 120 mph, but not before someone in the car called 9-1-1 urgently seeking help because they could not get the car to slow down.

This incident and other reports led to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles, along with hundreds of civil lawsuits, some of which have been settled and some that continue to linger in the legal system.

NHTSA tied the sudden acceleration problems to five deaths. However, the root cause of the problem has been a much-disputed topic. Some have claimed it was a problem with the vehicles’ electrical systems, while Toyota blamed it on unsecured floor mats that became trapped under the accelerator or brake pedals, making it difficult or impossible to control the speed of the cars.

Back in March 2014, it was reported that federal prosecutors found evidence that Toyota made misleading statements about safety problems that were revealed by its own internal audits, and that the company made misleading statements to the government and to the public about those safety issues.

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Reminder: A Balcony Is Not A Safe Place To Use Your Barbecue Smoker

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(Great Beyond)

The residents of a New Jersey home learned an important safety lesson about outdoor cooking recently, albeit in a very unfortunate way: police say a house caught on fire after someone used a barbecue smoker on a balcony.

Local fire crews arrived on Thursday to fight what one official told the Springfield News-Leader was a “pretty extensive” fire. Four children were home at the time, and were safely removed without injuries (it’s unclear if any adults were there as well).

It seems that the cooking smoker was being used in the back of the house, in a spot directly beneath a balcony. The balcony then caught fire, and the flames spread up the back of the house and across the roof.

Though it’s awful that this lesson had to come by way of destruction, but it does bring out an important safety point: Experts advise people to keep any kind of grill or outdoor cooking equipment like a smoker a good distance away from your house or dwelling — 10 feet is a good number to stick with.

The fact that the roof has wooden shingles made things worse, officials said. It’s known as “shake shingle,” a material that has been banned in the town on newly constructed house. The house in this case is in an area of Springfield that was annexed after the house had already been built, however.

Fire officials: Barbecue smoker causes fire in east Springfield [Springfield News-Leader]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Toyota Reportedly Set To Buy 13 Million Airbag Inflators From Takata’s Rival

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(stellarviewer)

Automakers have struggled in recent months to get their hands on enough new parts to replace millions of defective Takata airbags. To make matters worse, the Japanese auto parts maker at the center of the massive safety issue has re-recalled hundreds of thousands of replacement parts in recent months because the devices could still harm drivers and their passengers upon deployment. To reduce these risks, Toyota is reportedly looking to purchase millions of new airbag inflators from a rival of Takata. 

Reuters reports that the proactive move by Toyota began last month when the Japanese carmaker asked smaller parts supplier Nippon Kayaku to increase production to 13 million inflators, to be used in the company’s cars until 2020.

A source close to the matter says that Toyota is considering the switch to Nippon as a precaution in case more Takata airbag inflators are recalled.

Back in May, Takata recalled 33 million vehicles equipped with its airbags; 12 million of those belonged to Toyota.

To date, Takata airbags – which have ruptured with such force it sends pieces of shrapnel flying at passengers and drivers – have been linked to eight deaths and more than 100 injuries.

The source says that having the parts on hand would give Toyota the ability to quickly replace any potentially defective inflators in the future.

In addition to asking Nippon to increase its production, Toyota asked the company to expand its facilities to meet the new demand. It was unclear whether or not Toyota would help foot the bill for the requested expansion.

The source tells Reuters that Toyota based the number of inflators it would purchase from Nippon Kayaku on the number of vehicles with Takata-produced airbags that could eventually become a danger for explosive ruptures.

If Toyota switches to the Nippon-produced inflators, it “will replace the high-risk ones, in other words the older ones, first and then proceed sequentially,” the source says.

Still, some say the move doesn’t mean Toyota will stop buying Takata airbags or parts entirely.

“Toyota wouldn’t want its business with Takata to disappear … This is a strategy where it’s trying to maintain business and reduce risk,” Takaki Nakanishi, chief executive of Nakanishi Research Institute, which specializes in the automotive industry, tells Reuters.

