Category: Business

Bud Light Super Bowl ad featuring Shane Gillis did ‘all the right things’

Former Anheuser-Busch President of Operations Anson Frericks breaks down the role DEI and ESG played in companies, the toll that the Dylan Mulvaney controversy took on Bud Light and whether companies should avoid political issues.

Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad featuring comedian Shane Gillis, singer Post Malone and football great Peyton Manning has garnered the company praise from beer industry insiders and observers, with one expert saying the company is doing “all the right things” after the distiller’s Dylan Mulvaney disaster.

The ad had Gillis and Malone playing the “Big Men of the Cul-de-sac,” two middle-aged suburban homeowners who are called upon to save a neighbor’s “boring party” by launching cans of Bud Light, which serve as invitations, at their neighbors’ doorsteps via leaf blower. The neighbors then flock to “the end of the cul-de-sac” for a raucous party that draws the former Colts quarterback, who admires how many Bud Lights Gillis and Malone’s custom cooler can fit.

Col. John Saputo, an Anheuser Bush/InBev beer distributor with operations in Ohio and Florida, told Fox News Digital that Bud Light’s ad shows that the company is getting “back to our roots.”

BUD LIGHT LAYS OFF HUNDREDS OF WORKERS AFTER DYLAN MULVANEY CONTROVERSY, LOSING TOP SPOT TO MODELO

Bud Light is doing all the right things in its latest ad campaign, industry insiders say. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“This ad is one of the best I have seen in my 40-year career,” Saputo said. “This ad opens up the Bud Light brand to all consumers and invites Bud Light into every home in America as an approachable and accepted American Lager.”

Bud Light has faced extreme backlash after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023. Customers, who felt betrayed by the once all-American brand injecting far left politics into their advertising, revolted, causing sales to plummet.

Beer Business Daily Publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital that Bud Light bringing Gillis, Post Malone and Manning on was the “right thing to do to reengage with their natural audience.”

BEER INDUSTRY IN DECLINE AS CRAFT BREWERIES FACE HIGHER COSTS

Bud Light has faced intense backlash from longtime customers over an ad campaign with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. (Instagram/Fox News / Fox News)

“Bud Light has always been associated with humorous ads lighthearted, funny buddy ads, and they’re getting back to that,” he said.

Audiences appear to be responding well to the ad, it was voted the seventh top Super Bowl commercial on USA Today’s Ad Meter. Overall, Anheuser-Busch had four ads in the meter’s top ten.

Schuhmacher said that partners like Gillis and Manning were a much better fit for Bud Light’s brand than Mulvaney, and that reversing course could help the ailing brand staunch the bleeding from its ongoing sales plunge.

“Bud Light has always been associated with a blue-collar working class. You know relaxation, barbecuing, those you know country music those type of deal situations and occasion so yeah, it makes much more natural sense. They’ve done all the right things,” he said.

The commercial featured Peyton Manning. (Bud Light)

Bud Light year-over-year sales were down nearly 30% for the week ending January 20, according to numbers provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting. Schuhmacher conceded that there many customers who will “never return” to Bud Light, but feels that the company can make inroads with a new pool of consumers who just turned 21. Col. Saputo was also optimistic about Bud Light’s future prospects.

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Ultimately, Schuhmacher believes that Bud Light’s changes go deeper than just the level of marketing, and reflect a broader change in the company’s corporate mentality to better align with the views of their natural customers.

“No other brand in all of consumer goods has learned their lesson and more than Bud Light has, I mean that Bud Light really became the face of DEI and woke,” he said.

February 12, 2025
Disney drops controversial ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ program as company pairs back DEI initiatives

Fox News contributor Douglas Murray weighs in on infighting among Democratic lawmakers over border relief funds and the demise of fairy tales on ‘The Bottom Line.’

Disney confirmed they are ending their “Reimagine Tomorrow” program – after Fox News Digital exposed they didn’t include the controversial DEI program in their latest SEC filing.

The House of Mouse announced that they are ending the program, along with a slew of other DEI initiatives in an email, first reported by Axios, sent to employees.

The “Reimagine Tomorrow” program was thrust into controversy after a 2022 meeting it hosted where an executive boasted of her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” was unearthed by conservative activist Chris Rufo.

DISNEY CEO BOB IGER TELLS EMPLOYEES HE WANTS TO ‘QUIET’ DOWN CULTURE WARS, ‘RESPECT’ THE AUDIENCE

Disney is dropping its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program. (Walt Disney World Communications / Fox News)

“On my little pocket of Proud Family Disney TVA, the showrunners were super welcoming… our leadership over there has been super welcoming to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda… they’re going hard… I don’t have to be afraid to have these two characters kiss in the background. I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness,” executive producer Latoya Raveneau said at the time.

