Even after the final whistle blew on the Seattle Seahawks 29-13 win over the New England Patriots, Rockets Super Bowl was far from over.
Sure, the brand had a Super Bowl ad featuring Lady Gaga singing a Mr. Rogers classic, but that was just the beginning. At 8 p.m. ET, immediately after Rocket and Redfins Super Bowl spot aired, the brands released the first of six app-exclusive clues that would roll out over the next 48 hours for users to play a contest in order to win a million-dollar home.
This last part of Rockets Super Bowl strategy is perhaps its most important because its not just focused on entertaining audiences or attracting their attention; its about recruiting their participation.
Rocket CMO Jonathan Mildenhall told me last week that Super Bowl strategies must now have pre-game, in-game, and post-game stages, and participation was key.
Were going to ensure that weve got eyeballs on the spot looking for the home, but its only after it airs that the first of six clues are given, and the remaining six clues are given over a 48-hour period to ensure that Rocket and Redfin are in the postgame conversation, Mildenhall said. So the new strategy that I would implore all marketers to be thinking about is youve got three stages of Super Bowl investment, and one of those stages has to be dominated by your audience participation.
The Super Bowl is simultaneously a singular moment for advertisers, and a microcosm of the broader challenges facing brands every single day. Sure, its the biggest, most high profile collective cultural moment we have left, but it retains the same difficulty of standing out, making a mark, and really getting our attention as any other moment. As a result, more brands are working to get audiences involved in some way, shape or form, in order to break through all the noise.
Heres a look at how four brands tackled participation in each stage of the Super Bowl.
Pre-game prep
Comcast Xfinitys Jurassic Park-themed spot is one of the most Super Bowl-y things a brand could do. Bringing back a beloved franchise classicincluding de-aged versions of the original castand putting its own quirky twist on it to tie in its product is not exactly rocket science. Its obvious people will love it. But how do you make sure they really love it and remember it?
Comcasts chief growth officer for connectivity and platforms Jon Geiselman says that the Super Bowl used to be a single, high-stakes moment, now its a runway. Audiences dont just show up on game day anymore, says Geiselman. For marketers, thats changed the job. The ad isnt the finish line; its the centerpiece of a much longer story.
Created with agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), Comcast Xfinitys longer story included an in-game NBA take-over at Phillys Xfinity Arena during the Sixers-Bucks game on January 26. Then, in San Francisco in the week leading up to the game there were Jurassic Park Lyft Rides, where the brand turned some Lyft vehicles into the iconic Jurassic Park tour cars, had dinosaur projections light up the citys historic Hobart Building, a motion-sensored T. Rex billboard on Market Street, and taking Baby Tango raptor character outside of Universal Orlando to roam the city and engage with fans.
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GS&P creative director Jen Hart says the pre-game strategy was itself split into stages. The first thing out of the gate was taking down an NBA arena during primetime, with Reggie Miller and Noah Eagle offering commentary on live TV about what was unfolding, says Hart. The next day on social, we invited the world to bring the park back online with an alluring grand prize: a trip back to Jurassic Parks set in Hawaii. We then opened the doors to the parkincluding a lost commercial running on television for a fully functional Jurassic Park, as well as the original cast teasing our Super Bowl spot on social.
In-game action
Getting fans involved during the game is a unique challenge given theres, you know, an actual football game people are watching. But a good marketers job is to find the space, no matter how small, to squeeze in a compelling reason for us to pay attention.
Three brands who worked in different ways to do that this year were Coinbase, OpenAI, and Kraft.
OpenAI released three regional ads before the game, but saved its direct pitch to coders for the big game itself. CMO Kate Rouch says that not only was their ad aiming to be a rallying cry for builders to try its newest version of Codex, but it was littered with easter eggssmall signs within the adfor coders to find and use to get prizes and other goodies.
Actions speak louder than words, so we’re offering Codex for free, and we have this point of view about building and making things, that anyone can do this, says Rouch. So this Easter egg, is actually tied to a behavior in Codex, and you have to participate in the product to unlock the merch. It’s just a small, simple thing, but we wanted to signal that this is about making things, and kind of lift up people who are going to do something.
Crypto platform Coinbase had a lot to live up to. Under former CMO Rouch, the brand made a splash at the 2022 Super Bowl with a bouncing QR code, so current CMO Cat Ferdon knew they needed to continue that legacy of uniquely getting peoples attention. Her solution: why not get people singing karaoke?
The Coinbase ad brilliantly mimicked old school karaoke machine screen to get viewers to sing-along with its adapted version of the Backstreet Boys 1997 hit Everybody.
Coinbase vice-president of creative Joe Staples says that what makes the Super Bowl unique is that there are 120 million people actively watching ads. So you can choose to do the thing you normally do with more famous people, or you can take it as a time to talk to a nation, says Staples. Or you can just acknowledge that everyone’s had six beers and loads of wings, and are in the room with 15 friends watching a commercial.
The participation goal here was to get people laughing and singing with each other. Ferdon says that its about carving out a moment, and making an event out of that moment. Ideally, we’re giving the audience something to participate in so that people in the room, wherever they’re watching, can feel like they’re a part of that event with us, she says. And that in itself is actually the spectacle.
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Kraft Heinz didnt have an official big game spot for Mac & Cheese, but it did invest in a celebrity to get people participating during the game. The brand had comedian John Mulaney, who voices its ongoing Best Thing Ever campaign, to respond to every Super Bowl ad in real-timeincluding Coinbases karaokewith custom video ads during the big game on social.
Kraft Heinz CMO Todd Kaplan says the point is to try and engage the audience where they are, specifically, on the second screen during the game. Listen, not all 50 plus ads are going to be home runs, he says. Its about finding the moments to come in a humorous way with a point of view for our brand and just drive a conversation, which is really what our job is as marketers.
Post-game work
This is perhaps the toughest Super Bowl nut to crack. Its also the most recent part of the game that brands have been trying to tap into.
Rocket essentially decided to combine all the trappings of more traditional ad, pack it with an emotional punch, and then do its own version of DoorDash All The Ads. In 2024, DoorDash pulled off a Super Bowl hat-trick in that it had a creative idea that got attention and awareness right awaydelivering a lucky winner everything advertised during the gamewith the short-term pay off of actual DoorDash app downloads. It got more than eight million contest submissions and 11 billion impressions.
With a clue to winning a million dollar home embedded in its Super Bowl ad, Mildenhall says that the contest will drive Redfin app downloadsyu need the app to enter the contestand ideally even provide a post-game boost to its commercial.
I’m hoping that our ad becomes the most-viewed Super Bowl ad this year,” he says. “Because we’re driving people back to it six times so that they can identify which of the homes you’ve seen in the ad is actually available on Redfin tp win.
The world’s biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening arguments for the first, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, begin this week.
Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube will face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. TikTok and Snap, which were originally named in the lawsuit, settled for undisclosed sums.