Exclusive: Toyota to buy 13 million air-bag inflators from Takata rival – sources [Reuters]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Gap Promises It’ll Sell Clothes You Actually Want To Wear By Next Spring

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(nffcnnr)

Change is in the air at Gap Inc., which has been struggling to attract customers lately in the crowded retail arena of mid-priced clothing. After announcing in June it’d be closing 21% of its U.S. stores by January, for a total of 175 locations, the company is promising that it’s starting to turn things around, though changes won’t be immediate: by next spring, the company says it’ll have clothing people actually might want to buy.

Gap has seen sluggish sales recently as it tries to find the sweet spot for customers (and no, clothing for “normal” people wasn’t a good move): The Washington Post notes that the retailer’s second-quarter earnings were far from impressive, prompting Chief Executive Art Peck to reassure investors and customers that things are about to get better.

During a conference call to discuss those earnings, Peck said shoppers will see the difference in Gap starting early next year.

“I’m not going to stand up at the plate and call which fence we’re going to hit it over,” Peck said. “That’s not who I am. But I’m confident that Gap will make significant progress in spring and very pleased with what I’ve seen in the women’s assortment and the turnaround in the women’s assortment.”

Peck took the reins of the company in February and has admitted in the past that the flagship brand’s clothing just isn’t stylish, and that customers are unhappy with the quality and fit of items. That’s something they’re working on, Peck adds, saying Gap has been “resolutely focused” on getting the fit of its jeans and other bottoms right.

Shoppers should see the results of Gap’s labors in the spring line, Peck promises.

Part of the change will stem from Gap’s new supply chain, which uses a technique called “fabric platforming,” WaPo explains: a company might buy a large amount of fabric and then, instead of using it all for say, a style of skirt, it could just decided what pieces to use it for as it sees fit. One type of fabric could then be used to make pants, or a shirt, for example. Old Navy, which is also owned by Gap along with Banana Republic, already uses this strategy and it’s worked for that brand.

Peck says this tactic will allow Gap to tweak its clothing line-up in the middle of a season — if a new trend pops up that it wants to get in on, it can change its tack and churn out a new line.

If he needs any other tips, our readers had a few suggestions back in 2007 for then-new Gap CEO Glenn Murphy.

Gap is promising you cuter clothes by spring [Washington Post]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

H&M Sells Customers’ Old Clothes Back To Them As Recycled Denim

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A kids’ jacket that uses 20% recycled denim at H&M. Regrettably, they are not selling the animal ears version in adult sizes. We checked.

A few years ago, H&M was caught destroying unsold clothing to discourage dumpster-divers, enraging people, especially if they were already opponents of fast fashion. A few years later, the Swedish chain did the exact opposite: they offered customers a discount for their old clothes, and promised to recycle those old duds into rags, insulation, or even new clothes. Now, three years later, you can theoretically buy your old clothes back from H&M in denim form.

H&M is calling the new collection “Close the Loop,” but the loop isn’t perfectly closed. The denim consists of about 20% recycled cotton, which they say came from clothes collected in H&M stores. That’s not a perfect closed loop, but it is 20% more cotton than they were recycling before. The recycled clothing collection consists of 16 pieces for adults and children.

The company reports that they’ve collected 14 million tons of old clothes since 2013. Recycler I:CO sorts through customers’ discarded clothes, determining what can be resold in thrift stores, shredded into rags or insulation, or shredded even further to reclaim the cotton fibers. H&M has promised to increase the amount of recycled fiber used in its clothes in the coming years.

Levi’s also works with the same recycling company, and they’ll give you 20% off for bringing in old clothes, which do not have to be 100% cotton. H&M will give you a 15% off coupon in exchange for a bag of clothes.

The full collection hits stores the first week of September.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Customs Officials In Miami Keep Finding Cocaine, Heroin Hidden In Flower Shipments

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(Renee Rendler-Kaplan)

Stopping to smell the roses takes on a whole new meaning down in Miami, where federal officials say they’ve found several shipments of flowers going through the airport with cocaine and heroin hidden in them.

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection say 80 pounds of the drugs have been found in floral shipments in the last two years, reports the Associated Press, with most of those coming from Colombia and Ecuador.

