The Kiosk Employee

PRESENTED BY SUNDAYS FOR DOGS

Happy Thursday, Future Party. We spent the weekend sifting through your insightful responses to our recent survey… and we’d love some more. Please do us a favor and let us know how we can switch things up (or keep on keepin’ on). You’ll be entered to win a $50 gift card. Take the survey here.

Candle Media — the Blackstone-backed roll-up firm founded by Disney vets Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs — is facing an existential crisis following the departure of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.

The Big Picture: The economics behind PE-backed M&A firms have soured over the past few years, thanks to spending pullbacks at studios and streamers, the end of Peak TV, and stubbornly high interest rates. Candle seems to have suffered the most uncontrollable fate of all — bad timing. Candle’s woes are simply a microcosm of what’s happening across the global entertainment industry.

Behind The Scenes: Sometimes, a war chest of billions of dollars can’t buy sustained success.

Closing Thoughts: Five years ago, a billion or two in debt would’ve been totally fine when Wall Street and financial firms were completely focused on growth — there was a lot of cheap money being thrown around in a scale-at-all-costs race for dominance. These days, there’s not enough money being spent by studios or streamers to justify the loans taken out to purchase celebrity-backed production companies… and those loans have now become more expensive.

That’s math that doesn’t work for anyone, hence why LeBron James had to combine his SpringHill banner with Fulwell 73. The only way out seems to be becoming too big to fail.

Prediction: It’s possible that Candle Media could sell Moonbug to pay down debt and make smaller, strategic acquisitions. If that happens, expect Disney and Netflix to get into a bidding war.

Most dog food marketing lives on the front of the bag. Sundays wants you to read the back.

Sundays was founded by Dr. Tory, a veterinarian who wanted something better for her own dog, Mabel.

Every recipe is made with over 80% real meat and nutrient-rich extracts of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grains, providing complete and balanced nutrition for every life stage.

If an ingredient sounds like it came from a chemistry lab, it’s not in the bag.

TFP readers might be surprised by what is (and isn’t) inside. See the label for yourself and get 30% off your first order with Sundays For Dogs.

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Square debuted a new AI-powered ordering kiosk called… drumroll, please…. Square Kiosk.

Why It Hits: Go into any restaurant these days, and there’s a strong chance you’ll be prompted to order from a kiosk instead of a person. While kiosks are meant to offer convenience, a lot of customers find them inferior to simply ordering from a person. Square hopes embedding a chatbot into these devices can get people to line up.

Between The Orders: It’s about to get harder to land a job as a cashier, according to Fast Company.

Final Check: Square’s point-of-sale systems are everywhere these days… and the company hopes its Kiosk can become just as prevalent. Thomas Templeton, hardware lead at Square parent company Block, says, “It can take more complicated questions, and you can interact with it more like you would a person.” That could make it especially popular with quick-service restaurants looking to reduce overhead.

The Future: Between AI kiosks and advances in robotics, it’s only a matter of time before a restaurant’s entire staff consists of just a manager. Wild.

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32.5% of you voted Classic Disney (pre-1990s) in yesterday’s poll: Which era of Disney characters do you connect with the most?

“The first movie I saw with friends was The Jungle Book. I still know the words to ‘The Bare Necessities’…”

“I grew up watching all of the classic films and was a kid when Eisner was head of Disney. The Disney Channel was a luxury cable channel at my house!”

“I really like the Aladdin and Mulan era. Now, Pixar movies like Toy Story and Cars are great. The movie Up is one of the greatest movies of all time.”

“I love the classics, but the Pixar characters ring truer to life for me. I can identify with many of them. It’s hard to identify with Snow White or Dumbo.”

“Have never connected with Disney. Don’t like their characters or content.”

“Still trying to understand some adults’ fascination with Disney.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

📺 Shareholders have approved Fox’s $22 billion takeover of Roku.

🎧 YouTube Music will start flagging songs created with significant help from generative AI.

📱 IMDb is becoming more of a social platform with new “Connections” and “Endorsements” features.

👀 OpenAI has promised not to use any trade secrets taken from ex-Apple employees amid an ongoing legal battle.

🏦 JPMorgan Chase is blocking outside AI agents from directly accessing and managing clients’ bank accounts.

🚗 Elon Musk is revealing Tesla’s Roadster today… nine years after its initial announcement.

👟 Foot Locker has struck a multiyear deal to become the New York Knicks’ official athletic footwear retailer.

👕 Patagonia now sells used items alongside new ones on its e-commerce site.

🧥 Bottega Veneta tapped filmmaker Steve McQueen to help roll out its latest collection.