Your commercial news round-up: vapes, Tesco, UK economy, World Cup 2023, streaming services and AI

Reading time: four minutes

From vaping to AI, this week’s round-up certainly leaves no stone unturned. Juul Labs is set to settle another claim against its advertising strategy just as Tesco reports a drop in UK profits despite an increase in annual sales. Meanwhile, this summer’s sporting excitement is set to kick off with the World Cup 2023 but will Sarina Wiegman repeat England’s success in Europe on a global stage? Plus, streaming services have been warned against the dangers of AI. Grab a notebook and get ready to boost your commercial awareness.

• Vape (e-cigarette) manufacturer Juul Labs is set to settle $462 million in claims, following accusations made by six US states that its advertising targets teenagers. Although the company didn’t admit to the misconduct directly, it did state that the latest deal was part of its ongoing "commitment to resolve issues from the company's past". This latest settlement means that the company has now settled cases for more than $1 billion. The cases brought against the company have predominantly relied on claims that it targets a ‘young’ audience. Critics have alleged that the colourful packaging, the variety of flavours and the use of young models in adverts all act as evidence to back up claims that Juul Labs deliberately targets young people. Commenting on the settlement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said: "Juul's lies led to a nationwide public health crisis and put addictive products in the hands of minors who thought they were doing something harmless."
   
• Tesco profits have dropped by 50% to £1 billion, despite a jump in yearly sales. The UK’s largest supermarket chain has said it’s faced “an incredibly tough year" as prices continue to rise at the quickest rate seen in 40 years. Although sales rose by 7% to around £66 billion, the supermarket’s pre-tax profits sunk to £1 billion. Tesco saw a 3.3% increase in footfall in its UK shops, but sold fewer items, perhaps due to consumers shopping more carefully due to the cost-of-living crisis. It also cited the easing of covid restrictions across the UK as a reason for customers’ adjusted behaviour. For example, buying less to eat at home because they were visiting restaurants and cafes more. Ken Murphy, the chief executive of Tesco, commented: “Our results reflect our continued investment in delivering great value and quality for our customers” adding that this is “despite unprecedented levels of inflation in the prices we have paid our suppliers for their products, and the cost of running our own operations.”
   
• The UK economy saw no growth in February but is just about on track to avoid a recession in the first half of the year. Official figures show that the effects of strikes by public sector workers (primarily teachers and civil servants) have been significant in causing this stagnation, despite a rise in construction activity. This comes after an unexpected 0.4% jump in economic growth in January. In spite of this, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has said the UK's economic outlook is "brighter than expected". While Darren Morgan, the director of economic statistics for the Office for National Statistics, noted that the construction sector had grown both financially and physically in February after an inferior January, with increased repair work taking place.
   
• Organisers of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which starts in just under 100 days, say they’re on course to sell a record 1.5 million tickets. The event will take place in Australia and New Zealand between 20 July and 20 August and has already sold 650,000 tickets. FIFA secretary general, Fatma Samoura, said: “’FIFA’s mission is to organise the biggest and best Women’s World Cup in history this year."  Alongside the 1.5 million ticket sales, television viewers are expected to be around two billion. The last phase of ticket sales is beginning now.
   
• International record label Universal has urged Spotify and Apple Music to stop copycats stealing song data. In a letter sent to the streaming sites, it outlined its fears that AI labs will begin scraping tracks to use as training data for its “models and copycat versions of pop stars”. The letter was first reported in the Financial Times and follows a similar letter sent by the Recording Industry Association of America, the industry’s trade body, in October. It concluded that AI-based technology can “be very similar to or almost as good as reference tracks by selected, well-known sound recording artists”. Legally speaking, this poses an interesting question within the intellectual property (IP) space, as the law must stay up to date with AI developments. For example, a recent update to IP law allowed the non-commercial use of any legally acquired copyrighted material for AI research.

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