This was only the first case there are hundreds of parents and school districts in the social media addiction trials that start today, and sadly, new families every day who are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products, said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the nonprofit Tech Oversight Project.
At the core of the case is a 19-year-old identified only by the initials KGM, whose case could determine how thousands of other, similar lawsuits against social media companies will play out. She and two other plaintiffs have been selected for bellwether trials essentially test cases for both sides to see how their arguments play out before a jury and what damages, if any, may be awarded, said Clay Calvert, a nonresident senior fellow of technology policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
Its the first time the companies will argue their case before a jury, and the outcome could have profound effects on their businesses and how they will handle children using their platforms.
KGM claims that her use of social media from an early age addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Importantly, the lawsuit claims that this was done through deliberate design choices made by companies that sought to make their platforms more addictive to children to boost profits. This argument, if successful, could sidestep the companies’ First Amendment shield and Section 230, which protects tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.
Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, Defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue, the lawsuit says.
Executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are expected to testify at the trial, which will last six to eight weeks. Experts have drawn similarities to the Big Tobacco trials that led to a 1998 settlement requiring cigarette companies to pay billions in health care costs and restrict marketing targeting minors.
Plaintiffs are not merely the collateral damage of Defendants products, the lawsuit says. They are the direct victims of the intentional product design choices made by each Defendant. They are the intended targets of the harmful features that pushed them into self-destructive feedback loops.
The tech companies dispute the claims that their products deliberately harm children, citing a bevy of safeguards they have added over the years and arguing that they are not liable for content posted on their sites by third parties.
Recently, a number of lawsuits have attempted to place the blame for teen mental health struggles squarely on social media companies, Meta said in a recent blog post. But this oversimplifies a serious issue. Clinicians and researchers find that mental health is a deeply complex and multifaceted issue, and trends regarding teens’ well-being aren’t clear-cut or universal. Narrowing the challenges faced by teens to a single factor ignores the scientific research and the many stressors impacting young people today, like academic pressure, school safety, socio-economic challenges and substance abuse.
A Meta spokesperson said in a recent statement that the company strongly disagrees with the allegations outlined in the lawsuit and that it’s confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.
José Castaeda, a Google Spokesperson, said that the allegations against YouTube are simply not true. In a statement, he said, Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work.
The case will be the first in a slew of cases beginning this year that seek to hold social media companies responsible for harming children’s mental well-being. A federal bellwether trial beginning in June in Oakland, California, will be the first to represent school districts that have sued social media platforms over harms to children.
In addition, more than 40 state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming it is harming young people and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. The majority of cases filed their lawsuits in federal court, but some sued in their respective states.
TikTok also faces similar lawsuits in more than a dozen states.
In New Mexico, meanwhile, opening arguments begin Monday for trial on allegations that Meta and its social media platforms have failed to protect young users from sexual exploitation, following an undercover online investigation. Attorney General Raúl Torrez in late 2023 sued Meta and Zuckerberg, who was later dropped from the suit.
Prosecutors have said that New Mexico is not seeking to hold Meta accountable for its content but rather its role in pushing out that content through complex algorithms that proliferate material that can be harmful, saying they uncovered internal documents in which Meta employees estimate that about 100,000 children every day are subjected to sexual harassment on the companys platforms.
Meta denies the civil charges while accusing Torrez of cherry-picking select documents and making sensationalist arguments. The company says it has consulted with parents and law enforcement to introduce built-in protections to social media accounts, along with settings and tools for parents.
Kaitlyn Huamani and Barbara Ortutay, AP technology writers
Associated Press Writer Morgan Lee contributed to this story.
After weeks of rumors, the company that operates Eddie Bauer stores in the United States and Canada has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of the proceedings, Eddie Bauer LLC, which is owned by Catalyst Brands, is planning to wind down operations and close all of its remaining stores.
Catalyst also oversees operations for brands including Lucky Brand, Aéropostale, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, and JCPenney.
The company is currently on the lookout for a buyer that could potentially acquire some portion of the Eddie Bauers stores. In the meantime, though, a total of 175 Eddie Bauer locations will close their doors in the coming weeks. Here’s what you need to know:
Whats happened?
According to a court filing, Eddie Bauer has faced significant financial strain at its retail locations for years. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was saddled with supply-chain issues, followed by persistent inflation and reduced discretionary spending on outdoor apparel.
Catalyst acquired Eddie Bauers retail operations back in January 2025. In a press release, Catalysts CEO, Mark Rosen, said that the brands challenges have only worsened since then.
Even prior to the inception of Catalyst Brands last year, [Eddie Bauer] was in a challenged situation, with declining sales, supply chain challenges and other issues, Rosen said. Over the past year, these challenges have been exacerbated by various headwinds, including increased costs of doing business due to inflation, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and other factors.
Eddie Bauer joins a long list of retail chains that have recently shuttered some or all of their brick-and-mortar operations due to the ongoing retail apocalypse, including Party City, Big Lots, Joann, Claires, Saks Off 5th, and Francescas.
As Fast Company previously reported, these bankruptcy proceedings will not impact Eddie Bauers locations overseas or its e-commerce and wholesale operations, which are led by separate companies.
Whats next for Eddie Bauer?
In the next few weeks, as Eddie Bauer LLC’s Chapter 11 proceedings move forward, the company plans to try to find a bidder to take over some or all of its stores and remaining assets.
As of February 9, Catalyst said it had received two indications of interest from different companies. The brand plans to accept final bids on March 3 and proceed with any potential sale hearing on March 12.
While those negotiations are underway, Eddie Bauer has already begun to wind down its physical presence. Per the bankruptcy filing, 49 of the companys leases were allowed to expire at the end of January and all of those stores are now closed.
The remaining 175 stores have all begun the process of liquidating their inventory, furniture, and fixtures in preparation for a final closure, which is expected to take about 13 weeks.
Which Eddie Bauer stores are closing?
