Business news this week is filled with big announcements from McDonald’s, Nike and Walmart. 3M is still stuck in the middle of lawsuits pertaining to their earplugs. The top announcements include:
Nike Reinvents the Way People Measure Their Feet
Nike Fit is revolutionizing the footwear industry. The company claims that 60% of people wear the wrong size shoe. Nike introduced Nike Fit to help reduce the risk of wearing improper shoe sizes through augmented reality.
Through an official app, the company will measure a person’s foot to find the right size shoe to wear.
Nike’s app uses 13 points to measure the foot’s morphology within seconds. Using what the company claims is a hyper-accurate scan, the foot’s dimensions are found and will be stored within the user’s NikePlus member profile.
The app helps consumers find Nike shoes that are the perfect fit for their feet.
Walmart is Raising the Minimum Age to Purchase Tobacco
Walmart is making a radical change to help curb the use of tobacco products and combat nicotine addiction. The company announced this week that they will no longer sell tobacco or e-cigarette products to consumers that are under the age of 18 in the US.
Walmart has a 93% compliance rate through 13,000 checks conducted by the FDA.
The company claims that they’ve failed to reach its goal of 100% compliance. The FDA requires tobacco and e-cigarette products to only be sold to people 18 and older, but Walmart is taking it a step further requiring consumers at their stores to be at least 21 to purchase these products.
3M Battles Lawsuits Over Earplugs and PFAS Harm
3M stock tumbled after the company’s earnings release, but the company’s outlook looks even worse. Michigan’s Attorney General claims that 3M knew for decades that the company’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances caused harm. The chemicals, called “forever chemicals” threaten the state’s natural resources.
The company still faces backlash for defective 3M earplugs that they provided to military members for years.
McDonald’s Joins Meatless Burger Trend
McDonald’s is joining the new “meatless” burger trend following other fast food companies that are offering meatless alternatives. They are selling the Big Vegan TS in Germany already.
Nestle is the maker of McDonald’s meatless patty, and they made their first sales of the product last month.
The meatless trend is growing, with plant-based protein becoming popular among consumers. Burger King, the main competitor McDonald’s, introduced a meatless version of the Whopper and has plans to release the product across the United States.
