This year has been a rollercoaster ride amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite the many struggles faced by the American public, Ford Motor Company is pushing a message to make sure the virus is snuffed out in 2021.
The automaker is rolling out its #FinishStrong campaign to air during college and NFL football games in the first three days of January to replace its F-150 truck ads. The ad, narrated by actor Bryan Cranston, aims to encourage viewers to continue following coronavirus safety guidelines.
"We really were inspired by some of the data we were seeing coming out of the University of Washington, where if we just followed some of these safe COVID protocols and everybody did their part, we're not helpless. We can save more than 50,000 incremental lives," Jim Baumbick, vice president, enterprise product line management, told Cheddar.
At the onset of the pandemic, Ford was one of several American companies tapped to help in the fight against it. The company says it has since produced more than 50,000 ventilators, 1.4 million washable gowns, and nearly 50 million masks.
Furthermore, Ford has pledged to produce 100 million masks in total into 2021, according to Baumbick, who said that it's the very least the manufacturer could do while people on the frontlines work to keep citizens safe.
"These healthcare workers are so inspirational. We can honor them by actually reducing the load on the healthcare system and actually trying to mitigate the transmission of this deadly disease," he explained.
Meanwhile, as the country waits for the COVID-19 vaccines to be more widely available, Baumbick said Ford will do its part in providing doses to workers that request it but will not mandate it as a requirement to continue working.
Health and safety for employees and potential customers are at the top of Ford's list of priorities, Baumbick said, but the company is also committed to improving the health of the environment as it looks to expand its fleet of electric vehicles in the wake of its Mustang Mach-E. He noted that as the electric vehicle market continues to become more crowded, the Mustang is "soon to be followed by the F-150 battery electric vehicle."
"And we just launched our transit battery vehicle. The commercial space is an incredible opportunity to have a big impact, not just to businesses and their overall cost of ownership, but to the environment, which is so central to this transition," Baumbick added.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
