KPop Demon Hunters took over Netflix when it debuted in August. Next, its coming for Halloween.
Thats according to Googles annual Frightgeist report, which uses Google Trends search data to predict the years top Halloween costumes across a number of categories.
This years report, published on October 9, shows that characters from the hit animated movie musical KPop Demon Hunters have snagged all five of the lists top spots.
KPop Demon Hunters centers on Huntr/x, a K-pop superstar trio who double as demon hunters. The membersRumi, Mira, and Zoeymust protect their fans while facing down a rival boy band made up of demons in disguise, led by the singer Jinu.
Since the movie premiered on Netflix, its become the streamers most-watched film of all time; secured Netflix’s first-ever No. 1 box office title when it was shown in theaters; had four simultaneous top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100; and achieved Platinum status with its soundtrack.
In short, the film is a cultural phenomenon complete with a bevy of catchy, endlessly replayable songsand its going to be totally unavoidable on Halloween.
window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}});
Which characters made the list?
Google Frightgeist found that the top five overall costumes of the year are, in order of popularity: Rumi, Zoey, Mira, Jinu, and Baby Saja (a minor antagonist and rapper in the K-pop group Saja Boys).
Derpy the Tiger, a supernatural blue feline from the film, is also eighth on this years list.
Fast-fashion brands including Shein and Aliexpress have anticipated the trend with their own versions of KPop Demon Hunters fashion.
Seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween is also offering officially licensed costumes of the shows main characters, available in both kid and adult sizesbut it appears to be struggling to keep up with demand. As of this writing, every adult costume is sold out in every size, and kids’ costumes seem to be available exclusively in stores.
Spirit Halloween did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment on the costumes popularity.
For businesses, theres a lot at stake. According to a September survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Halloween spending, which includes stocking up on candy and pumpkins in addition to spending on costumes, is expected to reach a record $13.1 billion this year.
Amidst the sea of K-pop costumes that will dominate streets this year, trick-or-treaters can expect to see another familiar face in the crowd. Labubus, the collectible monster plush toys that are known for teetering on the line between ugly and cute, are the top costume search for dogs and the second-hottest costume search for kids.
Crypto is here to stayand you can take that to the bank. Citibank, perhaps.
On Monday morning, CNBC reported that Citi is looking to launch crypto custody services next year. Biswarup Chatterjee, the global head of partnerships and innovation in the services business at Citi, told CNBC that the company is hoping that in the next few quarters, we can come to market with a credible custody solution that we can offer to our asset managers and other clients.
While banks have, traditionally, kept cryptocurrency at arm’s length, primarily concerned about regulatory changes, the Trump administrations embrace of cryptoexemplified by the passage of new laws like the GENIUS Acthas companies like Citi and others changing their tune. The GENIUS Act, signed into law earlier this year, created a federal regulatory system for stablecoins, among other things.
Accordingly, banks are looking to launch crypto-related products and services, such as crypto or digital asset custody services, which, similar to a typical checking or savings account, would enable the bank to hold assets for clients.
Notably, leaders from other banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, have said that they will not offer such services, though they will conduct crypto transactions. U.S. Bank, on the other hand, is offering custody services as of last month, though it originally launched the service in 2021 and put it on hold. PNC Bank is also offering custody and trading services through a partnership with Coinbase.
In addition to custody services, Citi and others are also looking to launch their own stablecoins, or at least get in on the burgeoning action within the stablecoin subset of the larger crypto space. Stablecoins are digital assets that are pegged to another assetsuch as the U.S. dollar or a commoditythat helps it maintain a relatively stable value. Last week, Citi Ventures announced an investment in BVNK, a global infrastructure platform for stablecoins, as the company prepares to push into the space.
Stablecoins are seeing increased interest in use for settlement of on-chain and crypto asset transactions, said Arvind Purushotham, head of Citi Ventures, in a statement. That announcement, along with the news that Citi is looking to launch custody accounts, makes it clear that crypto is, finally, sliding into the world of mainstream finance.
And back up goes Wall Street. U.S. stocks are rallying Monday after President Donald Trump said it will all be fine, just days after he sent the market reeling by threatening much higher tariffs on China.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.3% to recover nearly half its drop from Friday, which was its worst since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 483 points, or 1.1%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.8% higher.
Dont worry about China, Trump said on his social media platform Sunday. He also said that Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, doesnt want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!
It was a sharp turnaround from the anger Trump displayed on Friday, when he accused China of a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations.”
He pointed to an extremely hostile letter from China describing curbs to exports of rare earths, which are materials used in the manufacturing of everything from personal electronics to jet engines. Trump said at the time that he may place an additional 100% tax on imports from China starting on Nov. 1.
For its part, China urged the United States to resolve differences through negotiations instead of threats. We do not want a tariff war but we are not afraid of one,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement posted online.
