It’s a sign that nothing is sacred in times of high inflation: Britain’s largest pub company, Stonegate Group, recently announced the adoption of surge pricing at 800 of its locations across the UK.

Those pubs put up signs with a “Polite Notice” warning drinkers about increased costs during peak times, the Telegraph reported this week. The price increases—up to an additional 20 pence for a pint of beer—are meant to offset higher costs for staffing and licensing requirements, Stonegate explained. The decision to adopt dynamic pricing comes after Stonegate reported a $28.7 million loss for the first half of the year due to Britain’s cost-of-living crisis.

Even though beer prices at Stonegate locations go down after peak hours, should you crave a Heineken at 11am, the backlash was fast and fierce. Consumer advocacy group Campaign for Real Ale called the policy an “unhappy hour surge” and said it could deter customers who rely on the pub as an affordable place to hang out. Other pub owners capitalized on Stonegate’s bad PR by announcing they’re keeping prices the same.

It’s not just pubs

Airlines and hotels have used surge pricing for years, but when the revenue strategy expands to other industries, it doesn’t always work out:

• AMC said in July it would abandon an effort to implement higher prices for more popular seats after it tested out the surge pricing model and found it did not affect revenue and really annoyed people who were just trying to see a movie.
• Lyft is working to remove its surge pricing feature because it can dampen demand, and “riders hate it with a fiery passion,” according to CEO David Risher.
• One of the many reasons for outrage at Ticketmaster is its dynamic pricing, which sold coveted Bruce Springsteen tickets for as much as $4,000.

Big picture: Even though they know consumers despise it, companies with access to algorithms and a desire to maximize revenue are probably going to keep finding new parts of life to add surge pricing to.—CC

Between school, sports, and ballet lessons, kiddos are spending a lot of time in the backseat this fall. Invest in their fun (and your sanity) with AT&T In-car Wi-Fi.

With AT&T In-car Wi-Fi, your ride is equipped with all the connectivity you need for your kids to watch their favorite shows, use apps they love, and cut down on their backseat wrestling matches.

Education, fun, and peace and quiet? That’s our kind of carpool lane. And you can join our fast (and fun) lane with AT&T In-car Wi-Fi.

Get connected + get through carpool season in peace.

Escaped murderer caught in Pennsylvania. Turns out you can’t just crabwalk away from doing time. Police apprehended Danelo Cavalcante yesterday, two weeks after his brazen prison break. At the end of the sprawling manhunt, authorities pinpointed Cavalcante’s whereabouts with a heat-sensing plane, and a police dog subdued him for arrest. During his time on the run, Cavalcante, who was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, changed his appearance, stole a van, and broke into homes to steal food and even a rifle.

The UAW is set to strike. Workers are preparing to walk out of several auto plants tomorrow if their union can’t reach a deal with GM, Ford, and Stellantis before midnight tonight. The targeted strikes are a strategy to disrupt car production while allowing many of the union’s 150,000 members to continue to get paid. However, the union is ready to call for a full work stoppage with a major impact on the economy if negotiations drag on. The two sides remain far apart, with wages as the main sticking point.

Two hundred people are stuck on a luxury ship in Greenland. The Ocean Explorer ran aground in Alpefjord, a remote stretch of Northeast Greenland National Park, on Monday, stranding its 206 passengers and crew. How remote? The Danish Navy said its closest vessel can’t arrive to rescue them until Friday. A fishing boat’s efforts to free the ship yesterday failed. But members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol unit, which operates in the Arctic wilderness, have been to the ship and will be on hand to aid in the rescue. As more cruises venture to the area (they’re already up 50% from last year), dangerous and costly rescues may become more common.

Aaron Rodgers’s torn Achilles tendon is becoming an Achilles’ heel for the NFL. Following the star quarterback’s season-ending injury in his debut for the New York Jets this week, the players union is again urging the league to replace artificial turf fields with real grass, citing safety concerns.

• In 10 of the last 11 regular seasons, players were hurt more often on synthetic surfaces than on natural grass, data analyzed by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) President JC Tretter shows.
• Last year, the injury rate was 37% higher on turf. But there was no significant difference in injury rates during the 2021 season, which the NFL claims is proof there’s no issue with turf.

