oFederal Jury Rules Heinz Didn’t Rip Off Man’s Idea For Single-Serve Ketchup Packetsw

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  A Michigan food industry entrepreneur lost his fight against H.J. Heinz Co. this week, when a federal jury ruled yesterday that the company didn’t rip off his idea with its Dip & Squeeze single-serve ketchup packets.

  
  

  The U.S. District Court jury in Pennsylvania ruled that while Heinz didn’t take advantage of the man’s idea for a ketchup packet that you could dip fries into at an opening at the top when it came out with its packets in 2010, it gave the man credit for presenting a new and novel idea for a single-serve ketchup packet, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

  
  

  Heinz welcomed the verdict, as it maintained that it came up with the Dip & Squeeze concept all on its own.

  
  

  “Heinz firmly believed all along that [the plaintiff’s] claims were groundless, and we are pleased to have prevailed in this case,” said Michael Mullen, senior vice president of corporate & government affairs. “Heinz’s history of product and packaging innovations dates back to our founder, H.J. Heinz, and continues today as a cornerstone of the company.”

  
  

  The man’s attorney and his client haven’t decided whether or not to appeal the decision, which marks the end of a five-year battle against Heinz. In 2010, the company debuted its multi-use ketchup packets, but in 2008, both sides agree, the man met with Heinz to discuss ways to improve on the traditional foil packets used in fast-food.

  
  

  At that meeting, he presented his Little Dipper concept that allows diners to dip fries in an opening at the top of the packet. While the entrepreneur claims that afterward Heinz brushed him off and didn’t include his product in a 2008 focus group showing consumers different prototypes to land on the best one, Heinz says he didn’t come through with promised samples of the concept he’d originally pitched.

  
  

  Heinz also argued that its European division had already been using a multi-use packet as far back as 2002, and had pitched ways to improve single-serve packets to Burger King in 2006. That project stalled due to costs, Heinz testimony claimed.

  
  

  “He had an interesting idea,” Heinz’s attorney said of the entrepreneur, “He should go back and work on more interesting ideas and spend more time doing that than litigating against companies like Heinz.”

  
  

  Michigan man loses battle against Heinz over Dip & Squeeze packets [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oU.S. Travelers To Cuba Can Now Rent Through Airbnbw

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  (EFFIE YANG)

  
  
  
  

  While many American companies continue to make preparations for the loosened travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba, online-home rental marketplace Airbnb says it already has properties available on the island for booking.

  
  

  Reuters reports that the company added more than 1,000 rental listings in the country shortly after President Obama announced earlier this year that he would begin normalizing relations with Cuba.

  
  

  Airbnb says that following the announcement in December that Americans could travel to the country for certain reasons such as family visits and education, there was a 70% spike in searches for rentals in Cuba.

  
  

  For now the company’s Cuba services are only open to U.S. travelers, and those people must be able to prove they have a license from the U.S. government to travel to the island.

  
  

  Reuters reports that National Foreign Trade Council, a lobbying group focused on international trade, believes the expanded Airbnb offerings in Cuba could go a long way in meeting demand for travelers’ accommodations.

  
  

  Airbnb joins a list of other American companies looking to capitalize off of restored diplomatic ties between the two countries. In early March, reports surfaced that Amazon was testing a “ship to Cuba” button on its website.

  
  

  Airbnb opens rental listings for U.S. travelers to Cuba [Reuters]

  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

oShould Lawyers Be Held Accountable When Clients Sue Just To Punish Whistleblowers?w

oAllegiant Air Pilots Plan Strike For Thursday; Could Ground 250 Flightsw

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  (Paul Thompson)

  
  
  
  

  Earlier today, we reported that the pilots of Nevada-based budget carrier Allegiant Air took their beef with the carrier to the public by posting an open letter to passengers voicing their concern about carrier’s stance on safety standards and treatment of employees. Now, the pilots say they’re prepared to go on strike Thursday, a move that has the potential to ground 250 flights.

  
  

  Bloomberg reports that more than 500 pilots plan to walk off the job tomorrow because the airline has failed to comply with a court order to reverse a controversial scheduling system and restore other employee benefits.

  
  

  Daniel Wells, president of the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 says the strike will commence at 3 a.m. eastern time and could affect more than 33,000 daily customers to the airline.

  
  

  The strike threat caps off two years worth of conflicts between the airline and Teamsters over issues regarding benefits and rules involving pilot seniority and schedules.

  
  

  Pilots claim that a new scheduling system put in place by the airline forces employees to be away from home for extended periods, resulting in exhaustion. Previously, the union tells Bloomberg, a court found the system change was a violation of the law governing negotiations and ordered the airline to restore the prior system.

  
  

  In a letter published earlier today on the website for the union representing Allegiant pilots, the Teamsters accused the airline of being more worried about its bottom-line than the well-being of employees and customers.

  
  

  “The company’s profits are propped up by the extra workload placed on its understaffed, underpaid and overworked workforce and its minimalist approach to maintenance and safety,” reads the letter. “Allegiant represents the worst in an economy today where greedy CEOs disregard needed investments into a company’s workforce and infrastructure at the expense of passenger safety and for the benefit of Wall Street.”

  
  

  The airline defended itself against the pilots’ safety warnings, saying that “Allegiant has one of the best safety records among passenger airlines in the world, and complies with all FAA regulations.”

  
  

  Allegiant did not provide comment on the pending walk-out, but Bloomberg reports the company filed a lawsuit on Monday to prevent a strike, saying such a measure would be illegal because the two parties haven’t exhausted options for a resolution.

  
  

  Still, Wells says the airline’s original action in changing the scheduling system activated a clause that makes the strike lawful.

