Burger King

• DALLAS, Dec. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Smoothie King , the world's largest smoothie brand and the first health and fitness fast casual brand of its kind, announced today the signing of a multi-unit development agreement to bring three new stores to both Las Vegas and Chicago.
• Smoothie King's latest signing continues the brand's strong year of development having added 93 additional new store commitments since August.
• "As we continue to grow nationwide, Chicago and Las Vegas remain priority markets and we couldn't be more excited about expanding our reach in both cities' vibrant and diverse communities," said Chris Bremer, Chief Development Officer at Smoothie King.
• New to the Smoothie King system, Muhammad plans to continue growth beyond his six pending stores.

• McDonald’s found itself caught in the crossfire after an Israeli franchisee said it was providing thousands of free meals to the Israel Defense Forces.
• Similarly, Starbucks faced boycott calls after disagreeing with a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) by the chain’s union expressing solidarity with Palestine.
• Many other American companies are being targeted, in some cases purely for their government’s support for Israel.
• More broadly, there have been boycotts over everything from the Ukraine war to “woke” branding.

Case study 1: Danish cartoons

• In 2005 Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten caused huge offence to many Muslims over cartoons satirising Prophet Muhammad.
• Much of the outrage was directed at the Danish government for refusing to take action, while Danish-Swedish food group Arla became a lightning rod for calls to boycott Danish products.

Case study 2: the Ukraine war

• Both consumers and western companies boycotted Russia and Belarus after the Ukraine invasion in 2022.
• Among the companies pulling out or temporarily halting operations were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, BP and Shell.

Case study 3: anti-wokeism

• In 2015, Starbucks initiated a national conversation about race relations and attempting to bring different racial groups together.
• This attracted much criticism online for being self-serving, with people pointing out that the chain’s staff weren’t particularly ethnically diverse.
• More recently, Bud Light faced a two-week boycott from conservatives after its “woke” campaign online featuring trans activist Dylan Mulvaney promoting a tallboy can.

What it means for the Israel boycotts

• Judging by the experiences of Denmark and Russia, brand boycotts appear to exert minimal influence on the target nation’s economy.
• In the absence of coordinated sanctions against Israel, social media is likely to be the sole means of pressuring companies and governments into change.
• Companies trading in Israel or even whose government is backing the offensive could easily fall into that category.

Dr Aisha Ijaz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• CHICAGO, Oct. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Potbelly Corporation (NASDAQ: PBPB), the iconic neighborhood sandwich shop, today announced the completion of a 40-unit agreement with Royal Restaurant Group, a national franchise group that successfully operates restaurant locations for global brands.
• The agreement will involve the future development of 36 Potbelly shops in markets across both Ohio and Florida.
• “We’re delighted to have Royal Restaurant Group join the Potbelly system and further our growth in several key areas of the U.S.,” said Bob Wright, President and CEO of Potbelly.
• “The Royal Restaurant Group team knows what it takes to successfully develop and operate franchise locations for large-scale restaurant brands, and they share our values of leading with respect and integrity while prioritizing high-quality and great customer service.

• Noble received one of six grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to improve soil health, support biodiversity and increase carbon sequestration.
• ARDMORE, Okla., Oct. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Noble Research Institute announced today that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and partners awarded the independent nonprofit agricultural research organization one of six grants to improve grassland health, support biodiversity and increase carbon sequestration to improve climate resilience in the Southern Great Plains grasslands.
• "Using adaptive grazing is such a powerful tool to improve plant diversity, which is critical to wildlife habitat," said Will Moseley, Noble Research Institute.
• Here, Noble can demonstrate the ecological and economic benefits of applying soil health principles to its management approach.