Finance Matters

Archive for April 14th, 2010

The initial reaction to the KFC Double Down — a heart-stopping bacon and cheese sandwich that uses two pieces of chicken for the “bun” — is huge.

Business Insider stopped by a location in NYC this evening and confirmed that demand is through the roof.

Last night the restaurant, located near Union Square, ran out of the sandwiches by 10:00 PM (the store closes at 1:00 AM).

Tonight they’ll run out again due to a shortage of cheese.

Both of the employees we talked to confirmed that they’ve never seen anything like it.

But we’re not convinced that the restaurant chain, owned by Yum Brands (YUM), has a lasting hit on its hands.

Neither of the two other people we saw eating Double Downs in-store were convinced that they’d buy one again.

The problem: They’re just not that sandwichy.

You can’t really taste the bacon — perhaps it would be better if the bacon were crunchier? — and the cheese doesn’t add a ton. It feels like you’re eating two big pieces of chicken (we had the grilled variety, not the fried, for health’s sake), with a little bit of extra something in between them.

It’s not a lost cause. The flavor is great, and for carbo-phobes, the grilled variety at just over $5 is an appealing and filling lunch. But we suspect that without some tweaks, this could be a short-lived novelty rather than a lasting answer to The Big Mac.

Finally, we leave you with an action shot.

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Twitter COO Dick Costolo just said Twitter’s new ads, “promoted tweets” are “not ads.”

He put a big picture on the screen that said “No ads.”

Why do these guys have to talk stupid?

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Here’s Twitter CEO Ev Williams and COO Dick Costolo talking about how they plan to make money:

Watch live video from Twitter Chirp Conference on Justin.tv

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Disney (DIS) is on a cost-cutting tear.

The company is shuttering their Nashville music label, Lyric Street Records. The popular, Grammy-award winning Rascal Flatts is under the label, and will be moved elsewhere in Disney’s music portfolio.

The news comes after Disney recently shut down a facility for ImageMovers Digital, a company co-founded by “A Christmas Carol” director Robert Zemeckis and partially owned by Disney.

Read more from the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. says it is closing its Nashville recording label, Lyric Street Records, and will transition country music band Rascal Flatts to another Disney label.

The phased shutdown will result in the layoff of about 20 to 25 employees after they finish promoting existing albums. It comes amid a cost-cutting overhaul at Disney’s studio, which oversees the music group.

Bob Cavallo, chairman of the Disney Music Group, said Wednesday that the company needs to find alternative ways of marketing its artists given the “changing nature of the music business” and streamlining at the studio.

Other Disney music labels, such as Hollywood Records, which promotes the music of stars Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, are unaffected by the announcement.

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See Also:

• Miley Cyrus ‘Rejoices’ In Killing Disney’s $1 Billion Star: Hannah Montana
• More Cost Cutting At Disney: Zemeckis’ Movie Studio Shutters
• Disney CEO Bob Iger: There Are ‘No Guarantees’ About Keeping ABC

Twitter is hosting its first annual developers conference, Chirp, this week. Here’s the video you missed. It’s the whole gang: CEO Ev Williams, cofounder Biz Stone, platform boss Ryan Sarver, and of course, Will.I.am.

Cofounder Biz Stone at Chirp

Watch live video from Twitter Chirp Conference on Justin.tv

CEO Ev Williams at Chirp

Watch live video from Twitter Chirp Conference on Justin.tv

Platform boss Ryan Sarver at Chirp

Watch live video from Twitter Chirp Conference on Justin.tv

Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am introduces DipDive, and his vision for the future

Watch live video from Twitter Chirp Conference on Justin.tv

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