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Thursday, 19 May 2022

The US has approved equal pay for the women’s football team in a landmark move + McDonald’s get sued over smaller burgers than in ads

McDonald’s and Wendy’s get slapped with lawsuits over misadvertising the size of their burgers: The two food chains allegedly undercook their burgers in advertisements to make them appear 15-20% bigger (seeing as cooking the meat makes it shrink), according to a lawsuit filed by three law firms in a New York court, reports the Wall Street Journal. The firms also filed a similar lawsuit against Burger King last March over the same issue, with the litigation still pending. All three burger chains refused to comment on the allegations. These are the latest in a series of food-related lawsuits, with Subway facing trial over using other fish species in its tuna sandwich and Kelloggs being accused of not using enough strawberries in its poptarts. The latter case was dismissed back in April, reported Reuters at the time.

Mercedes boots cheaper models in a bid to become the world’s most valuable luxury car brand: Mercedes Benz will ax three of its (relatively cheaper) compact cars to spend more on developing top-of-the-range cars, as the company looks to elevate its model to luxury brand status and brings its net income margins closer to the likes of Porsche and Ferrari, CEO Ola Källenius said, according to the Financial Times. “If you want to drive your margins upwards, you need to trim the tree at the bottom, and you need to try to expand at the top,” Källenius said. While the chief executive refused to name the models that would be phased out, sources in the know suggested that Mercedes could ultimately give its A and B-class ranges the boot. Instead, the German automaker will divert 75% of investments to developing the luxurious Maybach, the off-road G-Class, and the performance-focused AMG brand — all of which will be available in electric models within the next few years — as well as the electric EQ range, the S-Class saloon, and the E and C-Class ranges.

The US has approved equal pay for the women’s football team in a landmark move: The US Soccer Federation announced yesterday that its women’s football team will now get the same compensation as the men’s team in terms of base and performance pay for players, equalized prize money for World Cup performances, and revenue sharing of commercial partnerships and ticket sales, according to a press release. The agreement also includes terms for childcare benefits, standardized conditions for travel, pitch quality, and a safe work environment. The move ends a six-year-long dispute that began in 2016 with a federal civil rights complaint filed by team members and escalated to a lawsuit in 2019 against US Soccer. The new agreements mark the first time a Fifa club has equalized World Cup prize money, with the US women’s soccer team to be among the highest paid national football teams in the world, writes the Financial Times.

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