The impacted retail locations include about 25 Canadian locations and the remaining 150 in the U.S. The full list is as follows:
Alaska
Anchorage, 320 West 5th Ave, Suite #C44A, Anchorage, AK, 99501
Alabama
The Outlet Shops at Grand River, 6200 Grand River Blvd E, Suite 118-G, Leeds, AL, 35094
Tanger Outlet at Foley, 2601 S McKenzie St Ste 260, Foley, AL, 36535
California
San Clemente Outlet, 101 W Avenida Vista Hermosa Suite 158, San Clemente, CA, 92672
Shasta Outlet, 1699 Hwy 273, Anderson, CA, 96007
Factory Stores at Vacaville, 131-F Nuttree Rd, Vacaville, CA, 95687
Village at Topanga, 6256 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Space #1240, Canoga Park, CA, 91303
Galleria at Roseville, 1151 Galleria Blvd., Ste. 133, Roseville, CA, 95678
Gilroy Outlet, 8325 Arroyo Circle, Bldg. D, Sp 28, Gilroy, CA, 95020
Great Mall Outlet, 447 Great Mall Drive Space 155A, Milpitas, CA, 95035
Fig Garden Village Shopping Center, 738 W. Shaw Ave., Fresno, CA, 93704
Folsom Factory Outlet, 13000 Folsom Blvd., Space 1450, Folsom, CA, 95630
Petaluma Outlets, 2200 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma, CA, 94952
Viejas Outlet Center, 5001 Willows Road, Space J101, Alpine, CA, 91901
Colorado
Colorado Mills, 14500 W. Colfax Avenue, Space 160 A, Lakewood, CO, 80401
Castle Rock Factory Outlet, 5050 Factory Shops Blvd Suite 850, Castle Rock, CO, 80108
Silverthorne Outlet, 145A Stephens Wy, Silverthorne, CO, 80498
Centerra, I-25 and Eisenhower Blvd., Loveland, CO, 80538
Connecticut
Tanger Outlet at Foxwoods, 455 Trolley Line Boulevard Suite 280, Mashantucket, CT, 06338
Westbrook Factory Stores, 314 Flat Rock Place, Suite C-105, Westbrook, CT, 06498
Delaware
Rehoboth Ocean Outlet, 36502 Seaside Outlet Drive Suite 1250, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 19971
Florida
Citrus Park Town Center, 7911 Citrus Park Town Center Mall, #520, Tampa, FL, 33625
St. Augustine Outlet Center, 2700 State Road 16, Suite 103, St. Augustine, FL, 32092
Silver Sands Factory Stores, 10562 Emerald Coast Parkway Space 10-14, Destin, FL, 32550
Lake Buena Vista Outlet, 15813 State Road 535, Orlando, FL, 32821
Georgia
Commerce II Outlet, 800 Steven B Tanger Blvd Ste 809, Commerce, GA, 30529
North Georgia Premium Outlets, 800 Hwy 400 South, Suite 835, Dawsonville, GA, 30534
Discover Mills, 5900 Sugarloaf Pkwy #280, Lawrenceville, GA, 30043
Outlet Shops at Atlanta, 915 Ridgewalk Pkwy Suite #620, Woodstock, GA, 30188
Iowa
Southern Hills Mall, 4400 Sergeant Road, Suite 08, Sioux City, IA, 51106
Outlets of Des Moines, 801 Bass Pro Dr NW Suite 110, Altoona, IA, 50009
Coral Ridge Mall, 1451 Coral Ridge Ave., Ste 232, Coralville, IA, 52241
Valley West, 1551 Valley West Dr., Ste 110, West Des Moines, IA, 50266
Lindale Mall, 4444 First Ave NE #124, Cedar Rapids, IA, 52402
Tanger Outlet at Williamsburg, 236 Tanger Drive, Williamsburg, IA, 52361
Idaho
Boise Town Square, 350 N. Milwaukee, #1321, Boise, ID, 83704
Illinois
Woodfield, Woodfield Shopping Center E-329, Schaumburg, IL, 60173
Burr Ridge, 750 Village Center Drive, Burr Ridge, IL, 60527
Village Plaza, 7232A Dempster, Morton Grove, IL, 60053
Chicago Premium Outlet, 1650 Premium Outlets Blvd. #325, Chicago, IL, 60502
Indiana
Heritage Square, 7135 Heritage Square Drive Suite #320, Granger, IN, 46530
Edinburgh Outlet, 3000 Outlet Drive, Space F120, Edinburgh, IN, 46124
Lighthouse Place Outlet, 1105 Lighthouse Place, Michigan City, IN, 46360
Clay Terrace, 14395 Clay Terrace Blvd., Carmel, IN, 46032
Kansas
NewMarket Square, 2441 N Maize Rd, Ste 805, Wichita, KS, 67205
Legend Outlet, 1813 Village West Pkwy #Q116, Kansas City, KS, 66111
Kentucky
Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass, 1155 Buck Creek Rd., Suite D-406, Simpsonville, KY, 40067
Massachusetts
Burlington, 75 Middlesex Turnpike Space 1068B, Burlington, MA, 01803
Wrentham Village Outlets, One Premium Outlets Blvd Suite 640, Wrentham, MA, 02093
Prime Outlets @ Lee, 270 Premium Outlets Blvd, Lee, MA, 01238
Maryland
Queenstown Outlet, 126 Outlet Center Dr, Queenstown, MD, 21658
Prime Outlets of Hagerstown, 500 Premium Outlets Boulevard, Hagerstown, MD, 21740
Arundel Mills, 7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Ste 476, Baltimore, MD, 21076
Maine
Maine Mall, 364 Maine Mall Road, Space E-113, S. Portland, ME, 04106
Marketplace at Augusta, 8 Stephen King Dr. Suite 1, Augusta, ME, 04330
Michigan
Twelve Oaks, 27394 Novi Road #A-203, Novi, MI, 48377
Kensington Valley Factory Shops, 1475 N Burkhart Rd, Ste G340, Howell, MI, 48855
Village of Rochester, 388 N. Adams Rd., Rochester Hills, MI, 48309
Tanger Outlet at West Branch, 2990 Cook Rd. Suite 113A, West Branch, MI, 48661
Birch Run Outlet, 12150 S. Beyer Road, Sp F-20, Birch Run, MI, 48415
Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Road, SPC 133, Clinton Township, MI, 48038
Great Lakes Crossing Outlet, 4720 Baldwin Rd., Sp 210, Auburn Hills, MI, 48326
Minnesota
Ridgedale, 12715 Wayzata Blvd Ste 2280, Minnetonka, MN, 55305
Medford Outlet Center, 6750 W Frontage Rd. Suite 321, Medford, MN, 55049
Outlets at Albertville, 6415 Labeaux NE, Space B-290, Albertville, MN, 55301
Eden Prairie, 8251 Flying Cloud Drive, Space #1136, Eden Prairie, MN, 55344
Twin City @ Eagan, 3945 Eagan Outlets Parkway Suite 1030, Eagan, MN, 55122
Miller Hill Mall, 1600 Miller Trunk Hwy, Duluth, MN, 55811
Mall of America, 214 South Avenue, Bloomington, MN, 55425
Missouri
Osage Beach Premium Outlet, 4540 Highway 54, Suite J1, Osage Beach, MO, 65065
Tanger Outlets of Branson, 300 Tanger Blvd., suite 313, Branson, MO, 65616
Columbia Mall, 2300 Benadette Dr., Sp 432, Columbia, MO, 65203
St Louis Galleria, 1115 Saint Louis Galleria Space 1113, St. Louis, MO, 63117
Saint Louis Premium Outlet, 18501 Outlet Blvd. Suite 300, Chesterfield, MO, 63005
Montana
Rimrock, 300 South 24th St.West, Billings, MT, 59102
North Carolina
Nags Head Outlets, 7100 South Croatan Hwy, Nags Head, NC, 27959
Concord Mills Outlets, 8111 Concord Mills Blvd., Space 614, Concord, NC, 28027
Carolina Outlet Center, 1205 Outlet Center Drive STE 1239, Smithfield, NC, 27577
Asheville, 3 South Tunnel Road, Sp A-14, Asheville, NC, 28805
