This week in the news, Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, has agreed to remove the offensive logo of their latest restaurant chain due to cultural blunder, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba raised around $22 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings on record and Media-Saturn’s new stores became a place where the virtual meets the real, giving its customers a new shopping experience.
- Yum Brands Drops Communist Logo amidst Protests
A perceived lack of cultural awareness has forced Yum! Brands to change the red star logo on its newly opened Vietnamese Banh Shop in Dallas, TX. Thanh Cung, President of the Vietnamese-American Community of Greater Dallas started a petition calling on the restaurant to make the change. “We are hurt and offended by your chosen logo, a red star, which is a symbol of communism and will offend thousands of South Vietnamese refugees in my community,” Cung wrote. In an email to CNBC, Yum! Brands said that it will change the logo and remove the red star from all materials and signage at the restaurant. (The Daily Meal)
- Alibaba Poised to Become the Largest IPO in US History
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba bolstered its status as a symbol of China’s economic emergence by raising $21.8 billion in a U.S. initial public offering. The company and shareholders reportedly sold 320.1 million shares for $68 each. The sale, which values Alibaba at $167.6 billion, is already the largest by any company in the U.S. and has the potential to break the global record if additional shares are sold to underwriters. At recent meetings, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma, a former English teacher, focused on the company’s ambitions outside both the e-commerce field and its home base, describing it as an “Internet company that happens to be from China.” (Bloomberg)
- Chinese Food Delivery Firm Receives $50 Million Investment
Chinese e-commerce business JD.com and Macquarie Capital have led a $50 million round of investment into online food delivery operator Daojia, as China’s e-commerce firms increasingly look to extend their reach offline. Daojia said it has over a million registered users in eight cities around China and partners with around 3,000 restaurants. China’s technology firms such Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com have been looking to tap into the online-to-offline, or “O2O,” market to widen their reach. According to market research firm Euromonitor, China’s fast food market is estimated to grow around 6 percent a year to hit $156 billion by 2018. (ETRetail.com)
- Virtual Meets Real in Media-Saturn’s New Story
Europe’s electronics retailer Media-Saturn has unveiled a giant video wall, where customers can navigate through all its products on offer. Media-Saturn has seen online competition from the likes of Amazon steadily erode its business in recent years. With the new feature, the company hopes to better link on-and-offline shopping and give its customers a new shopping experience. Other retailers have also adopted a similar technology. British retailer Marks & Spencer has developed a “virtual rail” that allows shoppers in a small Amsterdam store to browse its full catalogue on large screens, while German sportswear firm Adidas uses digital “shoe walls” to present all of its styles and colors. (Reuters)
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