Hours later, Trump posted his less confrontational talk about China on Truth Social. The backtrack in anger, which also came before trading began on Wall Street, raised hopes that the worlds two largest economies could find a working relationship that allows global trade to continue.
The big moves for the market bracketing the weekend echo its manic swings in April. That’s when Trump shocked investors with his Liberation Day announcement of worldwide tariffs, only to eventually relent on many to give time to negotiate trade deals with other countries.
If this time ends up similarly, potentially even after a sharp drop for stock prices, subsiding trade tensions and uncertainty could allow for a rolling recovery to continue into 2026, according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Michael Wilson.
To be sure, the U.S. stock market may have been primed for a drop and was perhaps just looking for a potential trigger. It was already facing criticism that prices had shot too high following a nearly relentless 35% run for the S&P 500 from a low in April. The index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts, is still near its all-time high set last week.
Not only did Trump’s backdown from tariffs help launch stock prices since April, so did expectations for several cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve to help the economy.
Critics say the market looks too expensive now after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, where pessimists hear echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded.
Broadcom jumped 10.2% for Monday’s biggest gain in the S&P 500 after announcing a collaboration with OpenAI. The maker of ChatGPT will design custom AI accelerators, and Broadcom will help develop and deploy them.
For stocks broadly to look less expensive, either prices need to fall, or companies profits need to rise.
Thats raising the stakes for the upcoming earnings reporting season, with big U.S. companies lining up to say how much profit they made during the summer. JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and United Airlines are some of the big names on the calendar this upcoming week.
Fastenal tumbled 6.4% after the maker of fasteners and safety supplies reported a profit for the latest quarter that was slightly weaker than analysts expected.
At Bank of America, strategist Savita Subramanian is optimistic that companies across the S&P 500 can deliver a bigger overall profit than analysts expected. Besides reports showing a resilient U.S. economy, she also pointed in a BofA Global Research report to how the U.S. dollar’s weakening against other currencies boosts the value of sales made abroad by big U.S. companies.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following losses in Asia, which had their first opportunity to react to Trump’s threat from Friday of additional tariffs on China.
Stocks fell 1.5% in Hong Kong and 0.2% in Shanghai.
China reported its global exports rose 8.3% in September from a year earlier, the strongest growth in six months and further evidence that its manufacturers are shifting sales from the United States to other markets.
Stan Choe, AP business writer
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Uncertainty over the economy and tariffs is forcing retailers to pull back or delay plans to hire seasonal workers who pack orders at distribution centers, serve shoppers at stores and build holiday displays during the most important selling season of the year.
American Christmas LLC, which creates elaborate holiday installations for commercial properties such as New York’s Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, plans to hire 220 temporary workers and is ramping up recruitment nearly two months later than usual, CEO Dan Casterella said. Last year, the company took on 300 people during its busy period.
The main reason? The company wants to offset its tariff bill, which Casterella expects to be as big as $1.5 million this year, more than double last years $600,000.
The issue is if you overstaff and then you underperform, its too late,” Casterella said. I think everyones more mindful now than ever.
Holiday hiring could fall to the lowest level since 2009
Job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas forecasts hiring for the last three months of the year will likely fall under 500,000 positions. That’s fewer than last years 543,000 level and also marks the smallest seasonal gain in 16 years when retailers hired 495,800 temporary workers, the firm said. The average seasonal gain since 2005 has been 653,363 workers, the firm said.
Among other companies cutting holiday payrolls: Radial, an e-commerce company that powers deliveries for roughly 120 companies like Lands End and Cole Haan and operates 20 fulfillment sites. It plans to hire 6,500 workers, fewer than last years 7,000, and is waiting to the last minute to ramp up hiring for some of its clients, chief human resources officer Sabrina Wnorowski said.
Bath & Body Works, based in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, said it plans to hire 32,000 workers, lower than the 32,700 a year ago.
Among the bright spots: Online behemoth Amazon Inc. said Monday it intends to hire 250,000 full-, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping period, the same level as a year ago.
We saw real strong signals that theres been a cooling in the labor market, even beyond what our expectations were in the first nine months of the year, Challenger’s senior vice president Andy Challenger said. We are having lots of regular conversations with companies about pending layoffs and changes theyre making to their workforce.
In addition to overall economic uncertainty, Challenger noted companies are using artificial intelligence bots to replace some workers, particularly those working in call centers. And he’s also seeing companies hiring workers closer to when they need them.
Meanwhile, the list of companies staying mum about their specific holiday hiring goals keeps growing. Target Corp., UPS, and Macys are declining to offer figures, a departure from the past. UPS had hired 125,000 seasonal hires last year, while Target announced last year it planned to hire 100,000 workers. Macy’s last year said it would hire 31,500 seasonal workers.