“Reimagine Tomorrow” was dedicated to “amplifying underrepresented voices and untold stories as well as championing the importance of accurate representation in media and entertainment,” according to its website, which is now defunct.

LGBTQ employees and their supporters walkout of Disney Animation protesting CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the staff controversy over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, aka the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Burbank, CA ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

Disney dropped “Reimagine Tomorrow” from its 2024 SEC filing, but today’s announcement goes further by confirming that the program has been terminated, and its website has been shut down.

According to the company email, which Fox News Digital obtained, Disney will now house its diversity initiatives on the “Belong” hub of its employee website “MyDisneyToday.”

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Disney announced they are rolling back their DEI initiatives according to a company email. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Additionally, Disney will no longer use DEI as a factor in its employee compensation. The movie, TV and theme park powerhouse will now instead use new “Talent Strategy” metrics which are centered on “business success.”

“This factor will assess how leaders uphold our company values, incorporate different perspectives to drive business success, cultivate an environment where all employees can thrive, and sustain a robust pipeline to ensure long-term organizational strength,” per the email.

February 12, 2025
Trump wants to end penny production. Will it affect consumers?

O’Leary Ventures Chairman Kevin O’Leary shares whether he’s concerned about President Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, the fate of the U.S. penny and the handling of the TikTok sale.

President Donald Trump is seeking to end production of new pennies and recently told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to make that happen.

Trump revealed late Sunday night he had “instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies,” arguing that “for far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents” and that “this is so wasteful!”

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The move has raised the question of how American consumers could be affected and, according to one expert, the impact will be negligible.

“I don’t think it’s gonna have any impact on consumers. I think it’s just a very sensible thing to do, because nobody uses pennies anymore. Nobody needs pennies,” David Bahnsen, founder of the Bahnsen Group, told FOX Business. “Just as a matter of basic practicality and cost benefits, the studies I’ve seen are that it costs three cents to make a penny, so there’s something rather backwards about that math.”

TRUMP IS ‘RIGHT’ TO ORDER THE US TO DITCH THE ‘STUPID’ PENNY, KEVIN O’LEARY SAYS

The cost of making and distributing a penny stood at 3.69 cents in 2024, the U.S. Mint’s most recent annual report indicated.

The U.S. Mint shipped 3.17 billion new pennies last year. The gross cost of those pennies, $117 million, was significantly higher than their $31.7 million combined value, according to the report.

“In terms of affecting consumers, does it make a difference to their spending habits to not have exact change to the extent that that exists at all? It’s so marginal it would be a rounding error,” Bahnsen said.

Pennies are displayed at Glenview Coin & Collectibles July 6, 2006, in Glenview, Ill. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Canada moved away from its version of the penny over a decade ago, and other countries like Australia, New Zealand and Sweden took similar action well before that. In Canada, after the government started phasing out pennies, rounding up or down to the nearest five cents became common for cash transactions.

TRUMP SAYS HE HAS INSTRUCTED US TREASURY TO STOP MINTING NEW PENNIES: ‘THIS IS SO WASTEFUL!’

Bahnsen said rounding cash transactions “is just less likely to happen in a more digital payment environment,” noting not many people “are paying with cash” these days.

A report released last summer by Federal Reserve Financial Services found 32% of payments in October 2023 used credit cards and a similar but slightly smaller share — 30% — used debit cards. Payments with cash, meanwhile, represented 16% of transactions, according to the report.

The Canadian government said in its 2012 economic action plan that getting rid of pennies in New Zealand, Australia and other countries “did not cause an increase in price inflation.”

The U.S. stopping production of new pennies would have little bearing on tips, Bahnsen also said.

He also noted existing pennies will still be in circulation “but you’re really talking about more of a collectible item, not a consumer item, not a transactional currency that people are paying.”

“Ultimately, President Trump’s motive here was to just be more efficient, and I think that the Treasury Department’s wasting a lot of money making pennies that have no real commercial use,” Bahnsen told FOX Business. “This isn’t an earth-shattering event, but it’s something that marginally is more efficient, and that’s what the Treasury Department’s job is.”

Americans for Common Cents, which has been critical of Trump’s effort, argued in a late January press release that ditching the penny “won’t save the government money.”

