* This post about Pizza Hut U.K.’s new DJ-mixable pizza box is for our German-speaking readers via Musik Express. (Google’s translation here.)
Month: August 2016
That’s according to a new Huffington Post story, which today cited a letter Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini sent to the Obama Administration on July 5 — 16 days before the Justice Department sued to block the merger on antitrust grounds.
The Post obtained the letter through a Freedom of Information Act request. Aetna’s letter was in response to a Justice Department question about how any decision on the proposed merger would affect Aetna’s willingness to offer insurance through health-care exchanges under Obamacare.
The letter appears to contract a Bertolini statement late Monday, where he blamed anticipated losses on the Hartford insurer’s decision to exit nearly 70% of the exchange markets it’s been serving; that pullout will come next year.
When reporters asked Aetna whether it was also reacting to DOJ’s attempt to stop its merger with Humana, “company officials brushed off the questions,” the Post says, citing accounts in the Hartford Courant, Politico and USA Today.
A spokesperson for Aetna said the decision to roll back the coverage was not because of the DOJ’s lawsuit, but rather realizing the full details of the losses, according to a separate story by Business Insider based on the Post account.
Paired with some looming rate increases for next year’s health plans, the Post story today says, “the abrupt departure of Aetna has triggered new worries that Obamacare ― a subsidized public-private system of health insurance plans competing for beneficiaries ― is in serious trouble and may even be unsustainable.”
Letter: Aetna supports ACA, but…
A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 2:37 p.m.
PIZZA HUT: Using Bluetooth to connect a computer or smartphone, the playable cardboard decks mix digital music using a special conductive ink design from printed electronics specialist Novalia, according to Digital Spy. (Watch DJ Vectra demo it in the video, above.) Starting today, the pizza maker is offering them in a promotion rolling out via the @PizzaHutUK Twitter feed, where it will announce which of only five restaurants will have one box each. The decks feature two turntables, a cross-fader, pitch volumes, cue buttons and the ability to rewind music, all like traditional mixers. What’s a deck?
Watch DJ Vectra demo it in the video, above; he’s playing “P Money 10/10,” according to music and media identification app Shazam.
This isn’t the first Yum unit to create electronic packaging to grab the attention of technology-loving young consumers. In June, KFC India gave away Watt a Box, a 5-in-1 meal box with a lithium-ion battery cellphone charger. The chicken chain has also fitted photo printers inside buckets and Bluetooth keyboards onto paper tray covers.
Today’s promo will surely boost U.K.’s Twitter traffic. Right now, its feed has 53,700 followers. The U.S. site has far, far more: 1.46 million; how other companies’ Twitter count compares. Pizza Hut teased customers about the cardboard gadget via Twitter yesterday:
HAIER, which bought GE Appliances in June, is pumping about $10 million into 9KaCha, a Chinese wine information app and e-commerce platform whose database and label recognition software will power its new smart wine cooler. It’s unclear whether the cooler will be offered in the U.S. (China Money Network and Decanter China).
HUMANA: Insurance companies “keep pretending” that participating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges is killing their business model, says Haider Javed Warraich, a cardiovascular disease fellow at Duke University’s Medical Center, in a Guardian newspaper column today. Humana merger partner Aetna was the latest, announcing late Monday it will withdraw from 70% of the Obamacare exchange markets where it operates by next year, including 10 Kentucky counties. Humana disclosed a similar pullback earlier this month. But, Warraich writes, “this corporate hardship story couldn’t be further from the truth. Aetna’s overall profits surged last year, and its share prices have risen consistently since the ACA passed in 2010” (Guardian).
Aetna’s Kentucky exit leaves consumers in Boone, Campbell, Owen and Kenton counties with only two exchange plans. Other counties affected are Continue reading “Music to our ears: Pizza Hut U.K. offering five boxes doubling as playable DJ decks; today-only giveaway is latest to capture more young techie consumers”
Humana has 3,000 of its more tech-savvy employees serving as unofficial brand ambassadors on Twitter, Facebook, and other heavily trafficked social networks. That’s out of 50,000 employees overall. Here’s how the Louisville insurer stacks up against other big area employers taking advance of free publicity on the short-messaging service Twitter. Founded in March 2006, Twitter has 313 million members.
2,390,000 followers
Amazon (joined February 2009)
1,760,000
Taco Bell (July 2007)
1,460,000
Pizza Hut (December 2007)
1,070,000
KFC (July 2008)
915,000
Ford Motor (July 2008)
430,000
Papa John’s (December 2008)
177,000
Jack Daniel’s (September 2010)
157,000
UPS (June 2010)
75,300
Texas Roadhouse (November 2008)
28,600
Humana (March 2009)
20,900
GE Appliances (September 2009)
15,700
Yum Brands (September 2007)
5,493
Haier America (March 2009)
4,597
Kindred (May 2009)
0
Brown-Forman (no account)
Tortoise or hare? Both!
The list shows that simply getting on Twitter early doesn’t guarantee a big following; you’ve got to work it. Tech behemoth Amazon didn’t join until nearly three years after Twitter launched, but it’s No. 1.
On the other hand, Yum Brands has just 15,700 followers even though it was the second-earliest to join. But Yum’s a corporate brand; it makes sense that its consumer brands — KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — do all the heavy lifting.
To put all these figures in perspective, consider the person with the most Twitter followers in the world: singer Katy Perry, with 91.9 million. Perry, 31, joined in February 2009. Top Twitter followers.
Boulevard’s on Twitter, too.
And we’re just getting started; please follow us.
* U.S. accounts only.
Taco Bell was due to start a consumer trial of the $1 burrito in Cincinnati right about now, and it looks like it’s begun. As one super-fan wrote today on the Live Más Taco Bell community on social media site Reddit: “Living in Cinci sure has its perks.” The fan, wastedyouth89, reviewed the just-testing burrito, plus two other new items; here’s what they wrote:
Cheetos Burrito. God, I hope this gets a full release. Much like those with Fritos before, these add a great crunch and a great cheesy flavor. Yes, it has a lot of artificial milk products (Cheetos, nacho cheese, and sour cream) but if you like cheesy, this is hard to beat. One thing to note: Eat this first; the Cheetos do get kinda chewy if you let it sit awhile. 9/10.
Crunchy Cheesy Core Burrito. Very good. Reminded me a lot of the grilled stuffed nacho. Lots of gooey goodness. Taste was great, though I’d be concerned if made wrong, because it could spill out everywhere with all the gooeyness. 8/10.
Spicy Cheesy Core Burrito. OK, I guess. Everything about it was good except for the jalapeños. Not fresh and just kinda mushy. I’m not much for jalapeños on stuff, anyway, but these just don’t cut it for me. 6/10.
And there was this, from user streezus: “Make it with the Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos, and I will drive the 100 miles or whatever to the nearest Taco Bell to get it, no question.”
Related: more posts on Reddit’s Live Más.
Boulevard reviews the latest media coverage of the Oscar-winning Louisville native in our exclusive Jennifer Lawrence Diary™. Today’s news, rated on a scale of 1-5 stars:
Neighbors in the building had sued the condo’s owner, saying short-term rentals weren’t allowed, according to MTL Blog. The owner changed the lease to a one-year term, but the other residents continued pressing their case, saying they worried Jennifer Lawrence‘s small personal staff — a bodyguard, an assistant, and a driver — would disturb the peace in the luxury building.
But the judge rejected their arguments.
Lawrence, 26, has been there since June while director Darren Aronofsky makes a move with the working title “Day 6.” Co-stars are Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Ed Harris. It’s a thriller about a couple whose lives are interruptd by a pair of uninvited guests.
Boulevard 