Holiday hiring: the first clues to what’s in store for spending
Retailers’ hiring plans mark the first clues to whats in store for the U.S. holiday shopping season and come as the U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because Trumps trade wars have created uncertainty that’s paralyzing managers trying to make hiring decisions.
The Labor Department reported in early September that U.S. employers companies, government agencies, and nonprofits added just 22,000 jobs in August, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected.
The government shutdown, which started Oct. 1 and has delayed the release of economic reports, could worsen the job picture.
In an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues, the White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started.
The firings are happening as hundreds of thousands are already furloughed and still others are being required to report to duty without pay.
Analysts will be closely monitoring the shutdown’s impact on spending. For now, many retailers say that consumers, while resilient, are choosy about what they buying. Analysts will also be closely watching how shoppers will react as retailers push through price increases as a result of high tariff costs in the next few months, experts said.
Given an economic slowdown, holiday spending growth is expected to be smaller than a year ago, according to several forecasts.
Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks spending across all payment methods including cash, predicts that holiday sales will be up 3.6% from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24. That compares with a 4.1% increase during the year-ago period.
Deloitte Services LP forecasts holiday retail sales to be up between 2.9% to 3.4% from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31. That’s compared to the same year-ago period when retail sales increased 4.2% from the year before.
Adobe expects U.S. online sales to hit $253.4 billion this holiday season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, representing a 5.3% growth. Thats smaller than last year’s 8.7% growth.
A more flexible approach
Given the uncertainty, companies increasingly want to hire workers closer to when they need them, experts said.
In today’s environment, brands are really looking for us to be agile, Radial’s Wnorowski said. Radial is meeting that need of the customer and the consumer with a more flexible and disciplined approach to hiring.
So for some of its clients, Radial will now be hiring two weeks before Thanksgiving weekend, the traditional start for the holiday shopping season, instead of four weeks before the kickoff, she said. Radial is also speeding up training of holiday hires due to new technology that’s simplifying their tasks. It used to take a couple of days to train a worker, but now it only takes a couple of hours, she said.
Meanwhile, Target said it’s again embracing a three-prong approach. It starts first by offering current workers additional hours and then taps into a separate pool of workers 43,000 who pick up shifts that work for their schedules. The Minneapolis-based company also hires seasonal workers across its nearly 2,000 stores and more than 60 distribution facilities to meet demand, it said.
For the past few years, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and the largest private emloyer, has been offering the extra hours available during the holidays to its workers, a Walmart spokesperson said, noting it’s worked well and the feedback from customers and workers has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said there may be some seasonal hiring on a store-by-store basis, but the majority of stores will dole out those hours to current workers.
Late start plus no economic data could create challenges
Waiting until the last minute to hire workers could mean a mad scramble to find talent, but companies say that due to the slowing economy, they don’t anticipate having a hard time finding the needed pool.
Meanwhile, the temporary halting of the release of economic reports leaves retailers in the dark about forecasting sales and the workers they need to meet the demand.
Certainly, for our customers not having access to data will put more of a challenge on their ability to forecast, Wnorowski of Radial said. But well stay very close to them as we go into peak and well adjust as soon we see things changing.
Anne D’Innocenzio, AP retail writer
There’s an ear-piercing war brewing at the mall. Claire’s, the biggest player in the market, has hit hard times, leaving room for upstarts to impinge on its territory.
For 60 years, Claire’s has billed itself as a place for kids and teens to get their first piercings. The company says it has pierced more than 100 million ears since 1978. But after declaring bankruptcy in August (its second bankruptcy in seven years), Claire’s was acquired by the holding company Ames Watson for $140 million. These new owners have plans to turn the business around, including drastically shrinking its retail footprint which had ballooned to more than 1,000 stores.
It recently announced it is shuttering upwards of 290 locations across the country. And Rowan, an ear-piercing startup, has told Fast Company that it is planning to start taking over some of these locations starting with a store in New Hampshire and outside of Boston.
[Photo: courtesy Rowan]
Building a piercing empire
Claire’s continues to be a large player in the ear-piercing world. Last year it generated upwards of $2 billion in revenue, but it has also accumulated $500 million in debt from a leveraged buyout. It has struggled to pay off this debt because its profits have declined due to slowing foot traffic at mall and increased tariffs.
But more broadly, while many millennials still remember Claire’s fondly from their own teenage years, the retailer has not evolved to meet the needs of today’s consumers. The stores feel like a warehouse, crammed with cheap trinkets. The ear-piercing experience doesn’t feel particularly luxurious, as retail staff perform the procedure while also manning the checkout.
As Claire’s has declined, many other alternatives have popped up, including Louvisa, a Claire’s-like brand from Australia; Studs, a startup focused on older teens and adults; and Banter, a piercing-focused brand owned by the jewelry giant Signet.
