McDonald’s is getting into the little treat business. The fast-food chain is opening the first location of its new restaurant concept, CosMc, today in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and nine more are set to open in Texas next year. The restaurant focuses on caffeinated drinks and afternoon pick-me-up snacks.

Remember that surfing alien? CosMc was a creature featured in the chain’s ads in the 1980s and ’90s. He was a surfer-cyborg from outer space who craved McDonald’s food. (This was back when advertising was truly inspired.)

The new restaurants won’t be nearly as chaotic as their namesake—but the menu does look just a tad chaotic. CosMc’s will offer up drinks like a Churro Frappé, S’mores Cold Brew, and Blackberry Mint Green Tea, as well as pretzel bites and sweet treats.

The company’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told investors this week that customers grabbing a quick pre-work coffee or a midday fruity tea are a “$100 billion category” that’s growing faster than the rest of fast food.

McDonald’s has been down this road before. The burger chain sought to elevate its coffee game in 2008 by putting espresso machines in its US locations, but customers were pretty lukewarm about adding fancy coffees to their Big Mac order. The chain still offers a wide range of beverages, but it has bigger dreams than being your last option on a road trip.

• International audiences already seem to like its brew. Australia is so obsessed with McCafé that it was the nation’s most visited coffee shop in 2019, according to research firm Roy Morgan.

Looking ahead…though McDonald’s is determined to get the US on board this time, Kempczinski was clear when setting expectations for CosMcs. If, after reviewing a year’s worth of data, they don’t think the global market will embrace the new brand, CosMc’s may go the way of McSpaghetti or Mayor McCheese. Either way, McDonald’s is expanding: The chain has plans to open almost 10,000 new McD’s restaurants worldwide in the next four years.—MM

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Get ready to see a lot of Peach Fuzz. The color mavens at Pantone have anointed Peach Fuzz, otherwise known as PANTONE 13-1023, as 2024’s Color of the Year. Pantone describes the hue as “a velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul,” and you can expect to see it everywhere from bridesmaid dresses to cell phones. It’s the 25th year Pantone has picked a trending annual color. This year’s was Viva Magenta, and the first one was Cerulean, selected from a pile of stuff in 1999.

Texas judge okays woman’s request for an abortion. In a case believed to be the first of its kind since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a Texas judge ruled in favor of Kate Cox, a mother of two who sued the state for permission to have an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition. Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, was seeking an exception to the state’s ban on abortions after six weeks. The judge’s ruling applies only to Cox—and the state could appeal it—but the Texas Supreme Court is also separately considering a broader medical exception to the state’s abortion restrictions.

Hunter Biden indicted on nine federal tax charges. New charges were filed against President Joe Biden’s son in California stemming from a special counsel’s investigation into tax issues from his overseas business dealings, including failure to file and pay taxes. Hunter Biden, who was also already facing separate federal charges in Delaware over a gun purchase, at one point looked poised to resolve the charges against him through a plea deal, but a judge rejected the deal. The new charges will likely further complicate his father’s bid for reelection.

Cameo, the app that lets you pay celebrities to make videos—which Rudy Giuliani once graced with a video of himself reciting “I’m a Little Teapot”—has recently been used for even more sinister purposes.

Since July, an unknown Russian group has been buying and doctoring Cameos from celebrities including Mike Tyson, Elijah Wood, and at least five others, Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center discovered. Apparently unbeknownst to the celebs, their customized messages were manipulated to appear to endorse the Kremlin-peddled false claim that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky suffers from drug and alcohol abuse.

How’d this happen? The targeted celebs were paid to encourage someone named Vladimir (which is how Zelensky’s name tends to be spelled in Russia) to seek treatment. “Hi, Vladimir, Elijah here,” Wood said in his Cameo. “I hope you can get the help you need.”

The videos—some edited to look like the celebs had posted them on their Instagram feeds—have spread throughout Russian media, from massive state news organizations to popular social platforms.

In the limelight: Cameo already made headlines this week for its hottest new creator, expelled congressman George Santos. The downed diva/alleged fraudster has been churning out $400 videos and already received enough requests to top his congressional salary.—ML

The North Carolina-based donut chain opened its first French location in Paris yesterday in a space it took over from an acclaimed Michelin-starred chef.

That 500 French people lined up outside the new Krispy Kreme store—some overnight—awaiting a hot glazed donut is the latest sign that the country’s culinary perspective is shifting away from three-hour-dinners and toward fast, cheap food:

• France is the second-biggest market (behind the US) for McDonald’s, which did $6.5 billion in sales there last year, and Burger King, which did $1.3 billion, per the New York Times.
• And they’re not the only US outlets going Gallic. American chains—such as Popeye’s, KFC, and Domino’s Pizza—make up nearly 30% of France’s fast-food sales.

C’est bizarre, non? It’s only a matter of time before the French will be able to snag a glazed raspberry-filled donut without having to push like tourists moving toward the “Mona Lisa”—over the next three months, Krispy Kreme is opening a dozen more stores in France and expanding into supermarkets.

Big picture: It’s not just France where US fast-food chains are finding profit and popularity. Starbucks opened one location in Italy in 2018 and, despite meeting initial resistance, has since expanded to 20 cafes.—CC

Stat: LIV Golf just reeled in the biggest fish in the water hazard. Masters champ Jon Rahm is taking the bait to ditch the PGA Tour for the rival Saudi-backed league because the bait is a deal reportedly worth more than $300 million over at least three years. Poaching a megastar like Rahm is the biggest coup yet for LIV, and it casts an even bigger cloud over the future of pro golf. Earlier this year, the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund agreed to a deal to join forces, seemingly resolving the LIV/PGA Tour feud, but the merger has yet to be finalized, and the deadline is Dec. 31.

Quote: “One of the most inane moves we have ever seen.”

That’s how Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter described GameStop’s decision, announced in an SEC filing Wednesday, to allow its billionaire CEO Ryan Cohen to use the company’s $900 million to buy other companies’ stocks. GameStop said the change would help align its interest with Cohen’s, and the meme stock faithful appeared pleased with the plan to let their king invest. But the analyst called it “alarming,” saying it implies “GameStop management believes it will achieve better returns by buying equities aside from its own.”

Read: From unicorns to zombies: Tech startups run out of time and money. (New York Times)

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to when someone brings peanut butter blossoms to the cookie swap.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

Improve your elocution: These were the most mispronounced words of 2023.

Watch: Before you paint your walls Peach Fuzz, check out a primer on how Pantone makes money.

Bake: Here are 100 holiday cookie recipes, so there’s sure to be one your picky cousin will like in the bunch.

Learn: Business school professors explain why Christmas trees are so expensive.

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