Rodgers and other players have long railed against turf fields for feeling less stable and contributing to knee, ankle, and foot injuries. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the issue is “complex.”

Going au naturel would cost an estimated $850,000 for each of the NFL’s 15 turf fields—a drop in the bucket compared with the league’s $12 billion in revenue last season. It’s the “easiest decision the NFL can make,” NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell said yesterday.

Lawn tech: The Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders have retractable grass fields that roll outside for sunshine, while in Spain, Real Madrid’s new grass pitch recedes to an underground irrigation- and UV light therapy system.—ML

Talkin’ the talk about women’s $$$. When it comes to money, men and women have very different experiences. Learn what those differences are in the latest episode of Fresh Invest, our investing podcast sponsored by Fidelity. You’ll hear about how inflation is impacting women and the strategies that can support long-term financial planning. Tune in.

America’s largest newspaper company, Gannett, is hiring a reporter to cover nothing but Taylor Swift. Maybe LinkedIn should offer a certification for TikTok’s “Gaylor”-theorist blatherskites to help out the poor hiring manager who’s likely inundated with resumes.

It’s uncommon for an entertainment reporter to cover only one artist, but two Gannett-owned papers, The Tennessean and USA Today, are planning to hire two who do. After the Swiftie dream-job posting went viral on Tuesday, the media company announced that it’s also on the hunt for a reporter to cover the Beyoncé beat.

Both hourly roles require international travel and pay roughly $40,000–$100,000 a year. These beats may seem small, but there’s big business involved:

• Generous estimates expect Swift’s Eras Tour to take in a record-breaking $1.6 billion, while Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, which wraps up in October, could eclipse that with $2 billion.
• In addition to bolstering the sparkly cowboy hat industry, the tours are expected to generate over $4.5 billion each in spending in North America, according to QuestionPro surveys.

But…some journalists question whether these jobs are the best use of company resources, considering Gannett has shrunk local newsrooms and laid off staff, including cutting 6% of its ~3,440-person media division in December.—MM

Stat: There’s a reason your social media feeds are full of women whose faces you recognize but whose names you don’t: 79% of women in opposite-sex marriages in the US have taken their husband’s last name, according to a Pew Research survey. Just 14% kept their names, and they tended to be younger (about 25% of women 18–34, compared to just 9% of women over 50). They’re also more likely to vote Democrat, per Pew. Previous research has shown they’re usually high-earners who have made their name in their careers before tying the knot.

Quote: “There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around…we’ve got to kill that attitude and that has to come through hurting the economy.”

In this week’s edition of bosses getting dragged on the internet for saying wildly out-of-touch things, we’ve got Australian CEO Tim Gurner. The multimillionaire property developer suggested that worker productivity would improve if unemployment jumped to 40% or 50%, since mass layoffs spur “less arrogance in the employment market.” This isn’t Gurner’s first time in the hot seat—he’s also the one who memorably suggested millennials couldn’t afford homes because they spent too much money on avocado toast.

Read: See why everyone’s talking about this meditation on whether your friendships can survive your friends’ kids. (The Cut)

Buy: Time with your favorite celebrity or memorabilia at an auction supporting Hollywood strikers (but not John Lithgow’s watercolor of your dog—that’s ours).

Watch: The Saw franchise’s take on that Nicole Kidman AMC ad and experience the magic.

Get cooking: The best cookbooks coming out this fall.

Travel tip: If you’re looking for KFC in Quebec, you better look in French.

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Brew Mini: “Stereotypical teller of corny jokes” (three letters) is your sample clue for today’s puzzle. Which reminds us—did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere…Play the puzzle here.

Three Headlines and a Lie

Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than Mexico’s paper-mache aliens. Can you spot the odd one out?

1. Lauren Boebert escorted out of ‘Beetlejuice’ musical after allegedly vaping, recording on her phone
2. SEC files charges against NFT project ‘Stoner Cats’ starring Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and more
3. New AirPods Max will alert you when you need to clean wax out of your ears
4. Sony will repair aging Aibo robot dogs to help them find their forever homes

We made up the one about the AirPods.

Word of the Day

Today’s Word of the Day is: “blatherskite,” meaning “a person who talks at great length without making much sense.” Thanks to Eddie Lunsford of Westville, New Jersey, who we’re sure always gets straight to the point, for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.

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