Rowan, which was founded in 2017, is trying to unseat Claire’s as the go-to destination for a person’s first piercing. Louisa Schneider, Rowan’s founder and CEO, has worked hard to create an in-store experience that is clean and comfortable, particularly for children and their parents. It’s unique in the market for employing licensed nurses to perform the piercing, and it is able to pierce the ears of babies, which is an important rite of passage in many cultures.
[Photo: Sandra Wong Geroux/courtesy Rowan]
The startup, which generated $70 million in revenue last year, sees an opportunity in Claire’s downfall. It raised a $20 million series B in 2021, bringing its total funding to $25 million, and is working to expand its retail footprint. Now, it is quietly moving into many of Claire’s former locations. By the end of the year, Rowan expects to operate more than 100 ear-piercing studios and employ more than 800 people, more than half of which will be nurses.
A better experience
While Rowan and Claire’s overlap in some ways, the two businesses are also quite different. Claire’s is a retailer that specializes in selling cheap jewelry and knickknacks that are particularly appealing to the tween set. Ear-piercing is not its primary business, but for decades, the service has been a way to get customers through the door. Many millennials, who fondly remember getting their ears pierced at Claire’s, now bring their own kids to get their ears pierced for the first time.
Louisa Schneider [Photo: courtesy Rowan]
In contrast, Rowan’s entire business is focused on ear-piercing, which is the main source of the brand’s revenue. Schneider launched the business because she found a lot to be desired in the traditional mall ear-piercing experience. “When it came to my own daughter, I wanted the piercing to be the most important function of the person performing it, rather than an afterthought,” says Schneider. “But in many stores, overworked retail staff were being asked to perform a piercing, which is really a medical procedure. And they’re oftentimes dealing with a very young person.”
At Rowan, Schneider has hired a team of licensed nurses who perform the piercings with either a needle or a device. It has small format stores that serve as piercing studios, with comfortable chairs where the procedure happens.
[Photo: courtesy Rowan]
The company also sells a wide range of earrings, most of which have a higher price point than those sold by Claire’s. Rowan spends a lot of time making sure that its products are hypoallergenic, to prevent irritation on newly pierced ears. Rowan also has an high-end line of 14k gold earrings, some of which are embedded with diamonds. But the majority of its revenue comes from the piercing service, which costs $35 for one ear and $50 for two ears, plus the cost of the jewelry.
“We test all of our earrings to ensure they contain minimal nickel, brass, and other metals that are allergy inducing,” says Schneider. “We’re not a fashion jewelry store. Our focus is entirely on protecting newly pierced ears.”
A growing market
Until recently, piercing tended to be a service tacked on to jewelry stores, but over the past decade, it’s become clear that there is a market for ear-piercing as a stand-alone service. Studs, another startup, has also built a business around ear-piercing, but it only performs the service on people who are 13 and older. Rowan, on the other hand, tends to attract younger clients.
“To have multiple piercings is now very common, even compared to 10 years ago,” says Schneider. “We’re seeing the demand for safe piercings go up.”
[Photo: courtesy Rowan]
Rowan is expanding its store footprint rapidly. Unlike some of its competitors, it’s a service that must happen in person, so it is imperative for the company to have brick-and-mortar stores. Schneider says that it has been able to take over many former Claire’s locations. While Claire’s has stores of many sizes, and in many locations, Schneider is rather selective with Rowan’s locations. It seeks out small-format stores, and also locations in the more premium parts of the mall, close to high-end brands.
“Many Claire’s locations are near food courts,” Schneider says. “You’ll usually find Rowan close to the Apple store or Lululemon.”
But while Rowan aspires to impinge on Claire’s territory, it is still much smaller than Claire’s. It generated $70 million last year, which is a small fraction of Claire’s $2 billion. But Claire’s has an uphill battle ahead to become profitable. It’s new owners have said that while the Claire’s brand is strong, it’s business model is “broken” and needs to be reimagined.
Meanwhile, Schneider wants to stay laser focused on catering to the needs of its customers. “There are so many products you can get online now, but the reason you go to a store is because of the customer service,” she says. “That’s where we want to stand out.”
Most American cities have street networks that are engineered for us to comfortably drive much too fast for our surroundings. Even our old, pre-automobile cities have been upgraded to make dangerous driving habits easy.
Transportation professionals are allowed to use good judgment when deciding how to design city streets, but they often need to be reminded, especially in cities where the state department of transportation has authority. Its not enough for you as a good urbanist to tell an engineer to make better choices. After all, theyre not a malicious bunch trying to wreck society. Theyre conforming to the long-established rules of the industry.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
The AASHTO Green Book is the go-to excuse that professionals use for street design that prioritizes vehicle speed and throughput at the expense of safety. (It costs a fortune, so find a library copy.)