A pile of U.S. pennies in a photo illustration in Washington, D.C., Feb. 10, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Many Mint overhead costs would remain and have to be absorbed by other coins without the penny,” Executive Director Mark Weller said. “Also, there would be greater demand for expensive nickels, which means even more costs.”

HOW TRUMP MIGHT GET RID OF THE PENNY – AND WHAT COULD COME NEXT FOR YOUR POCKETBOOK CHANGE

The group receives significant funding from Artazn, according to CNN. That firm reportedly supplies blanks that are used in Mint coin production.

Americans for Common Cents has proposed the government “reexamine how the Mint allocates its overhead costs and focus on reducing the cost of producing nickels” instead of moving away from pennies.

It cost the Mint nearly 13.8 cents to produce a nickel last year, according to the agency.

The group has also pushed back against arguments that the penny doesn’t have value and has argued a “rounding tax” resulting from getting rid of the one-cent denomination would “disproportionately affect” people without access to banking or methods of non-cash payment.

February 12, 2025
LARRY KUDLOW: Trump is making showers great again

I can’t thank President Donald Trump enough. He’s going to make showers great again.

For the first time in four years, I can take a real shower, with the water pounding down on me. Not a puny Biden drizzle.

It will be a wonderful feeling. I’ve missed it. And I believe millions of other people feel the same way.

Why do I say this?

Because this morning, at 6:57am, President Trump instructed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to go back to Mr. Trump’s old environmental orders that were terminated by Biden — on water standards and flow.

I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe. I look forward to signing these Orders. THANK YOU!!!

– President Donald Trump, Truth Social, February 11

In other words, folks, you can let the water rip. Finally. After four years of missing it.

And not just a decent shower — but in the sink, too! You can really wash your face, get a better shave. Wash your hands as often as you want, with real, strong, live water flow.

Not like some third-world countries I know. Or even Europe, where nobody washes.

And toilets can flush the way they’re supposed to, with just a flick of the handle, everything is solved.

And your dishwasher will actually clean the dishes, because it will have a strong water flow and get the job done.

Fox News contributors Douglas Murray and Deroy Murdock react to President Biden’s climate agenda targeting home appliances and compare it to China’s efforts to tackle climate change on ‘Kudlow.’

And ditto for your clothes, where Trump washing machines will get all those stains out that you could never do with Biden’s puny water trickle.

And, you can read again! Because President Trump is going back to common-sense standards on incandescent light bulbs — instead of Biden’s phony fluorescent hospital-type lighting that ruined your eyes and gave you a headache every night while you tried to read yourself to sleep.

Now I look forward to a return to reading great books like “The Art of the Deal,” “Think Like a Billionaire,” “Time to Get Tough,” and “Why We Want You to be Rich.” So inspiring.

And, for me, that includes James Lee Burke and Detective Robicheaux. And John Sandford and his Detective Davenport.

What a wonderful prospect each evening.

Take a good shower, read a good book, sleep soundly, and wake up fresh the next morning — to a golden era of peace through strength.

February 11, 2025
Powell pushes back on Musk/DOGE, says Fed ‘overworked’ not ‘overstaffed’

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., discusses the importance of cutting the federal budget on ‘Making Money.’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell renewed his pushback against Elon Musk’s claims that the Fed is overstaffed during a congressional hearing Tuesday.

Powell was testifying before the Senate Banking Committee for a semiannual update on monetary policy and the economy and was asked by Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., about whether the central bank is overstaffed.

“No, I would say that, you know, overworked maybe, not overstaffed. Everybody at the Fed works really hard,” Powell said.

Musk recently said the Federal Reserve is “absurdly overstaffed” and suggested the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could set its sights on an audit of the Fed. He had previously criticized the Fed’s monetary policy decisions.

ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed’s workforce is “overworked,” not “overstaffed.” (Seth Herald/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Powell previously said the Fed goes through a careful budgeting process to determine its staffing levels. At Tuesday’s hearing, he also discussed the role played by the Federal Reserve’s workforce in the early stages of the COVID pandemic and how it was reliant on the knowledge of longtime employees.

“When the pandemic hit kind of out of the blue and economies all over the world are shutting down, the U.S. Treasury market is stopping to function, companies can’t roll over their commercial paper, economists are writing about a depression. People at the Fed who went through the global financial crisis 10 years before stepped forward to say, ‘We got this,’” Powell explained.

“We know what to do. Here’s what we do with money market funds, here’s what we do with companies that can’t get any financing. The markets were closed, and companies were having maturing debt that they had to roll over.”