North Dakota
West Acres, 3902 13th Ave. SW, Ste 228, Fargo, ND, 58103
New Hampshire
Settler’s Green, OVP-D2; Route 16 Box 54, North Conway, NH, 03860
Tilton Outlet, 120 Laconia Rd., Ste 225, Tilton, NH, 03276
New Jersey
American Dream, 1 American Dream Way, Suite B237, East Rutherford, NJ, 07073
Garden State Plaza, 1 Garden State Plaza Space T7, Paramus, NJ, 07652
Rockaway, 301 Mount Hope Ave #1082, Rockaway, NJ, 07866
Gloucester Premium Outlet, 100 Premium Outlets Drive Suite 330, Blackwood, NJ, 08012
Jersey Store, 1 Premium Blvd, Suite 830, Tinton Falls, NJ, 07753
New Mexico
Santa Fe Premium Outlets, 8380 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM, 87507
ABQ, 2240 Q Street Space 10H, Albuquerque, NM, 87110
Meadowood, 5108 Meadowood Mall Circle, Reno, NV, 89502
New York
Walden Galleria, 2000 WALDEN AVENUE #G-107, Cheektowaga, NY, 14225
Adirondack Outlet Mall, 1444 State Road 9, Space 23, Lake George, NY, 12845
Eastview, 781 Eastview Mall #159, Victor, NY, 14564
Northway Mall, 1440 Central Ave, Colonie, NY, 12205
Tanger Outlet Center at Riverhead, 602 Tanger Mall Drive Spc 602A, RIVERHEAD, NY, 11901
Destiny Outlet, 306 Hiawatha Blvd. W Space J217, Syracuse, NY, 13204
Waterloo Premium Outlet, 655 Route 318, Space #95, Waterloo, NY, 13165
Ohio
Jeffersonville Outlet, 8195 Factory Shops Blvd, Jeffersonville, OH, 43128
Town Center at Easton, 4047 Gramercy Street, Space A-125, Columbus, OH, 43219
Summit Mall, 3265 W. Market St., Sp 430, AKRON, OH, 44333
Aurora Premium Outlet, 549 S. Chillicothe Rd., Route 43 #630, Aurora, OH, 44202
Oregon
Clackamas, 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Suite 2076, Portland, OR, 97086
Woodburn Company Stores, 1001 Arney Road, Suite 600, Woodburn, OR, 97071
Lincoln City Outlet, 1500 SE East Devils Lake Road, Suite 312, Lincoln City, OR, 97367
Seaside Factory Outlet Center, 1111 North Roosevelt #100, Seaside, OR, 97138
Bend Outlet, 61338 S Highway 97 Ste 210, Bend, OR, 97702
Columbia Gorge Outlet, 450 NW 257th Ave, #200, Troutdale, OR, 97060
Pennsylvania
Gettysburg Village, 1863 Gettysburg Village Dr. Suite A6, Gettysburg, PA, 17325
Montgomery, 248 Montgomery Mall Space 2128, North Wales, PA, 19454
South Hills Village, 301 South Hills Village Blvd., Sp 1340, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241
Shoppes at Susquehanna, 2603 Brindle Road Space G, Harrisburg, PA, 17110
Crossings Factory Stores, 1000 Premium Outlets Dr. Sp#C09, Tannersville, PA, 18372
Tanger Outlet Center Lancaster, 1140 Stanley K. Tanger Blvd, Lancaster, PA, 17602
The Arena Hub Plaza, 417 Arena Hub Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18702
Grove City Outlet, 1911 Leeburg Road, Sp 900/PO Box 1101, Grove City, PA, 16127
Philadelphia Premium Outlet, 18 Light Cap Road #1099, Philadelphia, PA, 19464
Tanger at Pittsburgh, 2200 Tanger Blvd, Suite 805, Pittsburgh, PA, 15301
The Shoppes at Brinton Lake, 961 Baltimore Pike, Concord Township, PA, 19342
South Carolina
Hilton Head Outlet, 1414 Fording Island Rd Ste G-140, Bluffton, SC, 29910
Myrtle Beach Factory Stores, 4620 Factory Store Blvd, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29579
South Dakota
Rushmore, 2200 N. Maple, Ste 466, Rapid City, SD, 57701
The Empire, 1580 W Empire Mall Sp 116, Sioux Falls, SD, 57106
Tennessee
Hamilton Place, 2115 Gunbarrel Rd, Chattanooga, TN, 37421
The Pinnacle Outlet, 554 Pinnacle Parkway, Space #749, Bristol, TN, 37620
Texas
Southlake Town Square, 1402 Main St., Southlake, TX, 76092
Tanger Factory Outlet San Marcos, 4015 I-35 South, Ste 640, San Marcos, TX, 78666
Round Rock Outlet, 4401 I 35 N Frontage Rd #0793, Round Rock, TX, 78664
Rio Grande Outlet, 5001 East Expressway 83 Building 8, space 820, Mercedes, TX, 78570
Traverse Mountain Outlet, 3700 North Cabelas Blvd Ste 440, Lehi, UT, 84043
Zion Factory Stores, 250 N. Red Cliff Dr. Suite 12, ST. GEORGE, UT, 84790
Virginia
Valley View Mall, 4802 Valley View Blvd., Ste LB50, Roanoke, VA, 24012
Williamsburg Outlet, 5715-75 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA, 23188
Fair Oaks, 11715-U Fair Oaks Mall, Sp J225, Fairfax, VA, 22033
Leesburg Corner, 241 Fort Evans Rd. NE, Ste. 1257, Leesburg, VA, 20176
Vermont
Manchester Designer Outlet, 135 Depot St #82, Manchester Center, VT, 05255
Washington
Factory Stores at North Bend, 661 S Fork Ave. SW Suite 4-C, North Bend, WA, 98045
University Village, 2690 N.E. University Village St. – Space A, Seattle, WA, 98105
Supermall of the NW Outlet, 1101 Supermall Wy., Sp 1336, Auburn, WA, 98001
Westfield South Center Mall, 670 Southcenter Mall, Tukwila, WA, 98188
Alderwood, 3000 184th St SW Space #294, Lynnwood, WA, 98037
Spokane Valley Plaza Outlet, 15635 East Broadway, Spokane, WA, 99037
Centralia Outlet, 1404 Lum Road, Centralia, WA, 98531
Columbia Center, 1321 N Columbia Center Blvd #537, Kennewick, WA, 99336
Woodinville Outlet, 13910 NE Mill Pl, Woodinville, WA, 98072
Seattle Premium Outlet, 10600 Quilceda Blvd. #340, Tulalip, WA, 98271
Wisconsin
Johnson Creek Factory Shoppes, 595 West Linmar Lane, Ste B-40, Johnson Creek, WI, 53038
Mayfair, 2500 North Mayfair Road, Sp 432, Wauwatosa, WI, 53226
Oshkosh Mfg Outlet, 3001 S. Washburn, Ste #E-80, Oshkosh, WI, 54904
Fox River, 4301 West Wisconsin Ave #128, Appleton, WI, 54913
Wisconsin Dells, 210 Gasser Road Spc 581, Wisconsin Dells, WI, 53913
Pleasant Prairie Outlet, 11601 108th St Unit 554, PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI, 53158
Oakwood, 4800 Golf Rd, Space 822, Eau Claire, WI, 54701
Alberta
Kingsway Garden, 109th and Princess Elizabeth Ave Spc 628, Edmonton, AB, T5G 3A6
West Edmonton, 8770 170 St NW # 1992, Edmonton, AB, T5T 4M2
Market Mall, 3625 Shaganappi Trail NW #40R, Calgary, AB, T3A 0E2
Chinook Centre, 6455 McCloud Trail SW Space 1229, Calgary, AB, T2H 0K8
British Columbia
Coquitlam Centre, 2929 Barnet Highway, Coquitlam, BC, V3B 5R5
Woodgrove Centre, 102-6631 Island Hwy North #80, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 4T7
Government Street, 1254 Government St., Victoria, BC, V8W 1Y3
Park Royal, 2002 Park Royal S. Space 997, West Vancouver, BC, V7T 2W4
Mayfair, 638 Mayfair Shopping Centre, Victoria, BC, V8Z 6E3