The costs of speed
AASHTO says what many experts avoid admitting:
Speed reduces the visual field, restricts peripheral vision, and limits the time available for drivers to receive and process information.
The faster you drive, the less you see. And when you finally do see someone headed into your path, its too late to stop in time. The go with the flow justification for driving 40 mph around schools, homes, and storefronts causes preventable crashes, injuries, and fatalities.
Engineers who read the Green Book will find this reminder about using judgment that goes beyond tables or graphs (emphasis mine):
Design speed is a selected speed used to determine the various geometric design features of the roadway. The selected design speed should be a logical one with respect to the anticipated operating speed, topography, the adjacent land use, and the functional classification of the highway. In selection of design speed, every effort should be made to attain a desired combination of safety, mobility, and efficiency within the constraints of environmental quality, economics, aesthetics, and social or political impacts.
Its still a highway-minded narrative, but theres flexibility in the language. So when professional engineers blame AASHTO for not implementing traffic calming measures, you know better. AASHTO expects licensed professionals to be conscientious problem solvers, not automated copy/pasters.
A smarter approach
Heres a two-step suggestion for having more productive conversations with the planners and engineers responsible for your areas street design: (1) Use plain language to talk about context, and (2) Share specific engineering methods that are approved by the status quo.
Talking about context
A house limits your ability to run. You walk from the bedroom to the kitchen. Guests visit, and they walk around and sit down.
An open field gives you space to go as fast as your body motor allows. Friends and strangers can run with you, or in different directions.
Some streets need to be engineered for slow driving. Some parts of the neighborhood are intended to be a living room, not an open field.
Offering industry-approved options
Its worth having some basic understanding of traffic calming techniques that are considered acceptable by status quo design guides, such as the AASHTO Green Book. Here are some notes to help get you started.
Narrow lanes. 10-ft instead of 12-ft, even on the busy streets. Restriping is cheap and effective.
Fewer lanes (road diet). Safer for people behind the wheel and people walking.
Wide sidewalks. Most standard sidewalks arent even wide enough for two people to comfortably pass each other.
Textured stripes / rumble strips. Used to transition from high-speed to low-speed areas.
Textured pavement. Cobblestones arent your only option in the 21st century.
Diverters. Popular on bike boulevards to prevent drivers from going straight across an intersection.
Midblock crossings. Break up super blocks with flashing beacons for pedestrians.
On-street parking. But it better be replacing car storage, not adding more!
Chicanes. The S-curve feel that makes driving slightly uncomfortable.
Trees. Along the sides and in the center of traffic circles and roundabouts.
Roundabouts. Or traffic circles, depending on the type of intersection.
Bumpouts / chokers. Theyll show tire marks from all the rubs, but thats progress. Use at intersections or midblock.
Tight corners. 90 degrees if you please. No swooping curves.
Street furniture. Benches, lights, trash cans, restaurant signs, bike racks, etc.
Raised intersection. Pricey but effective way to put pedestrians on a pedestal.
Raised crosswalk. Like a speed hump wide enough for people to walk across.
If youre interested in going deeper, here are a few transportation resources to get you familiar with traffic calming.
FHWA
AASHTO
ITE
NACTO
Global Designing Cities Initiative
The bottom line: slower is safer.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
Last week, Disney briefed the press on how it’s bringing the entire Hulu catalog into its Disney+ app, with a dedicated tab for accessing Hulu’s more adult-oriented fare. But despite all the headlines you might’ve seen about the Hulu app shutting down, Disney says it’s not happening anytime soon, if at all.
According to Disney, the company has no timeline for getting rid of the dedicated Hulu app, and will continue to sell stand-alone Hulu subscriptions. The company still sees Hulu as an important part of its streaming strategy, serving as a catchall for content that doesn’t fall under tentpole Disney brands such as Star Wars and Marvel. Outside of the United States, Disney is even ditching the Star brand that it used for this type of content as it tries to make Hulu a recognizable brand globally.
Jason Wong, Disney’s senior vice president of product management, tells Fast Company that Disney does want to shift Hulu subscribers over to its unified app. Both services are still growing and have a combined 183 million subscribers. A decision to wind down the stand-alone Hulu app, though, will depend on how customers respond to the Disney+ push.
“Our strategy is to build up the Disney+ application and make it a great place for both Disney+ and Hulu users. If you want to consume Hulu on the stand-alone Hulu app, you can continue to do that,” Wong says.
Hulu plus Disney+
Hulu launched in 2007 as a joint venture between NBC and Fox, with a focus on streaming network TV shows. Disney became Hulu’s majority owner after acquiring 21st Century Fox in 2019, and it bought out the remaining 33% stake from Comcast (which owns NBCUniversal) for $438.7 million in June. This gave Disney full ownership of a service with more than 55.5 million subscribers. (Disney+ has 57.8 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, and 127.8 million globally.)
