MARKETING

Everybody Get Up It’s Time to Spend Now

This is not a review of the film Space Jam: A New Legacy, which opened in US theaters and on HBO Max yesterday. It is a review of how Warner Bros. positioned the reboot to extract as much value from its various franchises as possible, making the movie the biggest marketing event of the summer. 

Warner Bros. linked up with more than 200 partners in its promotion of the film, per a Bloomberg tally. That includes McDonald’s Happy Meals, BarkBox chew toys for pets, and, surely the most expensive piece of co-branded merchandise, a $100,000 watch set from Swiss brand Kross Studio.

Of course, shameless commercialization is in Space Jam’s DNA. The original movie from 1996, starring Michael Jordan, was inspired by a Nike Super Bowl commercial from three years earlier. While the first film made more than $230 million at the global box office, it generated more than 5x that ($1.2 billion) in merchandise revenue. 

This time, Warner Bros. is going bigger

But it’s less about directly selling merchandise than giving viewers a tour of its various franchises. “Space Jam: A New Legacy isn’t really a movie—it’s a crash course in vertical integration and brand identity, a marketing slideshow with a two-hour running time,” writes Polygon.

• The movie title says “Space Jam,” but in addition to star LeBron James and the Looney Tunes, you’ll find cameos by Harry Potter, the Wizard of Oz cyclone, the Iron Giant, Pennywise the Clown, and even Rick's Café from Casablanca.

Zoom out: With media companies building war chests of content to best each other in the streaming wars, expect more crossover events like this one. As Jake Harris writes in the Book and Film Globe, “Everyone’s got to have a cinematic universe these days, after all.” 

CRYPTO

Regulators Want a Firm Stance on Stablecoin

Someone brought up the word “stablecoin” in the financial regulator group chat and it’s been unmanageable ever since. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen decided to take the convo live and said she’ll meet with prominent finance officials on Monday to discuss this version of cryptocurrency.

What is stablecoin? It’s a coin that is—in theory—more stable than other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, etc., because it’s tied to government-issued money like the US dollar or assets like gold. 

• US regulators are particularly unsure about USD backed crypto and the already $100+ billion in stablecoin flying around.

During next week’s meeting, Secretary Yellen and other regulators will ask themselves: If there is no oversight of these US dollar-backed coins, what does that mean for the OG US dollar?

Big picture: Finance chiefs have been discussing how to regulate what has until now been the Wild West. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress this week that there is some incentive for the US to launch its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) to circumvent all other 11,000+ cryptos, but he’s undecided if the pros outweigh the costs.

GEOPOLITICS

US Businesses Warned About Hong Kong

The US Departments of State, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Treasury warned American companies of serious risks when operating in Hong Kong as the Chinese government tightens its grip on the global financial hub. 

“Beijing has chipped away at Hong Kong’s reputation of accountable, transparent governance and respect for individual freedoms, and has broken its promise to leave Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy unchanged for 50 years,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

In a business advisory issued yesterday, the US government listed the threats US companies in Hong Kong might face:

• Electronic surveillance and compromised data security
• Risks regarding transparency and access to critical business information
• Deteriorating press freedom
• A new Chinese national security law that targets political dissidents

Looking ahead…the advisory won’t demand specific actions from private companies. Instead it aims to assist them in making “informed business decisions and properly assessing risks.” But after a series of crackdowns on Hong Kong by the Chinese government since 2019, many American businesses are eyeing an exit. 

SPONSORED BY WALMART

It’s Savings Season

It’s finally beach picnic season. And SPF 5000 season. And #patioseason. 

Which means you have better things to do than spend time shopping for all your summer essentials. Well lucky for you it’s ALWAYS Walmart+ season. It’s the membership that helps you save time and money with free same-day delivery* on everything from sandwiches to sandcastle shovels.

Just look at some of the cool savings that will help you stay chill this summer: 

• You’ll save time, aka 78 hours per year 
• PLUS you’ll save money, aka $816 per year by getting your weekly groceries with Walmart+ unlimited free delivery. 
• PLUS, you can get select prescriptions for FREE**. 

So start saving time and money with Walmart+ this summer, and then keep it going all year round.

