Starbucks is partnering with Ariana Grande on its latest coffee offering. The coffee chain and singer both posted twin cloud emoji tweets on Monday. Grande tagged @Starbucks, leading fans online to piece together that she was teasing the new "Cloud Macchiato," which Starbucks ($SBUX) officially launched this week. She followed those up with a pair of new tweets Tuesday morning showing the singer decked out in a Starbucks apron sipping on one of the new bevvies.
Internal documents showed that Grande was helping the company launch the new beverage, according to Business Insider.
Grande might already be considered an unofficial brand ambassador given how many times she's been snapped holding a Starbucks drink. Starbucks has not confirmed that it has a partnership with the "Thank U, Next" singer, though BI reported that as part of the promotion some stores will also feature Grande-approved playlists and songs.
The Cloud Macchiato is a twist on an Italian coffee staple. The "macchiato," literally translated to "stained" is a shot of espresso with a bit (stain) of frothed milk. Starbucks gained success bastardizing that and other Italian cafe classics with iced versions, caramel drizzles, and mocha. The Cloud version will come in cinnamon or caramel versions with a dollop of whipped cold milk foam, according to the press release.
Eric Mitchell, sports analyst and co-founder & head of media relations at Lifeflip Media joins Cheddar News to discuss how covid-19 is impacting pro sports.
David Slotnick, Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy joins Cheddar News to discuss how airlines are handling holiday travel amid the recent coronavirus surge.
A new study from a Russian university finds that LEGO sets can be a lucrative investment, rising in value by 11 percent every year, a faster and better rate of return than gold, stocks, bonds, and wine. Victoria Dobrynskaya, associate professor of finance at Higher School of Economics University and author of the research, joined Cheddar to discuss the findings. "In general, most sets tend to appreciate after they're retired, after you cannot find them in LEGO stores," she said. "They tend to appreciate on the secondary market after a couple of years."
Stocks closed lower to end the day Thursday, the second to last trading day of 2021. The Dow snapped a six-day winning streak, and the S&P 500 was weighed down by chip and energy stocks. This all comes as weekly jobless claims fell to a 52-year low to 198,000. Kevin Riley, Managing Partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, his 2022 market predictions, the state of business in China, and more.
Daniel Newman, Founding Partner and Principal Analyst at Futurum Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the markets are going to feel very uncomfortable receiving news of more potential setbacks for chip manufacturers after already enduring a lengthy chip shortage.