POWELL PUSHES BACK ON MUSK’S CLAIM FED IS ‘ABSURDLY OVERSTAFFED’

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is leading DOGE, has criticized the Fed. (Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The people who knew what to do in that pretty dire emergency were working at the Federal Reserve and at other places, but I will tell you, it was impressive,” he added. “Really, our work during that acute phase of the crisis was very successful, and it’s entirely due to the knowledge base that resides with career people at the Fed.”

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After testifying before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday, Powell is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday to deliver his semiannual update on monetary policy and the economy to House lawmakers.

February 11, 2025

Ford CEO says tariffs bringing ‘a lot of cost and a lot of chaos’

The Lonski Group President John Lonski breaks down President Donald Trump’s economic agenda during an appearance on ‘Varney & Co.’

Ford CEO Jim Farley said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s tariff push has so far brought “a lot of cost and a lot of chaos” to the auto industry despite the president’s aims to help the industry.

“President Trump has talked a lot about making our U.S. auto industry stronger, bringing more production here, more innovation to the U.S., and if this administration can achieve that, it would be one of the most signature accomplishments,” Farley said at an analyst conference in Detroit.

“So far, what we’re seeing is a lot of cost and a lot of chaos,” he added.

Farley also said that if Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada are implemented and remain in effect for the long term, it would “blow a hole” in the U.S. auto industry, with rivals from Asia and Europe poised to benefit.

FORD EXPECTING MOUNTING EV LOSSES THIS YEAR

Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would “blow a hole” in the U.S. auto industry over the long term. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25% tariff across Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen,” Farley said. “Frankly, it gives free rein to South Korean, Japanese and European companies that are bringing 1.5 million to 2 million vehicles into the U.S. that wouldn’t be subject to those Mexican and Canadian tariffs. It would be one of the biggest windfalls for those companies ever.”

“Meanwhile, we’re USMCA-compliant with almost all of our content, finished vehicles and components going across the borders. To have the kind of a size of tariff would be devastating,” Farley said.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
F	FORD MOTOR CO.	9.21	-0.03	-0.32%
GM	GENERAL MOTORS CO.	46.70	+0.13	+0.28%
STLA	STELLANTIS NV	13.09	+0.12	+0.93%

FORD EXECUTIVE BELIEVES TRUMP AND MUSK WANT TO ‘STRENGTHEN’ THE AMERICAN AUTO INDUSTRY

Ford CEO Jim Farley warned that foreign automakers would benefit if Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada are implemented. (Photographer: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker is less exposed to fallout from tariffs on Canada and Mexico than its crosstown rival General Motors or Stellantis, the parent company of brands such as Jeep and Dodge, analysts said.

That’s because more of Ford’s manufacturing base is located within the U.S. and the vehicles that it does import from outside the country tend to be less profit-rich than the products its rivals import.

FORD MUSTANG MACH-E SALES SURPASS TRADITIONAL MUSTANG

Ford execs said the company sources much of its steel and aluminum domestically, so those pending tariffs wouldn’t be as harmful to its operations. (Jeff Kowalsky / Getty Images)

Ford is considering areas in which it can build up inventory to prepare for potential 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, executives said Tuesday.

Those tariffs were planned to take effect in early February, but Trump delayed them until at least March after Canada and Mexico announced border security measures.

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Trump’s announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum that are scheduled to take effect next month was discussed with Ford executives noting the company gets 90% of its steel from the U.S. and about 10% from Canada, while the company’s aluminum is also primarily sourced domestically.

Reuters contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025

THC vapes recalled in Michigan, agencies cite potential harm to lungs

Multiple THC vapes have been voluntarily recalled in Michigan after the Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) found they contain an oil that could potentially harm lungs.

The BLOOM Classic and BLOOM Live vape cartridges allegedly include Medium Chain Triglyceride Chain (MCT) oil, which has led to the recent recall of several vape cartridges, according to a report from affiliate FOX 2 Detroit.

A man smokes an electronic cigarette on June 2, 2022, in Krakow, Poland. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images / Reuters Photos)

D.E.A. WARNS GEORGIA TO CANCEL PLANS TO BECOME FIRST STATE TO ALLOW PHARMACIES TO SELL MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Recalled vapes include: Alien Jack; Blue Dream; Cereal Milk; Champagne Kush; Durban Gelato; Face Off OG; Forbidden Fruit; Green Crack; Jack Herer; Maui Wowie; Pineapple Express; Pineapple Sherbert; Rainbow Runtz; Skywalker; and White Widow.