Sometimes the drugs are hidden in the flowers themselves — posing a health hazard to any unsuspecting person who might be tempted to take a sniff — as well as in the boxes containing the flowers.

Miami is a hotspot for flowers coming into the U.S., with inspectors trying to make sure foreign bugs and pests don’t hitch a ride into the country.

The border protection agency says it’s working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to investigate the drug trafficking organizations responsible for flower drug smuggling operation.

Don’t smell the flowers: Cocaine, heroin found hidden in floral shipments at Miami airport

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Target Testing Healthier Cafe Concepts — No Hot Dogs Or Nachos In Sight

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(Mike Mozart)

Sometimes you just can’t get through your shopping trip at Target without a little snack, say, a hot dog from the store’s cafe. You might have to settle for something a little different next time hunger strikes while you’re roaming the aisles, as Target announced it’s testing a new – healthier – cafe concept.

USA Today reports that 14 Target stores will serve as the testing grounds for a new cafe concept that ditches hot dogs and cheese-drenched nachos in favor of pressed juices, green salads and “artisan” pizza.

The new concept, which will begin being tested in October, comes in several food categories.

One cafe concept – called Freshii – will be available in nine stores, offering customers salads and pressed juices, while three other stores will open Pizza Hut restaurants featuring a limited menu of “artisan” pies, like margarita and barbecue chicken.

Two stores in Minneapolis will host outposts of local Italian restaurant D’Amico & Sons.

Of Target’s 1,800 stores, nearly 1,700 currently have some sort of cafe offering guests popcorn, hot dogs, nachos, and Icees. Tina Tyler, Target’s chief stores officer, says those cafes attract nearly 40% of shoppers.

The experiment with the new cafe concepts came about after hearing customers were looking for more high-quality food and a fast-casual atmosphere, USA Today reports.

“We think this takes us a giant step in the direction of making a much better first impression,” Tyler says.

At test Target cafes, hot dogs out, salads in [USA Today]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Workers Say UK Restaurant Chain Keeps Their Tips, Makes Them Lie To Customers About It

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(Michelle Rick)

When you’re eating at a restaurant and they impose a “service charge,” where do you assume that money goes? While laws regarding the pay of tipped workers are different in the United Kingdom than here, they do have the custom of tipping. Except at the chain restaurant Côte, which reportedly imposes an optional service charge which isn’t distributed directly to waitstaff.

What do they do with the money? The company says that the 12% charge is shared by all workers, whose pay starts at about £7.50 ($11.77). “At Cote the optional service charge is used to increase the pay of all restaurant level staff above what would typically be seen as market standard,” the company explained in a statement in response to the Evening Standard’s investigation. “This applies to all restaurant level staff, as good service is a team effort from the person serving the food to the person cooking the food or cleaning the kitchen.”

However, the service charge seems to be “shared” only in a holistic sense: workers receive their hourly rate and not a proportion of the service charges collected during their shifts. The restaurant claims that workers have the choice of keeping their tips or pooling them, but one server told the Evening Standard that they were forced to hand over cash tips, too, and didn’t receive a direct share of the money in the pool.

“We are told by management that we don’t get to keep the service charge because we get paid more than the minimum wage, so we should be grateful,” one server told the Evening Standard, “but most of us would prefer earning the minimum wage and taking home our tips for the hard work we do.”

Côte is a chain, with 72 restaurants across the country, 30 of which are in London. While the company pays £7.50-£8 per hour, a living wage in London is £9.15.

Exposed: how Côte staff miss out as entire service charge goes to company [Evening Standard]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

What Does Spotify’s New Privacy Policy Actually Say, And Should I Be Worried?

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(Emily)

Spotify has basically run away with the music market over the last couple of years, boasting over 75 million active users. But the popular streaming service this week ticked off a bunch of those customers this week when it updated its privacy policy and user terms and conditions. And their timing couldn’t have been worse: the combination of seeming to add a dramatic and invasive new set of permissions to their apps, in a week when privacy concerns and hacks are already the top headline, set off an angry internet firestorm.