Tsawwassen Outlet, 130-5000 Canoe Pass Way, Tsawwassen, BC, V4M 0B3
New Brunswick
Champlain Place, 477 Paul St., Sp W4, Dieppe, NB, E1A 4X5
Nova Scotia
Mic Mac Mall, 21 Mic Mac Blvd., Sp 137A, Dartmouth, NS, B3A 4N3
Ontario
Tanger Outlets Cookstown, 3311 Simcoe Road 89 Ste #H40, Cookstown, ON, L0L 1L0
Bayshore Shopping Centre, 100 Bayshore Dr., Ottawa, ON, K2B 8C1
Station Mall, 293 Bay St Space #K5, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 1X3
Lime Ridge Mall, 999 Upper Wentworth Street, Unit 411, Hamilton, ON, L9A 4X5
Don Mills, 32 Karl Fraser Rd CRU J10, TORONTO, ON, M3C 0E8
Vaughan Mills Outlet, 1 Bass Pro Dr. Ste 713, Vaughan, ON, L4K 5W4
Place d’Orleans, 110 Place d’Orleans Dr, Space 700, Ottawa, ON, K1C 2L9
Upper Canada Mall, 17600 Yonge St #DD16, Newmarket, ON, L3Y 4Z1
The Outlet Collection @ Niagara, 300 Taylor Rd Unit#317 Bldg 300, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, L0S 1J0
Tanger Outlets Ottawa, 8555 Campeau Dr Unit#380, Ottawa, ON, K2T 0K5
Quinte Mall, 390 North Front St, Belleville, ON, K8P 3E1
Saskatchewan
Midtown Plaza, 21 1st Ave. S., Saskatoon, SK, S7K 1J5
Most days, an email lands in my inbox with the promise to amplify my growthmy newsletter subscribers, the reach of my podcasts, the number of client leads, etc. I’ve gotten used to random people pitching me on their services, and some of the messages expertly prey on my insecurities as a business owner (“you’re leaving so much on the table,” et al.). I never answer any of them, but I sometimes wonder which ones might actually be legit.
A few months back, I opened up the Assistant sidebar in my AI-powered browser when I was browsing one of these emails and asked if it looked suspicious (I think “this look sus?” was the actual prompt). It replied that yes, the message, which pitched finding funding for The Media Copilot, was missing key information that an established organization would include, plus it was sent by someone with an email address from a nonexistent domain and no LinkedIn profile.
I thought about my experience as I read in Time about how a team at MIT maintains an online portal that chronicles how harmful AI incidents have risen over the past few years. The TL;DR is that the use of AI to cause harm, whether deliberately or accidentally, has increased significantly over the past few years. The incidents include everything from simple mistakes to deliberate violations, and the broad categories that have increased the most have to do with misinformation and malicious actors. That sadly makes sense: Those looking to mislead, misinform, or outright scam people have never had better tools for doing so.
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One of the roles of the news media is to provide a check on misinformation, and most high-profile incidents connected with AIlike when those Biden robocalls were making the roundsare debunked pretty quickly. But incidents that rise to that level are the exception, not the rule. Deepfakes may never fool enough people to swing an election, but the numbers suggest the number of lower-profile incidents are accumulating rapidly. At the same time, the number of journalism jobs is shrinking, and the reporters who are left have only so much bandwidth.
Skepticism isn’t strategy
As misinformation from AI scales up, it’s creating a world where everyone is increasingly skeptical of what they read, see, and hear. Last year, a paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that exposure to AI-driven misinformation led to less trust in media in general. But skepticism alone isn’t productive. Where journalists can help the most isn’t in trying to debunk every deepfake or scam (clearly a losing battle), but in educating their audience on how to properly channel that skepticism.
As with my email assistant, the tools of verificationwhich can very quickly check sources, analyze claims, and discover supporting evidenceare now conveniently available to everyone. That’s not to say everyone should immediately trust what an AI chatbot says about a particular story. But AI is a tool, and when used as a journalistic lens, it can be a powerful one.
The key is treating the AI as an assistant to skepticism, not an authority. To return to the email example, my back-and-forth with the browser found in seconds what would have taken me minutes, looking up subjects, flagging inconsistencies, and suggesting new questions to follow up on. This all aligns with the principles of good journalism, and by passing some practical guidance on that, readers will be empowered not just to spot bad info, but potentially not immediately dismiss the good info that’s out there.
How to avoid the cynical trap
So what does a good “AI verification layer” look like? It starts with understanding that skepticism is a starting point, not the goal. Using it effectively means leveraging AI to both interrogate the information and avoid reinforcing your own suspicions in an unproductive way. Here are three habits, based on journalistic principles, that can be applied to any AI tool.
Ask the same question twice: Many incidents where AI has caused harm started innocently enough, but eventually the user was led down some kind of rabbit hole, sometimes ending tragically. A helpful habit that might avoid this in some cases is to ask the same question a second time, just rephrased or with different framing. Check how the answers compare, following up on any significant inconsistencies.
Force specificity: All good interviewers apply this one in targeted fashion. When a person makes a broad claim or declaration, ask AI to make it more specific. What supports that claim? Who was involved, what were the facts of the underlying evidence, when did it happen? Any vague answers should be treated as a red flag.
Spot-check sources: If any claim is based on a link on the internet, it should not take long to verify it. When you can’t verify something in a minute or two, that should make you think twice, though keep in mind there could be reasons some true claims are difficult to verify (anonymous sources, for example).
