1. SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY SUES MONSTER ENERGY
Last week, Monster Beverage sued San Francisco attorney Dennis Herrara for demanding the energy drink maker reduce caffeine content and stop marketing to children. Now, Herrara is suing Monster Beverage for employing a teen-focused marketing strategy despite alleged health risks. He says his suit is not in response to Monster's. The energy drink industry has been enjoying brisk growth in the last decade, but a recent influx of accusations regarding the negative effects of drinking Monster has the FDA investigating the drink's health risks. [Washington Post]
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2. FDA MOVES TO REGULATE INDOOR TANNING
Another industry under the careful watch of the FDA: Indoor tanning. Growing evidence that baking oneself in a tanning bed leads to melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, has led the FDA to propose an order that would require manufacturers to place warnings on tanning beds and marketing material. The warning would state "Attention: This sunlamp product should not be used on persons under the age of 18 years." Meanwhile the Indoor Tanning Association claims it already obeys the "highest professional standards" and worries the new rules would "burden our members with additional unnecessary governmental costs in an already difficult economic climate." [Wall Street Journal]
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3. APPLE'S BUYBACK PLAN PUMPS UP SHARES
In spite of fears about Apple's product plans for this year (and all future years without Steve Jobs), the tech giant's share price has surged 13 percent since April 23, the day before the company released its latest earnings report, in which Apple announced plans to add $50 billion to its $10 billion buyback program. "I think the buyback's about 75 percent of it," Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray told MarketWatch. Shares are now $458.27, but still way below their high of more than $700. [MarketWatch]
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4. NINTENDO STRUGGLES
Nintendo sold a mere 3.45 million Wii U video game consoles during the first quarter, leaving some to wonder if the company that once brought us Mario Bros. will ever be cool again. Despite consumer trends, the company has avoided online gaming and internet-based features in favor of simpler, more family-friendly (read: outdated) gaming. Adrian Covert at CNN says, "If Nintendo thinks this is what gamers really want from a modern console, it has lost touch with reality." [CNN]
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5. SPANX'S SARAH BLAKELY FIRST FEMALE BILLIONAIRE TO JOIN GATES-BUFFETT CHARITY PLEDGE
Sarah Blakely, founder of Spanx and Forbes' youngest female self-made billionaire, has joined the Giving Pledge, an initiative by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to encourage the world's richest folks to give away half their fortunes to charity. So far, Blakely's philanthropic efforts have been focused on helping women and girls, including a recent $100,000 donation to a charity for creating jobs for homeless women. "It was very emotional, writing [the pledge]," she told Forbes. "When I read it out loud, I cried. I have so much gratitude for being a woman in America. I wouldn't have had these opportunities if I wasn't born in the right place at the right time." [Forbes]