The new privacy policy has garnered criticism for a few clauses in particular. Those sentences say that Spotify “may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files,” which does actually sound pretty creepy, and also that Spotify may “collect information about your location based on… your phone’s GPS location or other forms of locating mobile devices (e.g. Bluetooth).”

Wired calls the new policy “eerie” and advises readers they can’t do squat about it. The Verge counters that everyone — including Wired — is overreacting. And Spotify had to issue a clarification and apology today going over the changes, and the permissions it requests.

So who’s right? Everyone, in part.

Wired is right because of the broader context, which is: most privacy policies are terrible. They do not guarantee you privacy; they just outline and detail the ways in which you do not have any. They are not protection but rather, explanation.

Spotify’s clarification about the ways in which it plans to limit the collection and use of data helps, but doesn’t eliminate the core problem, which is that lots of apps and services just rake in mountains of data, without even having clear plans for why they want to sit on that treasure trove of personal information. Or worse, that they do have a clear plan, and that plan is “sell it to advertisers and third parties.”

The Verge is right, on the other hand, because Spotify is probably not up to nefarious no-good wholesale resale of consumer data. As the official apology and The Verge’s analysis both point out, these permissions make it easier for Spotify to continue to add new, optional features to their service that a lot of users will probably really like. And if you want an app to do cool aggregative or predictive or customized things for you, or if you want to be one of the 50 million users sticking with the free, ad-supported version of the service, it needs information to do those things with. Thus, your data.

So how much you personally will want to freak out depends on how much data you, personally are comfortable with Spotify accessing.

Spotify promises repeatedly in their update that they are all about clarity and permission. The running theme of their entire statement is: no, seriously, we will only collect and use this information if you let us. In theory, Spotify will explicitly ask you specifically for permission before accessing any particular stuff on your phone, and you can say no.

“Let me be crystal clear here: If you don’t want to share this kind of information, you don’t have to,” writes CEO Daniel Ek. “We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data – and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.”

That level of user control, Ek continues, applies to photos, location, voice (microphone), and contacts. As for data sharing, Spotify points out that sharing information with mobile carriers, rights holders, and advertisers is universal and the way that the entire system of mobile apps and streaming services works.

The thing about explicit permissions, though, is that they’re not always all that explicit. Much of the time, they show up in a vague general dump when you update or install the app, and hitting “okay” counts as explicitly accepting all the terms. Phone software makers (Apple and Google) have gotten much better over time about letting users which permissions they grant or reject at the time they install an app, but there’s still room for improvement.

But after this little tempest, it seems likely that Spotify, at least, will err on the side of caution going forward when it asks to poke around in your stuff.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Fun With Surveys: Consumerist And Consumer Reports Need Your Help

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(Pixteca | Len & Pix【ツ】)

Consumer Reports and Consumerist need volunteers to participate in audience research: As an ad-free non-profit, we work only for you! In order to do our very best, we need to know what you think. This is your big chance to help guide us. Our parent-company, Consumer Reports, would like to understand your opinions on a range of topics, including general purchases and cause-based organizations. Your responses will remain confidential. Your views will only be expressed in aggregate, combined with the views of others. We will not associate your personal information (including your email address) with your responses, and we will not sell or provide your email address to any third party.

ATTENTION: This survey is detailed (because we care) and may take as long as 30 minutes to complete. We understand that your time is valuable, and we sincerely appreciate your help! CLICK HERE TO TAKE SURVEY.

by consumerist.com via Consumerist

Amazon’s Echo Might Be Getting More Useful With SmartThings Integration

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A demo of the new SmartThings/Echo partnership showed users commanding the speaker to turn on and dim lights.

If telling your web-connected home entertainment speaker to reorder laundry detergent wasn’t enough (when is it?), Amazon is reportedly giving Echo the ability to essentially run your home through a new partnership with SmartThings.

Citing a SmartThings blog that was taken down, TechCrunch reports that the two companies are preparing to launch an update that would roll SmartThings capabilities into the Echo speaker (which has also been called “Siri in a box”).

Echo, which was first unveiled in November 2014, functions much like other voice-activated devices: always on and always connected to the internet.