The world is increasingly fuzzy. Between AI hallucinations, deliberate disinformation, and the prevalence of meme culture, it’s understandable that everyone’s adopted a lot more skepticism of what they see. Without principles and habits to guide you to good information, though, that skepticism will too often slide into cynicim. Journalists might not be able to verify all the things we want them to, but their principles can help a new generation of news consumers tell the good from the badat scale.
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Sometimes it’s a fall that brings a broken hip and a loss of mobility. Or memory problems that bubble into danger. Or the death of the partner who was relied upon for care.The need to move to a nursing home, assisted living facility or another type of care setting often comes suddenly, setting off an abrupt, daunting search. It’s likely something no one ever wanted, but knowing what to look for and what to ask can make a big difference.What to do when looking for a long-term care facility:
Start with government ratings
Regulation of assisted living facilities varies greatly from state to state, meaning there’s no centralized standards or source for information. If you’re looking for a nursing home, though, they are monitored by the federal government.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services maintains records on nursing homes, including data on who owns the facility, how robust its staffing is and what types of violations it might have been fined for. It assigns homes a star rating, from one to five.Sam Brooks, director of public policy for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, says while the star rating “can be notoriously unreliable,” due to its reliance on self-reported data, it can still provide some clues about a home.“One or two stars, expect it to be bad,” Brooks says.Ratings can be a resource to rule out the worst options, but not necessarily to find the best. Still, Brooks suggests taking a closer look at four- and five-star facilities and to consider a home’s ownership, too. Nonprofit homes are often better staffed.You could scour inspection reports and online reviews for clues, too, but eventually you’ll need to make a list of potential candidates and start making visits.“The data,” Brooks says, “only goes so far.”
Look past the lobby
When visiting a home on your list, be careful not to be too swayed by decorative touches that might be designed to lure you in, like a lobby’s furniture, dangling chandeliers or vases of flowers.“When I tour a building, I listen first. Is it loud? Are call bells ringing nonstop?” says Mark Sanchez, CEO of United Hebrew, a nursing home in New Rochelle, New York.After that, Sanchez says, switch your senses. Do you detect an odor? Do you see residents clustered around the nurses’ station, perhaps clamoring for help? Are staffers speaking respectfully to residents? Are they making eye contact? Are they rushed?“Culture shows up in small moments,” Sanchez says, “and it matters.”Seeking input from families of current residents can be insightful. Another resource may be your local long-term care ombudsman. Ombudsmen, funded by the federal Older Americans Act and present in every state, investigate long-term care residents’ complaints.With all the available information on each home, it can be easy to feel like you’re drowning in data. So pay attention to how a place feels, too, and pair that with concrete facts.When Jennifer Fink was making the “stressful, grief-inducing, hard and scary” decision on what memory care community was right for her mother, she didn’t consult state databases or Google ratings. She went with her gut reaction and luckily, it was right.“Trust your gut. Keep top of mind that the salesperson wants your loved one’s money,” says Fink, of Auburn, California. “If it’s giving you the ‘ick,’ then move on.”
Staffing matters most
More than any other single thing, experts on long-term care stress that a facility’s staffing is most important. That means both the quality of the care you witness workers giving residents during your visit and the average staffing levels shown in the reported data.A home providing an average of three hours of nursing care to each resident each day may not look all that different on paper from one providing three-and-a-half hours. But those minutes matter dearly, meaning the difference between a person getting a shower, having help at mealtime, or being discovered if they’ve fallen.During a visit, pay attention to how quickly call bells are answered and whether it seems like residents are engaged in activities. Ask staff how long they’ve worked there. A home that holds on to its workers for years may offer your loved one more continuity.Evan Farr, an elder law attorney in Lorton, Virginia, who wrote “The Nursing Home Survival Guide,” says visiting a facility at night or on the weekend can be particularly revealing.“These are the times when staffing is reduced and the true operation of the facility becomes apparent,” Farr says. “It is entirely possible to have a five-star rated facility that is woefully under-staffed from 5 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday morning.”
Keep a long-range view
When faced with an urgent decision, it can be difficult to focus on anything beyond the factors in front of you. But it’s important to choose a home with a long-range view.At the start, many long-term care residents are able to pay for the cost of their bill. But what happens if their money runs out? If it’s a nursing home that accepts Medicaid, how many beds are allocated to such residents? Would your loved one get that slot? If it’s an assisted living facility, do they even accept people on Medicaid?Assisted living facilities often have complicated billing structures that require a bevy of questions to understand. Ask how costs may change as a person’s needs increase. Some places tack on separate charges for tasks like helping a person to the bathroom.“Four-thousand dollars a month can become $8,000 overnight,” says Geoff Hoatson, founder of the elder law practice Family First Firm in Winter Park, Florida.Another fact of long-term care that few understand is how often facilities seek to remove residents seen as undesirable, often due to a change in their financial circumstances or in their health. Dementia patients in particular with challenging care needs and symptoms that can sometimes bring aggression are targeted with orders to leave.“Ask specifically what conditions would require transfer,” Hoatson says.
Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://x.com/sedensky
Matt Sedensky, AP National Writer
President Donald Trump wants to keep home prices high, bypassing calls to ramp up construction so people can afford what has been a ticket to the middle class.Trump has instead argued for protecting existing owners who have watched the values of their homes climb. It’s a position that flies in the face of what many economists, the real estate industry, local officials and apartment dwellers say is needed to fix a big chunk of America’s affordability problem.“I don’t want to drive housing prices down. I want to drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that’s what’s going to happen,” Trump told his Cabinet on Jan. 29.That approach could bolster the Republican president’s standing with older voters, a group that over time has been more likely to vote in midterm elections. Those races in November will determine whether Trump’s party can retain control of the House and Senate.“You have a lot of people that have become wealthy in the last year because their house value has gone up,” Trump said. “And you know, when you get the housing when you make it too easy and too cheap to buy houses those values come down.”But by catering to older baby boomers on housing, Trump risks alienating the younger voters who expanded his coalition in 2024 and helped him win a second term, and he could wade into a “generational war” in the midterms, said Brent Buchanan, whose polling firm Cygnal advises Republicans.“The under-40 group is the most important right now they are the ones who put Trump in the White House,” Buchanan said. “Their desire to show up in an election or not is going to make the difference in this election. If they feel that Donald Trump is taking care of the boomers at their expense, that is going to hurt Republicans.”