While MCT oil, a non-THC oil, is commonly found in oral supplements and naturally occurs in foods like cheese and yogurt, FOX 2 reported it can cause respiratory issues when inhaled.

Michigan’s CRA started targeted testing for MCT oils in vapes last fall, and is working with dispensaries to retrieve and dispose of products, according to the report.

A high school student uses a vaping device near a school campus in Cambridge, Mass. A new study released Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, found another jump in how many U.S. teens vape nicotine-tinged electronic cigarettes. About 25% of high school seniors

LOOK WHO’S EXPERIMENTING WITH MARIJUANA TODAY MORE THAN ANY OTHER AGE GROUP

In January, RWB Michigan LLC and the CRA voluntarily recalled Platinum Vape brand vape cartridges over the same concerns.

Platinum Vape flavors included: Garlic Cookie, Blazing Blue Cheese, Banana Candy, and Grape Valley Kush.

Vaping remains popular despite health warnings. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Customers should check BLOOM vapes purchased after Sept. 1 and Platinum vapes purchased after March 4 to ensure they are not part of the recall. Affected products can be returned to the place of purchase or thrown away.

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Fox 2 Detroit’s Amber Eikenberry contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025
Judge modifies order allowing Senate-confirmed political appointees access to payment systems

‘The Big Money Show’ panel weighs in on Democrats’ pushing back on DOGE’s efforts as they rail against Elon Musk’s role in Trump’s presidency.

A New York federal judge modified a temporary restraining order Tuesday that prevented President Donald Trump and the Treasury Department from granting political appointees and special government employees access to the department’s payment systems.

The amended order was issued by U.S District Judge Jeannette Vargas on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, previously issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE “full access” to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law.

The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS ELON MUSK’S DOGE FROM ACCESSING TREASURY RECORDS AFTER DEMOCRATIC AGS FILE LAWSUIT

Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“This morning, we won a court order blocking Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, from accessing Americans’ private data,” James wrote on X at the time. “Musk and his DOGE employees must destroy all records they’ve obtained. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no one is above the law.”

The Trump administration filed an emergency motion Sunday, saying the order “unnecessarily restricts Federal Reserve employees and outside contractors” from accessing the payment systems “to perform necessary routine processes and maintenance and provide operational support.”

Both parties were ordered to meet that evening in an attempt to come to an agreement. Both sides ultimately agreed to modify the order, with the plaintiffs opposing any modification to the provision that barred political appointees’ access to the systems.

TRUMP, ELON MUSK BOND OVER PLASTIC STRAWS

The amended order now gives Senate-confirmed political appointees access to the information. Special government employees, including Elon Musk, are still barred from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment system.

Hauppauge, N.Y.: New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference in Hauppauge, New York on June 12, 2024. (ohn Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)

“These unlawful injunctions are a continuation of the weaponization of justice against President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The White House will continue to fight these battles in court, and we expect to be vindicated. The President has every right to exercise his executive authority on behalf of the American people, who gave him a historic mandate to govern on November 5th.”

Shortly after the initial order was handed down, Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.

ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT

“Nineteen states attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and early Saturday a judge agreed with them to restrict Elon Musk and his government efficiency team, DOGE, from accessing Treasury Department payment and data systems. They said there was a risk of ‘irreparable harm.’ What do you make of that? And does that slow you down and what you want to do?” Baier asked Trump in the interview clip.

President Trump called the order “crazy” in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“No, I disagree with it 100%. I think it’s crazy. And we have to solve the efficiency problem. We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there,” Trump responded.

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The parties are expected to reconvene Friday to revisit the matter.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

February 11, 2025
McDonald’s plans more chicken offerings

McDonald’s franchise owner Scott Rodrick says his business has experienced ‘cost pressure’ since California’s minimum wage increase targeting fast food franchises on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’

McDonald’s is looking to further ramp up its chicken business through more offerings.

CEO Chris Kempczinski indicated Monday during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call that McDonald’s was very bullish about its chicken portfolio and shared some offerings in the pipeline.

“This year, there is incredible energy for the return of Snack Wraps in the U.S. along with a few other markets,” he told analysts and investors.

A McDonald’s restaurant on Feb. 9, 2009, in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

McDonald’s has plans to introduce a “new chicken strip offering” in the U.S. too, according to Kempczinksi.

MCDONALD’S TO ROLL OUT SHAMROCK SHAKE WITH HELP OF UNCLE O’GRIMACEY

The fast-food giant revealed late last year that it would add the Snack Wrap back to its menus. It has been about eight years since McDonald’s offered the fan-favorite in the U.S.