In all, Echo has previously allowed users to ask the system’s personal assistant “Alexa” to update to-do lists, set alarms and timers, check the weather, get sports and news, get answers to questions from Wikipedia, stream music, or just talk without having to worry about a sarcastic reply (that is, until machines inevitably become self-aware and sassy).

Now, through the new partnership, Echo would have the ability to operate any SmartThings-compatible device – or devices plugged into a SmartThings Power Outlet – in a consumer’s home.

A demo video viewed by TechCrunch – but since taken down – showed users simply asking Alexa to do something, like dimming the lights or turning on a Sonos player.

It’s unclear when the new Echo capabilities will roll out. We’ve reached out to Amazon for comment on the partnership and will update this post when we hear back from the company.

TechCrunch points out that Amazon had initially been working with Wink to power different devices in the home, but the blog post points to a new plan.

SmartThings Support Is Coming To Amazon Echo [TechCrunch]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Norwegian Company Live Streaming 11-Month Caviar Aging Process

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(Mills DA on YouTube)

If you’re the kind of person who enjoyed watching 11 hours of brisket cooking and is looking for your next challenge, you might want to slip into some extra soft pants and prepare yourself for a real food marathon: A Norwegian company is live streaming footage of barrels of caviar aging over 11 months.

Food company Mills will have “Mills kaviar – Super Slow TV” airing on its YouTube channel live, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with footage showing a room filled with barrels.

The slow broadcast started on Aug. 19 and will run through July 19, 2016 (totaling 7,392 hours), at which point the roe will be sufficiently matured, and “ready to take its next step on its journey towards the breakfast tables of thousands of Norwegians.”

“Observe every step of the process — and experience how time passes — as the roe slowly matures for months,” says another video from Mills about the project”

On the edge of your seat yet? No? Well, there’s one high point mentioned by Mills to look forward to: Barrels will get turned upside down after a few months(!).

The idea was inspired by a quirky movement in Norway that has seen other “Slow TV” projects become a hit, including several hours of knitting, 12 hours of a fire being built and 100 hours of people playing chess.

At the moment of this writing, I was the only person watching the room. And I have to say, the caviar barrels really don’t do much. They just sit there, like the inanimate objects filled with fish eggs that they are.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Comcast Unmasks Anonymous Commenter In Defamation Case

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(Chris Goldberg)

Do online commenters have a right to remain anonymous? If their comments are possibly defamatory, should the subject of those statements have to prove the defamation before learning the identity of the writer? This are questions surrounding the story of an Illinois Comcast subscriber who, after a nearly four-year legal battle, has been identified as the writer of inflammatory comments directed at a local politician.

This matter goes back to Dec. 2011, when someone wrote a comment on a Freeport Journal Standard article comparing the politician to former Penn State assistant coach, and convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky. A second comment under the same user name claimed that the politician had previously attempted suicide.

The politician, claiming that these statements were false and defamatory, sued the anonymous commenter in early 2012. The Journal Standard’s parent company provided the plaintiff with the commenter’s IP address and identified him as a Comcast subscriber.

Comcast said it could name the person associated with that IP, but told the plaintiff that it would need a court order directing the company to reveal the identity.

This is always the difficult and complicated part of anonymous commenter/review cases, as some courts and companies are hesitant to breach that anonymity when the defamation has yet to be proven. Some even believe that outing an anonymous online commenter before a trial has a chilling effect on free speech and could prevent people from using the shield of anonymity to reveal important information that would have otherwise been kept under wraps.

In this case, the plaintiff was able to take advantage of Illinois court rules that can allow the identification of the commenter if the plaintiff can prove that his defamation claim is likely to survive a motion to dismiss.

The plaintiff argued that the Sandusky comparison was obviously defamatory as it implied that he’d committed the same crime as the disgraced football coach, and both a local county court and a state-level appeals court agreed, noting that this comment was not reasonably capable of an innocent construction, and that it could reasonably be interpreted as stating an actual fact (as opposed to merely an opinion of the commenter).

The anonymous user took his case to the Illinois Supreme Court, and in June the state’s highest court affirmed [PDF] the rulings of the previous courts.

