Merchandise commemorating the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting flooded sites like Amazon, Etsy, TikTok Shop, and Redbubble as soon as sellers had a slogan to slap on sweatshirts.

As of yesterday, there were more than 800 results on Etsy for “Deny, Defend, Depose”—the three words that were reportedly etched onto the bullet shell casings at the scene of UHC CEO Brian Thompson’s murder last week. Products with the name or likeness of the suspect, Luigi Mangione, sprang up on Etsy, too:

• In a statement, eBay said it is against the site’s policy to sell items that celebrate violence but the three-word phrase was not explicitly banned.
• Amazon and Etsy appeared to have scrubbed products directly referencing Mangione or the shooting from their sites by Tuesday afternoon.

Thompson was fatally shot outside of a hotel in midtown Manhattan in a targeted attack on the morning of December 4. As police searched for the killer, social media users broadcast their lack of empathy for Thomspon—and the healthcare industry he represents. Mangione’s arrest on Monday did little to quell the expressions of support for the suspected shooter.

Churning out novelty tees at lightning speed

Most of the merchandise is from drop shippers, who print products via a third party when they are ordered. One of the first options on Etsy when Morning Brew searched “deny, defend, depose” yesterday evening was for a shirt from a seller who is also hawking shirts emblazoned with everything from pro-MAGA statements to LGBTQ+ Pride designs to…the Olympic breakdancer Raygun.

But everyone else is being totally normal and chill about it: Influencers are tagging Luigi Mangione in unrelated posts and hundreds of people review bombed the McDonald’s in Altoona, PA, where he was caught.—MM

Amazon sells cars now. Well, just Hyundais, but still. The e-commerce giant officially launched its Amazon Autos service yesterday, empowering online shoppers in 48 US cities to buy exclusively Hyundai vehicles from participating dealers. Users can also finance their purchases, schedule pickups, and trade in existing cars all from within the Amazon site or app. Amazon plans to add more manufacturers next year, but until then, it hopes you will consider procuring a 2025 Elantra SE in Serenity White the next time you’re stocking up on toilet paper.

Walgreens is reportedly in talks to go private. Per the Wall Street Journal, the struggling pharmacy chain is discussing a deal to sell itself to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners. After it hit a market value of $100 billion in 2015, Walgreens’s stock has steadily sunk as its pharmacy and retails businesses deal with a host of issues. Today, the company is worth only about $7.5 billion. Sycamore, which bought Staples in 2017, could ultimately sell off parts of the Walgreens business, the WSJ reported.

A wildfire is raging in Malibu, California. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate yesterday as a fast-moving wildfire cut through the wealthy coastal area, threatening nearby Pepperdine University and the Malibu Pier. The Los Angeles Times reported that the blaze burned more than 2,600 acres, bolstered by heavy winds that are making it difficult for the 700+ firefighters to contain it. The cause of the fire was unclear, but the region—already prone to wildfires—has received very little rain in recent weeks.—AE

The fate of a global media conglomerate was decided, and it didn’t even require figuring out whether a name was underlined or crossed out. A Nevada commissioner ruled against billionaire Rupert Murdoch, denying his attempt to change a family trust that would have put his eldest and most conservative son at the helm of the media empire following his death.

How we got here: In September, Rupert and Lachlan (the eldest boy) went to court to argue that it was in shareholders’ financial interest to give Lachlan full control of News Corp and Fox News, and to strip the other three Murdoch children of voting rights. Father and son argued that Lachlan is the only child who would maintain the right-wing bent, which has made these outlets highly profitable.

But…Probate Commissioner Edmund Gorman Jr. was not convinced. According to a sealed document obtained by the New York Times:

• Gorman said Rupert and Lachlan acted in “bad faith,” describing their plan as a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles.”
• Court proceedings revealed that life imitates art: The Murdoch kids began working on a PR strategy for their dad’s eventual death after the Succession episode where (spoiler alert!) patriarch and media mogul Logan Roy dies.

What’s next for Rupert? He plans to appeal the decision, but if he loses, he may look to sell the company while he’s alive.—CC

Americans are increasingly flustered by words and numbers, according to a test that measures adult literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills in 31 industrialized countries.

The report card revealed an expanding gap between the most and least adept Americans in their ability to handle everyday tasks—from calculating an average to understanding a government email.

See me after class

The 2023 assessment of 4,600 US adults showed:

• The share of Americans scoring at the lowest level (1 out of 5) or below in literacy rose to 28% from 19% in 2017.
• And 34% scored at the lowest numeracy level or below, compared to 29% six years prior.

That means that over a quarter of Americans can reliably gauge info only from a simple text, while more than a third might struggle to perform tasks beyond basic arithmetic.

But the decline wasn’t even: The 90th percentile score didn’t drop for literacy and numeracy but the 10th percentile score for both decreased.

The US isn’t alone: Average literacy and numeracy scores dropped in 20 and 11 countries, respectively, which some researchers blame on less reading and more scrolling, though some of it could be due to aging populations and language difficulties stemming from increased immigration. Finland ranked No. 1 in both literacy and numeracy, while sharing first place with Japan in problem-solving.—SK

The industry involved in the “Diarrhea Plane” incident is projected to surpass $1 trillion in revenue in 2025 for the first time, the International Air Transport Association said yesterday. The trade group also estimated that global airlines will transport an all-time high of 5 billion passengers next year. That’s a whole lot of Biscoff cookies.

After enduring three straight years of pandemic-induced losses from 2020 to 2022, the airline industry bounced back the last two years, thanks to countries lifting travel restrictions and tourists all wanting to post the same photo of Mount Fuji on their Instagrams. Despite all that, airlines don’t expect next year’s record-breaking revenue to translate to profits, as supply chain issues continue to hurt their bottom lines.—AE