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2024 Election

This has been the most expensive election in history

Maybe the endless texts asking for $20 have actually worked. By the end of next Tuesday, a projected $15.9 billion will have been invested across all US federal election races, which would be the most money ever spent on federal elections in history.

The data is surprising given presidential races usually last almost two years, with billions upon billions spent on a plethora of ads, campaign expenses, travel costs, fundraising, polling, and payroll.

Expensive(st) Election

The amount is tabulated to be just higher than the $15.1 billion spent on the 2020 elections, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign spending.

However, the cost of campaigning in the US is much different than in other democracies, where candidates typically compete for votes over weeks rather than years:

• The average duration of Canada's campaign is 36–50 days, with the total cost for the 2021 election being $69 million. 

  • That number is roughly 1/27th of what American campaigns pay for each voter in the US.

• American elections are also almost 40 times more expensive per person than those in Germany or the United Kingdom.

Even individual races in the US, from way further down the ticket, outspend other country’s total election spending:

• In 2020, Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) spent $180.66 million, which was slightly under the total campaign expenses in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada... combined.

What does all of this spending do? 

Upset Americans. Tired of the constant spewing of attack ads, texts, billboards, and various political messaging, more than 80% of Americans say donors have too much sway on politicians (on both sides), according to a Pew Research poll.

• Another Pew poll found that 72% of Americans said they want limits on campaign spending, whereas only 11% didn’t.

The reality is it takes a lot of money to campaign in America. The country is huge and in order to tap into expensive and isolated markets alike, it takes funding.

Despite that, citizens are pitching in a record amount: In 2004, there were 23 Americans who contributed more than $1 million to campaigns, totaling $58.9 million. This year, there are 408 Americans who donated more than $1 million, totaling $2.3 billion, according to Open Secrets data.

Technology

McDonalds ice cream machines shouldn’t be broken anymore

Anyone who frequents a McDonalds knows the war you have to go through to get a McFlurry. Thanks to the US Copyright Office exempting the devices from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), McDonalds (and other restaurants) can now employ outside help to fix commercial equipment with digital locks, which includes McDonald's ice cream machines.

In theory, this should help McDonalds and a bunch of other businesses better serve their customers by setting off a (Mc)flurry of third-party service requests.

Copyright law? Ice cream machines?

It doesn’t make too much sense why the two would have anything to do with each other, so here’s why the ruling matters:

• According to the DMCA, only the maker of the machines may get past the digital locks to do maintenance since the software is copyrighted.

• Franchise owners no longer have to wait for Taylor, the manufacturer, to service the equipment; instead, they can now hire external assistance.

Taylor Company has been McDonald's supplier for its ice cream machines since 1956, meaning only they had the "right to repair" them. Their collaboration ended on Monday.

Taylor has warned against using third-party services in the past:

• In 2020, an independent business called Kytch developed a tool to help with the upkeep of the machines, but Taylor cautioned McDonald's against using it.

  • Taylor and Kytch's legal battle is still underway.

The ruling doesn’t just apply to McFlurry machines: Ventilators, the life-saving machines that help one breathe when they can’t on their own, actually share the same digital locks as the ice cream machines. Now, third-party services can fix the most important, life-saving machines in the world… along with ventilators.

Apple is having a pretty big week

This week has been a busy time for Apple as they began to release a new slate of products. Starting on Tuesday, the tech giant started off with updates to existing software paired with a host of new products, along with the highly anticipated Apple Intelligence.

What’s new?

iPhone models 15 and up are now compatible with Apple Intelligence. Features that come with AI include notification breakdowns, a new and improved Siri, the ability to have your phone proofread text, and photo cleanup (which removes randoms from photos with your S/O).

However, even more is set to be released in the coming months with the upcoming iOS 18.2 software release in December: it will include additional features including the ability to create your own emoji and Siri's compatibility with ChatGPT will be introduced.

New products: Apple announced the new iMac, which will be much thinner and include the new, state-of-the-art M4 chip, which serves as a huge hardware upgrade that will vastly improve the performance and speed of the computer (to help with AI and gaming).

• Apple also introduced the palm-sized Mac Mini, the 24-inch iMac (which will debut on November 8th), and a new Macbook Pro.

  • These come with a new mouse, trackpad, and keyboard.

• The 14-inch model of the new MacBook Pro laptop series will retail for $1,599, and the 16-inch screen version with the base specification M4 chip will start at $2,499. The Mac Mini, with the M4 chip included, starts at $599.

Earnings report: Apple reported better-than-expected earnings yesterday, amassing sales that totaled $46.2 billion, despite being hurt by an EU tax payment overseas.

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Grab Bag

Coffee giant buys Ghost Energy for $1 billion

Keurig is looking to energize its company with… energy drinks. Beverage behemoth Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) announced it would acquire Ghost Energy, in a strategic move that will bloom its presence in the rapidly growing energy drink market.

Ghost Energy has gained a lot of popularity among young people recently and has seen its sales more than quadruple over the last three years. KDP is trying to tap into that audience, shifting away from coffee and soft drinks in order to capitalize on the increasing demand from millennials and Gen Z.

Monster Money

I mean “Monster” as in a large amount. Not the other energy drink. Keurig is taking a big leap in this acquisition in hopes will garner a larger audience for its products:

• As part of the agreement, Keurig will pay nearly $1 billion ($990 million) for 60% of the business and will take over the other 40% in a subsequent deal in 2028.

• This is the company's largest acquisition since it paid $19 billion to acquire Dr Pepper Snapple in 2018.

Keurig isn’t new to the energy drink space, either. The company has recently invested in two energy drink brands (including Red Bull) after acquiring a minority share in Nutrabolt, the company that makes C4 Energy, for $863 million in 2022.

A broader trend: The largest shareholder in Monster, the company that owns Bang Energy, is Coca-Cola, while PepsiCo owns a portion of Celsius, my personal favorite (supposedly healthy) energy drink.

Airplanes will never allow you to smoke again

Now all we have to do is ban screaming babies. Last week, a new rule that permits "No Smoking" signs on airplanes to be on permanently went into effect. After over 30 years of smoke-free flights, the transition has been declared permanent.

Mile-high Dub

An old Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation mandated that airplanes must have "No Smoking" indicators that flight attendants may activate and deactivate at will. For many years, the regulation persisted, occasionally creating issues for airlines:

• Due to software that kept the signs on automatically, United had to briefly ground five Airbus A321neo aircraft in February.

In the mid-1900s, cigarette manufacturers capitalized on the growth of air travel by negotiating with airlines to distribute their goods in the air. Now, one of the last remnants of the tobacco industry's hold over the airline sector (the FAA’s regulation) is gone.

Fast Facts

Clock Counter: Daylight savings are once again upon us, as our clocks will reset themselves at 2 am Sunday. Looking forward to it being dark at 6 am and 6 pm… even though it doesn’t do anything.

PB&J Players: NFL players consume 80,000 Uncrustables a season, according to The Athletic. With 700 sandwiches a week, the Denver Broncos set the record in 2023, while the New Orleans Saints had the fewest, with only 50.

Trunk Tendencies: When grabbing something, elephants will bend their trunk toward their preferred side. According to researchers in Berlin, you can tell if an elephant is right-or-left-trunked by looking at the side with more wrinkles and whiskers.

Fancy Formula: Beginning with the upcoming season, LVMH and Formula 1 have announced a 10-year agreement for "hospitality, bespoke activations, limited editions, and outstanding content."

Smelly Smith: Will Smith farted so badly that the Men in Black set had to be evacuated for around three hours, according to director Barry Sonnenfeld.