The court noted that the Sandusky statement was irrelevant to the topic of the article, and that the claim of innocent construction of the comment “would be strained and unreasonable.”

In breaking down whether the comparison was a statement of fact or opinion, the court looked that three factors: whether the statement has a precise and readily understood meaning; whether the statement is verifiable; and whether the statement’s literary or social context signals that it has factual content.

“[The defendant] intended to convey the idea that [the plaintiff] was a pedophile or had engaged in sexual acts with children. Thus, the first factor is met,” writes the court, which also points out that claims of child molestation are verifiable through victim testimony.

And though the court acknowledges that “the Internet is susceptible to hyperbole, exaggerations, and rhetoric, it is also a place where factual content is conveyed. There is nothing in the content or forum of the Freeport Journal Standard’s website to suggest that [the defendant’s] allegation could not reasonably be interpreted as stating an actual fact.”

In early August, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to not hear the case, leaving Comcast with little option but to turn over the man’s information to the plaintiff.

According to the AP, the man was identified earlier this week. The plaintiff in the case says that he is familiar with the commenter, a local attorney.

“I know him, and I’m very disappointed,” the plaintiff tells the AP. “This has been a nightmare for me.”

The defendant’s attorney says the plaintiff must now prove that the owner of the IP address actually wrote the comments in question.

“He’s the gentleman that pays for the Internet access and the IP address,” explained the lawyer. “But many, many people can use an IP address. He has a family and he has a wireless router.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Tesla, Airbnb Team Up To Create The “Ultimate Road Trip,” Provide Chargers For Rental Hosts’ Homes

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Tesla and Airbnb have teamed up to provide electric car chargers for use by renters.

What do electric cars and rental properties have in common? Not much, unless of course you live in California, drive a Tesla, and rent your abode on Airbnb, as the two companies recently announced a partnership to provide free charging stations to select hosts’ homes along the left coast.

Airbnb and Tesla launched their new partnership on Thursday, saying they would provide electric car charging stations to 30 Airbnb properties in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Healdsburg, and other areas of California in an effort to give travelers more freedom on their road trips.

“Together, we’re building a world with no limits to how far you can travel and how you get there,” Airbnb said in a statement. “From remote deserts to lush forests, we’re unlocking highways, backroads, adventures and unique homes.”

The campaign, which will eventually expand globally, allows existing Airbnb hosts who list their entire home for rent, have had more than five bookings, and have an average rating of 4 or more stars to apply to receive a free Tesla charging station.

While the $750 cost of the charging station is covered by the companies, the host is responsible for paying for installation.

Tesla says it will select the properties to receive a charging station from a curated set of applicants.

Renters staying in a Tesla charger-equipped home should expect to pay about $10 for a night’s charge, the company estimates.

In announcing the partnership, Airbnb gave a sneak peek into what a road trip between the two companies would entail.

The companies enlisted the help of Lia and Garry, who embarked on a road trip through California using a Tesla vehicle and staying in Airbnb rentals.

“It’s been a lovely, lovely trip,” Garry said of the trip. “And we’ve seen some fabulous places and met some really fine hosts. Really nice people. It’s been a great way to really experience California.”

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Samsung Wants iPhone Users To Test Drive A Galaxy Smartphone For 30 Days

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(Janitors)

If you’re an iPhone user who’s been flirting with the idea of switching to an Android phone, it’s understandable that you might be resistant to change — it can take some getting used to when you switch from one operating system to another, in either direction. Samsung wants to take that uncertainty away for iPhone users with a new promo that allows those folks to test drive one of a few Galaxy smartphones for a month.

The trial period will cost $1 (a processing fee for sending a test phone) and is only open to iPhone users — you have to sign up on an iPhone to get access to the promotion in the first place. You also have to be 18 and have an active data wireless plan.

Here’s how it works: Samsung will send iPhone users who sign up either a Galaxy S6 Edge, Edge+, or Galaxy Note 5 on the carrier of choice, with an activated SIM and data plan. The company then mails the handset to the customer with a prepaid shipping box for returns.

