*By Tracey Cheek*
In anticipation of Valentine's Day, Lush Cosmetics is getting sardonic. And to inject some humor into the holiday, the company is releasing a new line of bath bombs inspired by two of the internet's most suggestive emojis ー the eggplant and the peach.
“We decided to take a cheekier approach this year, \[and\] moved away from the more serious side of Valentine’s Day ー and instead, embrace sort of today's modern love language, so to speak,” said Brandi Halls, the company's director of brand communication. “We’re seeing some inspiration from our product line from dating in 2019, and often we’re seeing emojis are speaking volumes in dating in today's world.”
According to Match.com’s annual Singles in America study, daters who use emojis frequently are more likely to have a successful romantic life.
Halls said that immediately after Lush teased the products through its social channels, the company saw "a tremendous response, positive response from our fans."
“They’re laughing alongside with us. It’s kind of unavoidable this day and age to not address the way that people are communicating with one another," she said. "And because we invent all of our products in-house, we thought, why not have fun with it?”
Increasingly, beauty companies are making the push to produce cruelty-free and vegan items. According to Halls, Lush is following industry trends and developing more eco-friendly products.
“You’re going to see that we continue to push the envelope by way of product invention, so we’re continuing to innovate around naked, un-packaged products, trying to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in a landfill,” Hall said.
She added that in Berlin and Milan, the company launched naked shops, which only sell unpackaged products to reduce waste.
Hall said that Lush is looking to bring more naked shops to North America sometime this year.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/lush-cosmetics-bringing-big-bath-bomb-energy).
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
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President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