The logic in appealing to older voters
In the 2024 presidential election, 81% of Trump’s voters were homeowners, according to AP VoteCast data. This means many of his supporters already have mortgages with low rates or own their homes outright, possibly blunting the importance of housing as an issue.Older voters tend to show up to vote more than do younger people, said Oscar Pocasangre, a senior data analyst at liberal think tank New America who has studied the age divide in U.S. politics. “However, appealing to older voters may prove to be a misguided policy if what’s needed to win is to expand the voting base,” Pocasangre said.Before the 2026 elections, voters have consistently rated affordability as a top concern, and that is especially true for younger voters with regard to housing.Booker Lightman, 30, a software engineer in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, who identifies politically as a libertarian Republican, said the shortage of housing has been a leading problem in his state.Lightman just closed on a home last month, and while he and his wife, Alice, were able to manage the cost, he said that the lack of construction is pushing people out of Colorado. “There’s just not enough housing supply,” he said.Shay Hata, a real estate agent in the Chicago and Denver areas, said she handles about 100 to 150 transactions a year. But she sees the potential for a lot more. “We have a lack of inventory to the point where most properties, particularly in the suburbs, are getting between five and 20 offers,” she said, describing what she sees in the Chicago area.New construction could help more people afford homes because in some cases, buyers qualify for discounted mortgage rates from the builders’ preferred lenders, Hata said. She called the current situation “very discouraging for buyers because they’re getting priced out of the market.”But pending construction has fallen under Trump. Permits to build single-family homes have plunged 9.4% over the past 12 months in October, the most recent month available, to an annual rate of 876,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Trump’s other ideas to help people buy houses
Trump has not always been against increasing housing supply.During the 2024 campaign, Trump’s team said he would create tax breaks for homebuyers, trim regulations on construction, open up federal land for housing developments and make monthly payments more manageable by cutting mortgage rates. Advisers also claimed that housing stock would open up because of Trump’s push for mass deportations of people who were in the United States illegally.As recently as October, Trump urged builders to ramp up construction. “They’re sitting on 2 Million empty lots, A RECORD. I’m asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get Big Homebuilders going and, by so doing, help restore the American Dream!” Trump posted on social media, referring to the government-backed lenders.But more recently, he has been unequivocal on not wanting to pursue policies that would boost supply and lower prices.In office, Trump has so far focused his housing policy on lobbying the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rates. He believes that would make mortgages more affordable, although critics say it could spur higher inflation. Trump announced that the two mortgage companies, which are under government conservatorship, would buy at least $200 billion in home loan securities in a bid to reduce rates.Trump also wants Congress to ban large financial institutions from buying homes. But he has rejected suggestions for expanding rules to let buyers use 401(k) retirement accounts for down payments, telling reporters that he did not want people to take their money out of the stock market because it was doing so well.There are signs that lawmakers in both parties see the benefits of taking steps to add houses before this year’s elections. There are efforts in the Senate and House to jump-start construction through the use of incentives to change zoning restrictions, among other policies.One of the underlying challenges on affordability is that home prices have been generally rising faster than incomes for several years.This makes it harder to save for down payments or upgrade to a nicer home. It also means that the places where people live increasingly double as their key financial asset, one that leaves many families looking moneyed on paper even if they are struggling with monthly bills.There is another risk for Trump. If the economy grows this year, as he has promised, that could push up demand for houses as well as their prices making the affordability problem more pronounced, said Edward Pinto, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank.Pinto said construction of single-family homes would have to rise by 50% to 100% during the next three years for average home price gains to be flat a sign, he said, that Trump’s fears about falling home prices were probably unwarranted.“It’s very hard to crater home prices,” Pinto said.
Josh Boak, Associated Press
If you were up late celebrating the Seattle Seahawks’ win at the Super Bowl last night, you may need help from caffeine to get you through your busy Monday routine.
You’re in luck. Today (Monday, February 9), Starbucks Rewards members can get a free tall (12-ounce) coffee with the purchase of another beverage. Find out what you need to do to score your free cup of Joe from Starbucks.
Starbucks has added its brand-new 1971 Roast to the menu
Starbuckss hometown team, the Seattle Seahawks, won the big game last night, but thats not the only win that the coffee chain is celebrating. On Monday, February 9, Starbucks is officially introducing its brand-new coffee blend, 1971 Roast, to the world.
The name is tied to its history. The coffee company first opened its doors at Seattles Pike Place Market in 1971. The dark-roast blend features coffees from Colombia, Sumatra, and Brazil. It includes notes of toasted sugar and rich walnut.
Starbucks is also welcoming the following globally inspired pastries to its menu today:
Dubai Chocolate Bite
Cookie Croissant Swirl
Berry Blondie
Strawberry Matcha Loaf
Chocolate Pistachio Loaf
Yuzu Citrus Blossom
In celebration of the new 1971 Roast, Today, Starbucks Rewards members can get a free 12-ounce iced or brewed coffee with the purchase of another drink. If youre headed into the office this morning, this deal is a perfect excuse to grab a coffee for you and a coworker.
Heres how to get a free cup of coffee at Starbucks
If youre a Starbucks Rewards member, youll find a free coffee coupon in the Starbucks app. You can claim your free 12-ounce coffee with the purchase of another drink at the register, drive-thru, or by ordering ahead through the app.
Heres how to redeem your freebie:
At the drive-thru or register, order a beverage, and ask them to add a free tall coffee. When scanning your Starbucks Rewards account at checkout, the coupon will be applied.
When ordering ahead in the app, add both beverages to your cart and apply the coupon to redeem your free 12-ounce coffee.
Visit StarbucksMonday.com for the full details about this promotion.
A leading U.S. health official on Sunday urged people to get inoculated against the measles at a time of outbreaks across several states and as the United States is at risk of losing its measles elimination status.“Take the vaccine, please,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator whose boss has raised suspicion about the safety and importance of vaccines. “We have a solution for our problem.”Oz, a heart surgeon, defended some recently revised federal vaccine recommendations as well as past comments from President Donald Trump and the nation’s health chief, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., about the efficacy of vaccines. From Oz, there was a clear message on the measles.“Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But measles is one you should get your vaccine.”An outbreak in South Carolina in the hundreds has surpassed the recorded case count in Texas’ 2025 outbreak, and there is also one on the Utah-Arizona border. Multiple other states have had confirmed cases this year. The outbreaks have mostly impacted children and have come as infectious disease experts warn that rising public distrust of vaccines generally may be contributing to the spread of a disease once declared eradicated by public health officials.Asked in the television interview whether people should fear the measles, Oz replied, “Oh, for sure.” He said Medicare and Medicaid will continue to cover the measles vaccine as part of the insurance programs.“There will never be a barrier to Americans get access to the measles vaccine. And it is part of the core schedule,” Oz said.But Oz also said “we have advocated for measles vaccines all along” and that Kennedy “has been on the very front of this.”Questions about vaccines did not come up later in a Kennedy interview on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing,” where he was asked about what kind of Super Bowl snack he might have (probably yogurt). He also he eats steak with sauerkraut in the mornings.Critics of Kennedy have argued that the health secretary’s longtime skepticism of U.S. vaccine recommendations and past sympathy for the unfounded claim that vaccines may cause autism may influence official public health guidance in ways contrary to the medical consensus.Oz argued that Kennedy’s stance was supportive of the measles vaccine despite Kennedy’s general comments about the recommended vaccine schedule.“When the first outbreak happened in Texas, he said, get your vaccines for measles, because that’s an example of an ailment that you should get vaccinated against,” Oz said.
The Republican administration last month dropped some vaccine recommendations for children, an overhaul of the traditional vaccine schedule that the Department of Health and Human Services said was in response to a request from Trump.Trump asked the agency to review how peer nations approach vaccine recommendations and consider revising U.S. guidance accordingly.States, not the federal government, have the authority to require vaccinations for schoolchildren. While federal requirements often influence those state regulations, some states have begun creating their own alliances to counter the administration’s guidance on vaccines.U.S. vaccination rates have dropped and the share of children with exemptions has reached an all-time high, according to federal data. At the same time, rates of diseases that can be protected against with vaccines, such as measles and whooping cough, are rising across the country.
Kennedy’s past anti-vaccine activism
Kennedy’s past skepticism of vaccines has come under scrutiny since Trump first nominated him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.During his Senate confirmation testimony last year, Kennedy told lawmakers that a closely scrutinized 2019 trip he took to Samoa, which came before a devastating measles outbreak, had “nothing to do with vaccines.”But documents obtained by The Guardian and The Associated Press undermine that testimony. Emails sent by staffers at the U.S. Embassy and the United Nations said that Kennedy sought to meet with top Samoan officials during his trip to the Pacific island nation.Samoan officials later said Kennedy’s trip bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists before the measles outbreak, which sickened thousands of people and killed 83, mostly children under age 5.
Mixed messaging on autism, vaccines
Oz’s comments mark a broader pattern among administration officials of voicing discordant and at times contradictory statements about the efficacy of vaccines amid an overhaul of U.S. public health policy.Officials have walked a fine line in criticizing past U.S. vaccine policy, often at times appearing to express sympathy for unfounded conspiracy theories from anti-vaccine activists, while also not straying too far from established science.During a Senate hearing Tuesday, Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said no single vaccine causes autism, but he did not rule out the possibility that research may find some combination of vaccines could have negative health side effects.But Kennedy, in Senate testimony, has argued that a link between vaccines and autism has not been disproved.He has previously claimed that some components of vaccines, like the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, may cause childhood neurological disorders such as autism. Most vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella do not contain thimerosal. A federal vaccine advisory board overhauled by Kennedy last year voted to no longer recommend thimerosal-containing vaccines.Administration public health officials often cite the need to restore trust in public health systems after the coronavirus pandemic, when vaccine policy and the general public health response to the deadly pandemic became a highly polarizing topic in American politics.Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the public health system also spread during the pandemic, and longtime anti-vaccine activist groups saw a swell in interest from the wider public.Kennedy, who for years led the anti-vaccine activist group Children’s Health Defense, has been criticized for ordering reviews of vaccines and public health guidelines that leading medical research groups have deemed settled science.Public health experts also criticized the president for making unfounded claims about highly politicized health issues. During a September Oval Office event, Trump asserted without evidence that Tylenol and vaccines are linked to a rise in the incidence of autism in the United States.
Matt Brown, Associated Press
Some people love watching the Super Bowl for the game. Others love it for the commercials.
If youre in the latter group, youll probably have noticed that the ad spots in between commercial breaks during Super Bowl LX last night were dominated by one big theme: artificial intelligence.
As noted by AdWeek, the television advertising analytics firm iSpot found that nearly a quarter of all commercials during the 2026 Super Bowl featured AI in some way.
To be more precise, 15 out of the 66 commercialsor 23% of themeither used AI in their creation (like the entirely AI-generated ad from the vodka maker SVEDKA) or were spots by big tech companies directly advertising their AI services.
It’s the spots by those big tech companies that show how the race to capture the attention of non-techie consumers has heated up.
Most of the big tech companies that advertised their AI during the Super Bowl last night have spent hundreds of billions combined building out their AI systems. Now they want to make sure their user numbers grow big enough to justify their capital expenditures.
Here’s a list of tech companies that ran AI-related spots last night:
Amazon
The fun spot stars a paranoid Chris Hemsworth who distrusts the companys new Alexa+ AI assistant.
Genspark
The AI workplace assistant startups ad starred Mathew Broderick and is notable because its script was actually generated by the Genspark AI platform, notes iSpot.
Google
The search giants ad takes the heartwarming route, with a mother using Gemini to generate images of a familys new house in order to make her child feel better about the move.
Meta/Oakley
The ad, directed by Spike Lee, showcases the comapnies AI smart glasses.
Microsoft
The Redmond companys ad is all about a coach using Microsoft Copilot in Excel to find the best linebackers. It should be noted that while this ad ran during the Super Bowl, it aired online several weeks earlier.
OpenAI
The ChatGPT makers ad focuses on its new Codex software development tools.
Telehealth company Hims & Hers dropped its plan to offer a knockoff version of the weight-loss pill Wegovy on Saturday two days after it announced the new drug and one day after the Food and Drug Administration threatened to restrict access to the ingredients needed to copy popular weight-loss medications.Hims had said Thursday that it would offer a compounded version of the new Wegovy pill that drugmaker Novo Nordisk just began selling last month. Novo immediately threatened to sue Hims, and then the FDA said Friday that it plans to take decisive steps to limit access to the active ingredients in popular GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound.Hims’ own website still touted the new semaglutide pill offering Saturday afternoon hours after it announced on X that it will no longer sell the medicine. Semaglutide is the chemical name for Wegovy.“Since launching the compounded semaglutide pill on our platform, we’ve had constructive conversations with stakeholders across the industry. As a result, we have decided to stop offering access to this treatment,” Hims said in its statement. “We remain committed to the millions of Americans who depend on us for access to safe, affordable, and personalized care.”Hims didn’t say Saturday whether it will make any changes to the compounded versions of injectable weight-loss medications it has been selling as a result of the FDA action.The San Francisco-based company had planned to significantly undercut Novo’s price of $149 per month for the Wegovy pill by selling its version at $49 for the first month and $99 per month thereafter. Hims and other similar companies got started several years ago by offering cheap generic versions of drugs for hair loss, erectile dysfunction and other health issues before branching out into the multibillion market for obesity medications.Novo plans to tout its new FDA-approved Wegovy pill in a celebrity-filled Super Bowl ad on Sunday. The Danish pharmaceutical giant didn’t immediately comment Saturday on Hims’ decision to drop the knockoff. Rival drugmaker Eli Lilly has said that it expects the FDA to approve an oral version of its orforglipron weight loss medication later this spring. But Wegovy is the first pill to hit the market.The compounded medicine that Hims had planned to sell wasn’t approved and had not gone through trials to demonstrate that it would be effective.The FDA permits specialty pharmacies and other companies to make compounded versions of brand name drugs when they are in short supply. And the booming demand for GLP-1 drugs in recent years prompted companies like Hims to jump into the multibillion-dollar market for the drugs, with many patients willing to pay cash.In 2024, the FDA said that GLP-1 drugs were no longer in a shortage, which was expected to put an end to the compounding. But companies like Hims relied on an exception to keep selling their versions of the medications because the practice is still permitted when a prescription is customized for the patient.
Josh Funk, AP Business Writer