If you don’t send the phone back within 30 days, you’ll be stuck with the entire retail cost of the phone.

The Verge notes this isn’t the first time Samsung has run such a promotion, though a similar offer in 2014 required users to visit a Samsung pop-up store in person.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

McDonald’s Apologizes After Couple Says Ad Campaign Ripped Off Their Viral Engagement Photos

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McDonald’s appears to have imitated a viral photo series for a new Twitter campaign. The ads, which included this photo, have been taken down.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But what if that flattery comes in the form of the largest fast food restaurant copying your creative take on engagement photos for a national ad campaign? That’s what two artists have accused McDonald’s of doing, and now the Golden Arches is publicly apologizing.

AdWeek reports that McDonald’s issued an apology to a freelance writer and a photographer after modeling a Twitter ad campaign based on a set of viral photos the artists released last month.

The original pictorial series included the man longingly looking at a burrito on a park bench, seductively peering at the food from behind a tree and lounging next to each other on the grass.

“I came up with the concept as a satirical take on the engagement photos that flood my everyday social media channels,” one of the creators tells AdWeek of the photos that went viral after being covered in BuzzFeed.

McDonald’s apparently saw the popularity of the series and decided to make it its own by replacing the tinfoil wrapped burrito with its double cheeseburger meal.

The resulting ads feature various people in similar poses to those of the viral photo series: a man lies back in the grass, a woman sitting on a park bench, a man peering around a tree.

The artists say they learned of the McDonald’s Twitter campaign after a friend spied one of the sponsored Tweets and pointed out the similarities.

“The photos are in fact licensed. The photos used by McDonald’s are not a spin-off or a take on it,” the writer tells AdWeek, “but an exact duplicate from the wardrobe, the positions and the concept. Neither myself, my photographer or the licensing company were approached for permission.”

Not seeing the imitation as flattery, the duo began Tweeting and calling McDonald’s. While they hadn’t heard back from the company on Thursday night, a rep for the company issued an apology statement to AdWeek.

“This shouldn’t have happened and, with our agency partner, we’re working to find out how it did. We’re reaching out to [the artists]. We apologize to them, their fans and ours,” the company said.

As of Friday morning, it appears the McDonald’s ads had been removed from their Twitter page.

While the artists appreciate the apology, they would like the ad company to acknowledge the campaign was base don their work, and, of course, if McDonald’s wants to pay them for the concept, “that’d be great,” he tells AdWeek.

McDonald’s Apologizes for Ripping Off Viral Photos of a Man Getting Engaged to a Burrito [AdWeek]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Madewall Recalls 50,900 Pairs Of Shoes That Could Cause Wearers To Trip And Fall

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You’re just strolling along, feeling fine and looking good in your new, $60 Madewell sandals when suddenly, you trip and fall. It’s not you — or at least, it might not just be your own personal clumsiness — the J. Crew-owned company says 50,600 pairs of sandals it sold in the U.S. and Canada have a metal shank that can dislodge from the inside of the shoe and break through the bottom of the outsole, posing a fall hazard.

It’s not often that we hear about a clothing retailer recalling products for being unsafe, considering usually, it’s not like your shirt is going to inch up around your neck and try to strangle you or something.

That makes this recall especially interesting, one that came to our attention when Consumerist reader Lauren forwarded an email Madewell sent to customers who’d recently purchased a pair of the shoes in question. As it turns out, she’d already returned her pair one day after she bought them, because they were “impossible to walk in.”

Thus far, Madewell has received eight reports of metal shanks dislodging and breaking through the bottom of the outsole. No injuries have been reported, the Consumer Product Safety Commission notes.

The recall only applies to a list of particular styles, but in all colors and all sizes of those particular sandals. The shoes were sold from February 2015 to July 2015 for between $60 and $80 at Madewell stores, online at madewell.com and online at shopbop.com.