Disney is now positioning Hulu as its brand for general entertainment, in contrast to the more family-friendly propertiesDisney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographicthat fall under the Disney+ banner. That covers originals from Hulu and FX, next-day network shows from ABC and Fox, and licensed content from other networks.
[Image: Courtesy of Disney]
Still, Disney CEO Bob Iger has been talked up the value of having both services in a single app, and last week the company previewed what that app will look like. In the coming weeks, some Disney+ users will start seeing distinct Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN tabs at the top of the app, along with a “For You” tab with recommendations spanning all three.
This helps serve Disney’s goal of getting customers to pay for more than just one of its three services. Wong says customers will see tabs even for the services they’re not paying for, and the app will offer samplings of content from each.
“It’s to give people a bit of a taste as to what the breadth of our catalog offers, and encourages you to upsell into a bundle that makes sense for you,” he says.
The new tabs aren’t just about upselling, though. Wong says Disney’s also been refining its recommendation algorithms in the For You tab and wants to emphasize them more. This will help Disney make “bolder” recommendations knowing that users can always click into the offerings from each service individually.
“Now, if you know you’re in the mood for general entertainment or sports, it’s just one click up, two clicks over to Hulu, or three clicks over to ESPN, and it’s really fast,” he says.
What happens to Hulu from here?
Regardless of which app people use to access Hulu, Disney is adamant that it’s not going away as a distinct brand. If anything, it’s becoming more prominent. Last week, Disney ditched its Star brand for general entertainment outside of the United States. Its replacement? Hulu.
Disney had launched Star as its international entertainment brand in 2021, two years after taking over Star India and Fox’s Asia Pacific operations as part of its 21st Century Fox acquisition. It may be less attached to the brand after selling its majority stake in Star India for less than it expected as part of a plan to merge the business with Reliance-backed Viacom18.
The brand shift will require plenty of customer education from Disney. But Wong says this solves the problem of having fragmented marketing in different parts of the world.
“It’s going to strengthen and make it easier for us to talk about a unified app experience when we’re not talking about Disney+ and Star in some countries, and Disney+ and Hulu in the U.S,” he says.
As for Hulu in the United States, Wong acknowledges that having a single application may be more efficient for Disney in the long run, both from a technical and marketing standpoint. Still, it’s a long way from making that happen.
For one thing, Disney acknowledges that its work on tying Hulu and ESPN into the Disney+ app is incomplete. It has not yet demonstrated how it’ll integrate Hulu + Live TV, its $83 per month cable replacement service with features like DVR and a grid-based channel guide, though Wong says all of that will be coming to the Disney+ app eventually. The company also plans to iterate on its initial redesign based early customer feedback.
“What you see today is definitely not what all of us will be seeing even three or four months from now,” Wong says.
As it builds more features into the Disney+ app and starts nudging people to switch, it will start looking at how much time people spend in the app, how easily they can find what they want, and whether they continue to dip into the stand-alone Hulu app. The goal is for Hulu subscribers to prefer using the Disney+ app, but Wong says data from users will determine when that might happen.
“If, ultimately, our products make it hard for someone who just loves Hulu to get to Hulu content, we’ve faled,” he says.
“Tron: Ares” powered up the box office grid in the top spot this weekend, but Disney’s third entry in the sci-fi franchise fell short of expectations.Despite some favorable reviews including a three-out-of-four-star one from The Associated Press the new “Tron” film starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee and Jeff Bridges earned $33.5 million, according to Comscore estimates on Sunday. The big-budget project, reported to cost around $150 million, arrived 15 years after “Tron: Legacy” opened to $44 million before grossing more than $400 million globally.The latest chapter follows a battle between two powerful technology firms, Emcom and Dillinger, who face off against the same artificial intelligence barrier. Both can generate physical creations using laser-based 3D printers but each creation lasts only 29 minutes before collapsing into ash.“Tron: Ares” was packed with action and nostalgia, but it wasn’t enough to draw big numbers across more than 4,000 theaters.“It’s been tough for that franchise to gain traction for it to become a big mega franchise,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. He noted that the original “Tron” movie in 1982 initially struggled at the box office, but it ultimately grew a cult following.Dergarabedian said the international numbers could play a key role toward the film’s profitability.“It still topped the box office,” he said. “It picked a solid release date. All eyes are on a big Disney film that is a huge brand, known and has been around for decades.”It wasn’t the only new release that struggled to connect.“Roofman,” which starred Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst in the blue-collar dramedy about a construction worker trying to rebuild his life, opened in second place with a modest $8 million debut.Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” came in third with $6.6 million. “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” held steady in fourth place with $3.3 million. The Netflix and DreamWorks family release based on the popular preschool series continues to perform well with younger audiences in its third weekend.In fifth, “Soul on Fire” debuted with $3 million. The faith-based drama tells the true story of burn survivor and motivational speaker John O’Leary, featuring performances from Joel Courtney, William H. Macy and John Corbett.“The Conjuring: Last Rites” followed with $2.9 million, marking another steady entry in Warner Bros.’ long-running horror franchise.In seventh, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” brought in $2.2 million, continuing the anime franchise’s strong theatrical momentum worldwide.“The Smashing Machine,” starring Dwayne Johnson as UFC legend Mark Kerr, added $1.7 million in eighth place.Rounding out the top 10 were “The Strangers: Chapter 2” with $1.5 million and “Good Boy” with $1.3 million.After a couple big weekends last month, the box office has taken a hit in October a month that Dergarabedian calls a bridge month between summer and holiday movie seasons. He said this month is perfect for films like “The Smashing Machine” and “After the Hunt,” which releases Oct. 17, to shine in their own way.“If you’re a movie fan, particularly in the indie, art house, award season types of film, this is a great month,” he said. “Moviegoers should embrace the eclectic offerings out there on the big screen.”
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
“Tron: Ares” $33.5 million
“Roofman,” $8 million.
“One Battle After Another,” $6.6 million.
“Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie,” $3.3 million.
“Soul on Fire,” $3 million.
“The Conjuring: Last Rites,” $2.9 million.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” $2.2 million.
“The Smashing Machine,” $1.7 million.
“The Strangers: Chapter 2,” $1.5 million.
“Good Boy,” $1.3 million.
Jonathan Landrum Jr., AP Entertainment Writer
Want a reason to be optimistic? The global food system is showing some green shoots that suggest more sustainable farming practices are on the way.
But consumers play an integral role in making that a reality, and the choices they make every time they shop at the grocery store matter more than we may realize.
Thats because farmers, companies, and consumers must all work together to create a more sustainable food system, according to Paul Rice, founder of Fair Trade USA, which certifies products to meet standards around fair pricing, safe working conditions, and sustainable farming practices.
We have the ability to vote with our dollars . . . to choose products that are climate friendly, that are sustainable, that are healthy, that are nutritious, said Rice, speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival last month in New York. And by doing that, by making that choice, we reward both the retailers and brands that are bringing us those products, but then also the growers.
That said, theres an obligation for all of these various players to think intentionally about their interconnectedness, added Chris MacAulay, vice president of North America at Too Good To Go, which tackles food waste by connecting consumers to surplus food at restaurants and grocery stores.
At the heart of the issue, MacAulay said, is that food is a powerful connecting force that needs to be valued. When we value it more highly, there’s enough money to help drive this virtuous cycle flywheel that we can get to.
‘Internalize the externalities’
Even so, change needs to happen on various fronts.
One possibility might be to internalize the externalitiesor charge consumers some incremental amount of money that goes toward sustainability, in the same way that you must pay a deposit in many states when buying beer, noted Anthony Myint, executive director of Zero Foodprint, which mobilizes businesses to contribute a percentage of their sales to support farmers.
If we want healthy soil, if we want to change farming, then we need policies and laws and programs that kind of include that littleit could be a penny, it could be a dollarbut any amount going to that change directly, Myint said.
While the challenges facing the food system are a little depressing, there are signs of gradual progress that offer reasons to be hopeful, Myint said. If we can just go from doing zero to just doing anything, then it’s almost going to solve itself.
Opportunity for entrepreneurs
Rice and MacAulay likewise see business reasons for optimism.
Theres an opportunity to continue to build and iterate upon those sustainability efforts that have begun to grow, while there are so many good ideas that havent been hatched yet, MacAulay said.
And players at all stages are experiencing enlightened self-interest that will fuel the sustainability movement, Rice added.
While farmers are increasingly realizing that the continuation of chemical-intensive agriculture will deplete the soil for future generations, companies are realizing that supply-chain transparency is in their own interestsand supporting more sustainable practices is good for their brands, Rice noted.
Corporate America writ large is moving in this direction because it’s good for business and we have to make it so, Rice said. And so therein lies [our role] . . . to reward companies that are doing the right thing, keep reading the label, and stay curious about the impact of our purchasing decisions.
Immigrants selling food, flowers, and other merchandise along the sidewalks of California will have new privacy protections intended to keep their identities secret from federal immigration agents.
The measure, signed into law this past week by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, comes on the heels of other recently enacted state laws meant to shield students in schools and patients at health care facilities from the reach of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.
Democratic-led states are adding laws resisting Trump even as he intensifies his deportation campaign by seeking to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities to reinforce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who are arresting people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
By contrast, some Republican-led states are requiring local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE agents.
The actions of the states really reflect the polarization of the country on this issue, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports immigration restrictions. We have seen some states move to cooperate to the greatest extent that they possibly can with Trumps administration and others doing what they can to try to thwart immigration enforcement in their state.
Across the U.S, state lawmakers this year have passed more than 100 bills relating to immigration, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by the bill tracking software Plural. The measures are divided almost evenly between those providing and denying protections to immigrants.
California is shielding immigrant information
Immigrants comprise a significant portion of California’s urban sidewalk vendors. Some have been swept up in immigration enforcement actions, in part, because their outdoor work in public places makes them easier targets than people behind closed doors.
California’s street vendors typically need permits from cities or counties. The new law prohibits local governments from inquiring about vendors’ immigration status, requiring fingerprinting or disclosing personal information name, address, birth date, social media identifiers and telephone, driver’s license and Social Security numbers, among other things without a judicial subpoena.
The law, which will take effect Jan. 1, was prompted by concerns that vendor databases kept by local governments could be accessed by federal immigration agents to target people for detention and deportation.
Were talking about really security - security for businesses, security for human beings, security for people who have gone through so much,” said Sergio Jimenez, a street vending organizer with the nonprofit Community Power Collective in Los Angeles.
Additional laws recently signed by Newsom add immigration status to a list of protected medical information and prohibit schools from granting access to immigration enforcement officials without a court warrant. Another new California law directs schools and higher education institutions to immediately notify staff and students or parents when immigration officials are on campus.
Democratic states create safe places for immigrants
Upon taking office, Trump reversed a policy restricting federal immigration agents from arresting people at sensitive locations such as schools, churches and hospitals. Like California, other Democratic-led states responded with laws attempting to create safe places for immigrants.
A Maryland law enacted earlier this year requires public schools, libraries and health care facilities to restrict access for immigration enforcement officials unless presented with a court warrant. Nevada’s Republican governor vetoed a similar measure for schools that had been passed by the Democratic-led Legislature.
Meanwhile, a new Colorado law allows civil penalties of up to $50,000 for public child care centers, schools, colleges, health care facilities and libraries that collect information about peoples immigration status, with some exceptions. New laws in Rhode Island prohibit health care providers and landlords from inquiring about people’s immigration status. Oregon also enacted a similar law for landlords.
States split on aiding federal immigration agents
By contrast, Republican-led states have passed numerous laws intended to bolster Trumps immigration policies.
New laws in Texas, Florida, and Arkansas require sheriffs who run jails to enter into federal agreements for their officers to be trained to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. State and local participation in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program named after the section of law that created it has exploded from 135 agreements in 21 states before Trump took office in January to more than 1,000 agreements presently in place in 40 states.
But some Democratic-led states have refused to take part. A new Delaware law prohibits participation in the program, similar to statutes already in place in California and Illinois. Democratic-led Vermont also tightened its restrictions on participating in federal immigration enforcement programs, repealing an exemption that had allow it during emergencies.
A Connecticut law that took effect in October allows people to sue local governments that cooperate with federal immigration authorities in violation of the states Trust Act.
Public benefits are a point of contention
In Washington, new state laws allow workers to take paid leave to attend immigration proceedings for themselves or family members and prohibit employers from using immigration status to coerce their employees.
But some Republican-led states have enacted laws limiting benefits for people in the country illegally.
A new Idaho law prohibits immigrants without legal status from receiving some publicly funded health benefits, including vaccinations, crisis counseling and prenatal and postnatal care for women. A new Louisiana law requires applicants for public benefits to be screened for legal immigration status and, if lacking it, reported to federal immigration authorities
Several Republican-led states including Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Wyoming have adopted laws invalidating certain drivers licenses issued to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
College tuition discounts are diminishing
Entering into this year, nearly half the states provided in-state tuition to public colleges and universities for residents living in the U.S. illegally. But that number has dwindled since Trump took office and the U.S. Department of Justice began suing states. The federal lawsuits assert states are violating the Constitution by providing in-state tuition for people without legal status while not offering the same benefit to out-of-state U.S. citizens.
Florida repealed its decade-old law allowing in-state tuition for students lacking legal status, effective July 1. Republican-led Texas and Oklahoma both ended similar tuition policies after getting sued by the Justice Department. Kentucky, which has a Democratic governor, also has taken steps to halt its policy after getting sued.
California lawmakers attempted to enhance tuition benefits for immigrants with a first-of-its kind measure allowing community college students who get deported or voluntarily leave the U.S. to continue receiving in-state tuition while taking online courses from afar. But Newsom vetoed the measure earlier this month, citing significant constitutional concerns that the tuition break was offered only to students who left the country and not also to residents of other U.S. states.
A bill passed by New Mexico’s Democratic-led Legislature this year would have expanded in-state tuition breaks to immigrants who earned income in New Mexico during the previous two years or who attended at least two semesters of adult education courses. But Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham let the bill die without her signature.
David A. Lieb, Associated Press