“This has a cult following,” McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger told “Good Morning America” in December. “I get so many emails into my inbox about this product. It will be back in 2025.”

Ticker Security Last Change Change %

MCD MCDONALD’S CORP. 308.42 +14.12 +4.80%

When asked on the earnings call about timing and details for the snack wraps and chicken strips, Kempczinski was tight-lipped.

“We do have, I think, some very exciting food news, food innovation coming in the U.S., but my U.S. team would kill me if I gave any more details about the when and the exact specifics of how we’re going to plan on doing that, but certainly expect that to come online later in the year,” he said.

Kempczinski also said the fast-food giant will “continue to pulse in the Chicken Big Mac as a limited-time-only offering over time.”

The Chicken Big Mac offers many of the same ingredients its beef predecessor does. (McDonald’s / Fox News)

McDonald’s offered the Chicken Big Mac – a sandwich made with two chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese and pickles between two buns – at U.S. restaurants for a limited time in October. Restaurants in other countries have sold it in the past as well.

MCDONALD’S DEBUTS NEW VALUE MENU, EXTENDS $5 MEAL DEAL

The Chicken Big Mac “helped generate chicken market-share growth in France and the U.S. with positive incrementality” last year, according to the McDonald’s CEO.

McDonald’s is also bringing the McCrispy to more and more markets. That menu item crossed the threshold to become one of the fast-food giant’s billion-dollar brands in 2023, FOX Business previously reported.

McDonald’s logo on one of its restaurants in Santa Monica, California, on Nov. 13, 2023. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via / Getty Images)

Restaurants in over 70 markets currently sell the McCrispy, with McDonald’s planning to make it available in “nearly all markets” by the end of the year, Kempczinski said.

“We’re excited about the significant opportunity we see within our chicken portfolio and see the potential to add another point of chicken market share by the end of 2026,” he told analysts and investors.

MCDONALD’S TAKES MASSIVE SALES HIT FROM E. COLI OUTBREAK

McDonald’s generated nearly $6.39 billion in total revenue in the fourth quarter. Its quarterly net income, meanwhile, came in at almost $2.02 billion.

For the full year, the fast-food giant’s revenues were $25.92 billion, and its net income was $8.22 billion.

February 11, 2025
Uncertainty grows among still-optimistic small business owners, survey finds

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., weighs in on President Donald Trump’s economic agenda and its anticipated effect on ‘The Big Money Show.’

Uncertainty grew among American small business owners in January while optimism remained high, according to a new survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

The group’s uncertainty index rose 14 points to 100 last month, the third-highest recorded reading.

The Small Business Optimism Index also took a slight dip. It stood at 102.8 as of January, according to the NFIB survey.

People with face masks walk past restaurants on Main Street in Patchogue, N.Y., July 11, 2020. (Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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While that represented a 2.3-point decline in optimism on a monthly basis, it was still higher than the 51-year average of 98. The Small Business Optimism Index hit a six-year high in December.

In January, a seasonally adjusted net 47% of small business owners harbored expectations for the economy improving, according to the survey. That dropped five points.

Meanwhile, 17% indicated they were bullish about expansion, saying now was a “good time” to do so “substantially,” according to the NFIB.

“Overall, small business owners remain optimistic regarding future business conditions, but uncertainty is on the rise,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement. “Hiring challenges continue to frustrate Main Street owners as they struggle to find qualified workers to fill their many open positions. Meanwhile, fewer plan capital investments as they prepare for the months ahead.”

Over one-third of small business owners said they were experiencing difficulties filling openings at their companies in January, the survey showed.

TRUMPONOMICS WILL TAME INFLATION – NOT MAKE IT WORSE

More than half of owners surveyed were looking to bring new workers on board at their small businesses in January. Many of those – 90% – were finding “few or no qualified applicants,” the NFIB said.

A “Now Hiring” sign posted on the window of a business looking to hire workers May 5, 2023, in Miami, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Labor quality and inflation were tied in January as the “single most important problem for business,” according to the NFIB. Eighteen percent of small business owners cited either of those as their main issue, with the share pointing to labor quality posting a one-point drop from the prior month.

Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% month over month and 2.9% year over year in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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When it came to capital outlays, a seasonally adjusted 22% of small business owners are looking to make investments in the coming six months, the NFIB also found. That share fell seven points.

About 58% reported capital outlays over the past half year, according to the survey.

February 11, 2025

Category: Business

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