About 50,600 pairs of the recalled shoes were sold in the U.S., and about 300 in Canada. The following 10 style numbers are being recalled:

C0275 Sightseer Knotted Slide Sandal
C0276 Sightseer T-Strap Thong Sandal in Black Leather
C0277 Sightseer T-Strap Thong Sandal in Metallic Colorblock
C0278 Sightseer Buckle Gladiator Sandal
C0279 Sightseer Slide Sandal
C1105 Sightseer Crisscross Sandal
C5893 Sightseer T-Strap Toe-Loop Sandal
C5895 Sightseer Ankle-Wrap Sandal in Shiny Silver
C5897 Sightseer Lace-Up Sandal
C6090 Sightseer Ankle-Wrap Sandal in Metallic Sand

Madewell and the CPSC say customers should stop using the product and return it to the retailer for a refund for the entire purchase amount. Customers will get a separate shipping email generated by the UPS with a free shipping label attached, within 24-48 hours to return the sandals for free.

“It’s important that you know how seriously we take product safety,” Madewell says in the email to customers. “We are actively working to rectify this issue and put additional measures in place to ensure this does not happen again.”

Customers can reach Madewell by phone at 1-866-544-1937 or by email at 24-7@madewell.com.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Pumpkin Spice Latte M&Ms Are A Thing, If You Were Wondering

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Candy with pumpkin spice flavoring? That’s so very 2013. The flavor wizards at M&M/Mars have gone beyond the tepid cinnamon-ish flavor of their attempt two years ago, and have now added what we’re guessing is a faint hint of coffee flavor to the mix for pumpkin spice latte M&Ms. Yes, this is real.

A reader of The Impulsive Buy spotted them at Target, which probably means that they’re exclusive to that retailer. We’ve also seen this strategy used successfully by Nabisco in selling their Exotic Oreo flavors. Another roving snack reporter spotted M&Ms with pecan pie flavoring at Walmart.

There is absolutely no reason why you couldn’t visit your favorite coffee shop and order a pumpkin spice mocha, also known as a pumpkin spice latte M&M-flavored coffee beverage. Or espresso and chocolate with some pumpkin syrup in it. I guess. At least that would have caffeine in it, which these candies do not.

On the other hand, many Target stores have Starbucks outlets instead of snack bars, meaning that you could have the pumpkin spice latte candies with a pumpkin spice latte.

SPOTTED ON SHELVES: Pumpkin Spice Latte Milk Chocolate M&M’s [The Impulsive Buy]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Beer And Breakfast Go Together Like Pop Tarts And India Pale Ale. Wait, What?

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(@21stAmendment)

If we thought it couldn’t get any more breakfast-y for beer lovers after the creation of Count Chocula beer and HefeWheaties, then we were wrong. Because, apparently, there’s also now a sudsy beverage celebrating everyone’s love for Pop Tarts.

San Francisco brewer 21st Amendment has taken on the breakfast craze with Toaster Pastry, an Indian Red Ale that serves as a salute to Pop Tarts, Fortune reports.

The breakfast-centric beer came about as a way to honor the previous tenants of the brewery’s recently opened new facility in San Leandro, CA.

The former Kellogg Co. factory was used to make Frosted Flakes and Pop-Tarts. There’s no word yet on whether the brewery will pay respects to Tony the Tiger’s preferred cereal in the future.

Toaster Pastry – which Fortune reports is more bitter than the sweet morning meal it’s modeled after – is set to be released at the opening party for the brewery’s new facility on Aug. 29. After that, it will be available for purchase as a seasonal offering in 19.2-ounce cans.

Craft brewers appear to be more readily taking their inspiration for off-the-wall creations from the first meal of the day.

Just yesterday, the makers of Cerealiously Count Chocula beer – which previously created a local cereal shortage – announced it had procured enough of the chocolatey-marshmallowy cereal to bottle and sell it.

And last week, Wheaties announced it had partnered with a Minnesota brewer to create HefeWheaties, although it doesn’t actually taste like the cereal it’s named after.

Now, there’s a Pop-Tart beer [Fortune]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

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Here are nine of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

(Frederic Hutter)

(nathanmac87)

(yoppy)

(Gilbert Mercier)

(Greg McMullen)

(Trish P.)

(Fabio Cecchin)

(Karen Chappell)

(Nicholas Eckhart)

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist