This week’s marketing winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Victoria’s Secret: The retailer said it was buying direct-to-consumer lingerie competitor Adore Me for $400 million. The acquisition will give parent company VS&Co. more digital reach and access to the digital brand’s younger consumers, who primarily get their goods via Adore Me’s subscription service.

Read more about subscription services

General Motors: As other brands issue vague statements about how they will handle Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, GM took a stand, saying late last week that it would temporarily suspend advertising on the platform. It not only got the automaker out front on the issue—which has gotten more attention this week as more concerns arise about how Musk will handle the spread of misinformation on the platform—but it served as a subtle dig at the leader of a GM competitor (Tesla).

Blake Mompher: The 9-year-old Ohio boy scored a year's supply of McDonald’s fries from a local franchise that was impressed by his Halloween costume. Mompher, who was born with Spina bifida, dressed up as McD’s fries, with his brother accompanying him as a packet of ketchup. The costume, and prize, garnered plenty of media attention. The Columbus Dispatch, quoting his dad, reported that “Blake's custom Halloween costumes have become an annual tradition for the family, since it can be difficult to find costumes that offer enough mobility in his wheelchair.”

Losers

Dollar General: The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based discounter was accused of advertising goods for one price on shelves and then charging customers more at the register, which violates consumer protection laws. The Ohio attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against Dollar General, noting that the retailer’s employees were often ringing up goods for 16.7% to 88.2% more than they were listed within the store in a bait-and-switch scheme.

Credit Karma: Parent Intuit Inc. said it would pause hiring at the personal finance company amid slowed lending. Company executives wrote they see “revenue challenges due to the uncertainty of the economic environment” in a letter to employees, according to Bloomberg. The company also said there would be no pay cuts, however, and workers who leave the company will be replaced.

Qatar: The Gulf nation and World Cup host has been scrutinized on multiple fronts, including for laws against same-sex relations and allegations that thousands of migrant workers have died from the heat and poor working conditions while constructing World Cup venues. Now it appears to be resorting to bribery in exchange for positive social media coverage. As reported by ESPN, World Cup organizers are paying groups of fans to travel to the tournament—but only if they “sign a ‘code of conduct’ urging them to post favorable comments about the tournament on social media and to report ‘any offensive, degrading or abusive comments,’” ESPN reports. Of course, one could view this as a form of influencer marketing—it’s just backed by a country, not a brand. 

Read more: FIFA World Cup marketing—everything brands need to know

Number of the week

73%: Increase in price of a fresh turkey, compared with last year, due to inflation and supply issues from the avian flu, according to a CNBC report.

Tweet of the Week

Quote of the week

“I think [Roblox is] getting the whole world comfortable for when the Web3 metaverse’s innovation really comes out. They’re priming the herd to be ready for that.”
—Dillon Rosenblatt, co-founder and CEO of NFT platform Autograph, on how games like Roblox fit into the future of the metaverse for brands.

On the move

Rothy’s, the direct-to-consumer footwear brand, hired Jamie Gersch as chief marketing officer. She was most recently senior VP and CMO at Old Navy.

Chamberlain Coffee, founded by YouTube star Emma Chamberlain, hired Liz Ahern as CMO. Ahern comes from Carvana where she led brand marketing. She previously worked for Red Bull.