  
  

  “Restoring the status quo back to what it was prior to the beginning of negotiations is what we want,” Wells tells Bloomberg. “Once we get back to that place, we can talk all day long about the contract we need to get done.”

  
  

  Allegiant Pilots’ Thursday Strike Plan Threatens 250 Flights [Bloomberg]

  
  


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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

oRetailers Only Have Eyes For You With Latest Online Marketing Effortsw

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  (Pamela Greer)

  
  
  
  On the one hand, it can be very convenient to get a coupon emailed to you based on your obsession with tacos. On the other, having every website you visit blast your eyes with ads for the same darn pair of lime green shoes you already bought as part of a Halloween costume and never intend to buy again. But some retailers say they’re working on tailoring such marketing efforts down to each person individually, to maximize effectiveness and cut down on irritation.
  

  Whittling down the audience to each customer in order to find out not only what they’ve already bought and sell them something similar, retailers are now trying to get down to the individual and make sure they’re also offered different kinds of products, or to get them into physical stores based on online browsing habits, notes Sarah Halzack of the Washington Post.

  
  

  Retailers from CVS to Barneys New York are going after shoppers with personalized pitches, studying which sites customers visit as well as whether or not they’ve opened or clicked through emails, checked out a company blog post or used a certain kind of coupon.

  
  

  “For one million users, we want to have one million different site experiences,” Matthew Woolsey, Barneys’s executive vice president for digital told the Post.

  
  

  As such, Barneys’ new Web site features personalized content that stems from data culled from both a shopper’s in-store purchases as well as how they surf for stuff online. So for example, a woman who browses online for fine jewelry might wait to buy it in-person. A retailer might think however, that just because she browsed and didn’t buy, she might not come into a store.

  
  

  But by studying behavior across channels, Barneys says it’s learned the value in continuing to keep up the online marketing efforts, instead of switching to a new tactic.

  
  

  There’s also the creepy factor — retailers are learning that shoppers often don’t like sharing data with retailers, but are okay with it when it generates obvious value for them. You give your location data to Google Maps, Halzack notes, because in exchange you get information that helps you get where you’re going.

  
  

  It’s a fine line, but one that retailers are trying to walk, with varying success. Again, please don’t spray ads of something we’ve already bought across every single site we visit, because then it feels like being stalked by an insistent fan obsessed with that one time you actually did want lime green shoes.

  
  

  Instead, figuring out what customers don’t have and might want is the key. That’s what CVS is working on, the company’s vice president of customer relationship management told the Post. Haven’t bought mascara lately? No trips to the store for aspirin? Could be time to stock up — here’s a coupon.

  
  

  “Sometimes they may not realize we carry some of their other favorite items or that we may have a special that week on a type of product they would normally pick up elsewhere,” she explains.

  
  

  Retailers are tailoring their Web sites and promotions for you. Just you. [Washington Post]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

oMcDonald’s To Raise Workers’ Wages, But Only At 10% Of U.S. Restaurantsw

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  (Joseph O. Holmes)

  
  
  
  The good news for McDonald’s employees looking for a raise — the company plans to pay workers more and offer new benefits. The not-so-good news — this only affects about 10% of the company’s locations in the U.S.
  

  The fast food chain confirmed to the Wall Street Journal today that that will raise pay for workers at company-owned McDonald’s outlets by at least 10%. These employees will also see new benefits like paid vacations.

  
  

  The increases will start on July 1. That’s when affected employees get a bump so that they are receiving at least $1/hour above the local minimum wage, which ranges from the federal minimum of $7.25/hour to more than $10/hour in some states and cities. Seattle, for example, is currently ramping up the minimum wage so that it reaches $15/hour in the coming years.

  
  

  The Journal says the raise will impact 90,000 McDonald’s employees, but the announcement does not compel franchisees to increase pay or add benefits. That means only about 1-in-10 U.S. McDonald’s stores will be affected by the policy change.

  
  

  This separation between franchisees and their corporate overlords is at the center of a current legal battle involving McDonald’s. Last year, the federal National Labor Relations Board Office of the General Counsel ruled that while McDonald’s HQ allows franchisees to set their own pay levels and hiring policies, the company exerts such influence over the franchisees that the corporate office could be considered a joint employer in labor disputes.

  
  

  And in late 2014, the NLRB filed multiple complaints against both franchisees and McDonald’s Corp. for allegedly retaliating against protestors.

  
  


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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

oWoman Who Chased Down Google Street View Car And Flashed It Could Now Be Facing Chargesw

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  (Google Maps)

  
  
  
  While there are many people out there applauding the woman who chased down a Google Street View car so she could flash it and expose her chest to the world, thus, crossing that off her bucket list, local authorities in her Australian town aren’t quite so pleased with her public display.
  

  Earlier this week, the South Australian woman admitted to local media that she’d exposed herself to the camera car so she could fulfill a dream of getting on Google Maps.

  
  

  “I got to tick something else off my bucket list. I met Sam Newman and now I am on Google Maps,” reports ABC.net in Australia.

  
  

  But the area’s superintendent says despite any fame she’s gained, showing off your private bits in public is not allowed, no matter where the picture ends up, calling her actions “the same as someone flashing their genitals, and the public expectation is that police take action.”

  
  

  He noted that a man was recently arrested for exposing himself in public, and “this incident is no different.”

  
  

  “It is not appropriate for anyone to expose themselves in public places,” he added. “Our community should be able to expect a bit of decency.”

  
  

  She’s received a summons since the incident to appear in the local magistrates court at a later date.

  
  

  Google Street View flasher from Port Pirie reported for exposing breasts to camera car [ABC.net]

  
  


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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist