Postpartum & A Sugar Shortage 🍭
This Week in Review☕️: Weight-loss drugs dominate the market | First pill for Maternal Depression approved | Apple enters the banking sector | Halloween and Christmas shopping has begun | Barbie mania
Quick Bites:
Health 💊: Nearly half of US adults interested in weight-loss drugs, new poll finds.
Umm.. nearly half of US adults support Donald Trump, for similar reasons.
Gosh.. People will try anything that involves not having to get off the effin couch and eating a normal diet that isn't corn syrup and carbs
The poll found that nearly 60% of adults who are trying to lose weight- and even a quarter of those who aren't trying- would be interested in trying a weight-loss drug if it was found to be safe and effective, CNN reports.
In addition, more women than men were interested according to the poll- with 51% of women compared to 38% of men.
Hmm.. we guess willpower isn't as attractive than popping a pill and scrolling thru Instagram all day huh ladies?
Despite intense backlash, the interest in weight-loss drugs from Ozempic to Wegovy remain high.
Morgan Stanley analysts have predicted the size of the anti-obesity market to $77 billion worldwide in 2030, up $23 billion from the previous forecast, according to The Fast Company.
Our Thoughts💡:
NOT THE ANSWER GUYS
💡Stop stuffing your face with junk
💡Stop being lazy af
💡Limit your social media
💡SHOW SOME FRIGGIN’ DISCIPLINE
Social Media📱: Ok, so TikTok isn’t banned everywhere yet.. and while it’s not, have you guys tried out TikTok for business?
For all my fellow entrepreneurs, reach your most relevant audience in over 20 markets worldwide instantly.
Plus, work with a flexible budget that works for businesses of ALL sizes. Check it out and get started today
Mental Health🧪: For the first time, there is a pill for post-partum depression.
The FDA has approved the 1st-ever medicine to treat the condition, which roughly affects 1 in 8 new mothers.
Goody more pills.. So the breast milk can even be more contaminated.
Welcome to America where there is no maternity leave for moms on par with other similar high-income countries but big pharma be popping out drugs for everything from eating drinking sleeping pooping bathing breathing you name it
Key Highlights, according to The Washington Post:
💡The drug is called 'Zurzuvae' and can be taken at home, making it easy for new mothers.
💡Until now, the only other FDA-approved treatment for postpartum depression was an IV injection given by a healthcare provider in certain healthcare facilities
💡It acts faster than other antidepressants and is taken once daily for two weeks, preferably at night before sleep
💡Because it takes effect quickly, it is an especially good option during the initial bonding period between mothers and infants
The drug's most common side effects include drowsiness, fatigue, diarrhea, UTIs and the common cold.
The agency also warned that patients should not drive or do any potentially hazardous activities for atleast 12 hours after taking the pill
Our Thoughts:
New Mom: I'm depressed
Doctor: Do you have suicidal thoughts?
Mom: No
Doctor: Take this pill
Mom: Are there any side effects?
Doctor: Yes, suicidal thoughts
Ofcourse, the pill is approved.. Government 🤝 Big pharma
Finance💰: Apple’s savings account hit $10 billion in deposits.. and they only launched in April.
Who else thinks tech will take over the banking industry? Banks can no longer get away with offering zero-to-low interest on deposits with big tech entering the market💸
Key Highlights, according to Business Insider:
💡The account offers 4.15% APY
💡The service is built into Apple Wallet, which allows iPhone users to easily integrate with their Apple Card
💡The credit card gives users an automatic 3% cash back on purchases at Apple and other select retailers, as well as 2% back on other purchases
💡Users can choose to put this “daily cash” in either their Apple Cash card, or an Apple Savings account
💡97% of Apple customers chose to have this cash automatically deposited into their Savings account
According to the Wall Street Journal, iPhones accounted for 52% of the US smartphone market in December 2022, pointing to the obvious convenience of automatic deposits into a trusted savings account
If consumers were looking for the best rate alone, they would look elsewhere as there are other companies that offer a higher rate
Culture 🎃 : Halloween? Christmas? .. in August?
It's still summer but people are planning for Halloween, with candy already selling out at stores, Axios reports.
Hmm.. in a much-needed turnaround from the past 3 years where the scariest mask was to wear NO mask at all, Halloween 2023 seems to be in full swing this year 👻
The extended candy-craze has boosted sales, which in turn has led prices to go way up.
Limited sugar supplies are causing soaring costs and even impacting production in some cases, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Producers are blaming the shortage on an agriculture policy that requires at least 85% of sugar purchases in the US to come from domestic processors, WSJ.
Our Thoughts💡: Long story short, y'all gonna have to shell out a lot more cash for Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and KitKats this year🍫🍫
PS. On a related but unrelated note: Ladies, STOP using Halloween as an excuse to dress skanky. Dress skanky every👏🏻damn👏🏻day👏🏻
Entertainment 🍿: And more hot pink news!
In less than three weeks, Barbie tops $1 billion at the box-office globally, making Greta Gerwig the 1st female director to hit that milestone.
Warner Bros. said no other movie in its history has ever sold so many tickets, so fast.
Many are now talking about the power of the female customer.
Icons like Beyoncé, Barbie and Taylor Swift have not just been dominating headlines in the entertainment industry this summer, but also in the economic landscape.
According to Variety, three other billion-dollar blockbusters were co-directed by women:
💡“Frozen”: $1.3bn
💡 “Frozen 2”: $1.45 bn
💡“Captain Marvel”: $1.1bn
Our Thoughts💡: All we're gonna say is.. #WhoRunTheWorld
(GIRLSSSSSS)
Quicker Bites:
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire posts record operating profit, $35.9bn of net income.
Powerful storms threaten more than 80mn people on East Coast.
Hiroshima’s Anniversary marks an injustice done to blast survivors.
Seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles returns to the events floor to compete in the US Classic.
Pakistan to send its cricket team to India to participate in ICC World Cup 2023.