Start your free 15-day trial here.

GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer, leapt past Apple to become the second-largest smartphone vendor in the world last quarter, per Canalys. With 17% market share, it’s causing No. 1 Samsung (19%) to sweat. 

Quote: “This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that the Delta variant is spreading quickly among unvaccinated people in the US. Cases are up 70%, hospitalizations have increased 36%, and deaths are up 26% from the prior week, Walensky said. 97% of people hospitalized due to Covid-19 are unvaccinated. 

Read: Welcome 2 America: The oral history of Prince’s lost album. (Rolling Stone)

PERSONAL FINANCE

Money Matters: How Many Credit Cards Is too Many?

In this new Summer 2021 segment, the Brew’s personal finance writer Ryan Lasker is nose-diving into our inbox to address your personal finance questions. Submit your money woes here.

How many credit cards should I have, and is it OK to close one if I never used it and have no balance?—Eduardo from New York

The question isn’t how many credit cards you should have, but rather how much of your total credit limit you’re using. The goal is to keep your card balances below 30% of their combined limit. If you have just one credit card with a $1,000 limit, stay sub-$300, even when you pay in full and on time.

It’s a balancing act: You want enough credit to keep your utilization low, but you don’t want so many cards that you’ll lose track of them or be tempted to order shots for the whole bar.

Need more credit? Request a limit increase on a current card or open a new card. Both could trigger hard credit checks (bad for credit scores) so take six months between asks. 

But don’t let me discourage you from opening a new card and using free points to take a flight to Europe. Credit card rewards can pack a serious punch.

As for your second question, it’s fine to close credit cards you no longer use—especially if there’s an annual fee—unless it’s your first. Credit scores factor in how long you’ve had credit, and closing your oldest account could send your scores down the ski slope with a slow chairlift back up.

P.S.: Later this summer, Ryan will be writing a twice-weekly personal finance newsletter to make you smarter about your money. Become one of the first subscribers.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• A federal judge in Texas ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) was illegal and blocked the government from approving new applications.
• President Biden said platforms like Facebook are “killing people” by allowing the spread of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation. 
• At least 125 people died when parts of Belgium and Germany experienced their worst flooding in decades following heavy rains.
• Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle company that recently went public via SPAC, confirmed that the DOJ is investigating its business. 

SPONSORED BY HENDRICK'S

D to the E to the L-I-T-E-F-U-L. That was an unusual way to tell you that Hendrick's Gin is delightfully refreshing and unusually delicious. You might drink it in a mill, but Hendrick’s is anything but your run-of-the-mill gin. Its distinctive cucumber-and-rose profile is uniquely made in the small seaside town of Girvan (read: Scotland). Experience the delight of Hendrick’s Gin today.

FROM THE CREW

Brew's Bookshelf

Every other week, Brew’s Bookshelf brings you a few of our favorite, (usually) business-related reads. 

1. In Haben, lawyer, disability activist, and the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School Haben Girma shares the inspiring story of how she not only succeeded in institutions that were never built for her, but also created a more accessible and equitable path in her wake.
2. Nicholas Schmidle’s Test Gods profiles the people who made Virgin Galactic's space launch possible. 

BREW'S BETS

New words: Dictionary.com added more than 300 new words and definitions, from “long Covid” to “zaddy.” Check them out. 

Weekend conversation starters: 

• Would you ride in a driverless taxi? 
• Which celebrity voice would you give to Amazon’s Alexa?
• Who would you be dating according to your teenage bedroom decor?
• Is the toilet paper meant to go over or under?

GAMES

Brew Crossword

Saturdays in the summer don’t always encourage the most wholesome behavior, but at least get 30 minutes in by solving our crossword puzzle. 

✢ A Note From Walmart

*$35 order minimum.  Restrictions apply.

**Not available in all states and not available during free trial. The program is not insurance & cannot be combined with insurance

✳︎ A Note From Hendrick's

PLEASE DRINK THE UNUSUAL RESPONSIBLY. HENDRICK'S GIN 44% ALC/VOL. ©2021 BOTTLED AND IMPORTED BY WILLIAM GRANT & SONS. NEW YORK, NY.