This week's winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Cannabis advertisers: Pot advocates are making progress on their drive to get cannabis ads on TV. Federal legislation circulating in the House of Representatives would stop the Federal Communications Commission from using its powers to punish broadcasters who accept cannabis ads. Read more here.

H&M: Despite an overall slide in apparel amid the economic downturn, the fast-fashion retailer reported a surge in both online and brick-and-mortar sales. Second-quarter sales increased 17% to nearly the equivalent of $5.4 billion. H&M has made its supply chain more efficient and has not had to discount products, the Sweden-based company said.

Peacock: The NBCUniversal streamer reported it took in $1 billion in ad sales during upfront negotiations and said total digital and streaming sales are up 20% from last year.

Pabst: There are economy packs, and then there is what Pabst is marketing—an 1,844-pack. The number is based on the beer brand’s founding year. It will sell 250 of the packs at stores, which according to one tweet go for $849.99 a piece, or $2.17 per can. Pabst is also giving away 1,844 every day in the month of July “to help households that are feeling the pressure from cost of living increases,” it stated, along with giving away 1,844 gallons of gas twice, once in July and August.

Losers

StockX: The resale platform laid off about 100 staffers, or 8% of its workforce. StockX cited the recent economic downturn as a reason for the downsizing. The company, which has been trying to broaden its brand beyond just sneakers, is also engaged in a legal battle with Nike. The sportswear giant is suing StockX, alleging it is selling fake sneakers.

Walmart: The Federal Trade Commission sued the retail giant this week, accusing the chain of enabling fraudsters to bilk customers out of millions of dollars through its money transfer services. The FTC said that Walmart did not properly train its employees or advise customers to be wary of scams at its stores. In a press release posted to its website, Walmart said the lawsuit is “unfounded.”

​Restaurants: Gen Z may be less inclined to dine out, according to a recent report about the generation’s eating habits. The recently released “Winning Gen Z Consumers” analysis from market research firm NPD Group found that Gen Z young adults who are 18 to 24 years old made just 218 annual restaurant visits per person for the 12 months ended February 2022. In comparison, Gen Xers made 284 visits back in 2002, or 66 more than their modern Gen Z counterparts. 

Bevy Long Drink: Boston Beer is axing its take on the Finnish Long Drink, a gin-based soda popular in, you guessed it, Finland. Boston had poured $10 million behind Bevy, a malt-based version of the drink. But as Craft Business Daily first reported this week, Boston will stop production because, apparently, Americans are not as fond of the drink as Finns—or at least not yet. Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick told the company’s partners the drink was ahead of its time, according to a memo obtained by Craft Business Daily. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it hasn’t gained the traction in the marketplace we had hoped,” he wrote. 

Tweet of the week

Quote of the week

“We always want to find the balance of being super creative, but also making something that makes a difference in the world. All these issues happening in the world—gun control and Roe v. Wade, and Pride Month and Juneteenth and nothing should be overshadowing anything else because all of these are working towards the same thing: basic human rights, so there's a bunch of crossover.” –Lucas Crigler, creative director at agency SS+K, speaking about Pride marketing. 

Number of the week

31: Percentage of high-income travelers (households earning more than $100,000 a year) that will travel multiple times this summer, down from 44% last year, according to a recent survey from Morning Consult.

On the move

Viamedia, a local advertising company, promoted Jim O’Neill to senior VP of ad operations. He had been director of client services. Wendell Decker was promoted to senior VP of IT and technical services from VP of technical services.

DoorDash appointed Pinky Cole its chief restaurant advisor. Cole owns the vegan hamburger chain Slutty Vegan, which she founded.

Zoom named Amy Hufft head of brand and communications. She was most recently VP, head of global brand marketing and communications at Shopify.