Almost everyone’s gotten ketchup on their clothes at some point, and Heinz, whose name is pretty much synonymous with the condiment, is well aware.
Inspired by these mishaps, it has partnered online resale platform ThredUP tto launch the Heinz Vintage Drip collection, comprising 157 articles of second-hand streetwear and designer pieces intentionally stained with ketchup.
“While Heinz is recognized globally for its iconic glass bottle, keystone, and slow-pouring ketchup, we saw an opportunity to view the stain we’ve been leaving on clothes as another iconic brand symbol and change the narrative from stain to statement,” explained Alyssa Cicero, Brand Manager at Heinz.
“This collection is about sustainably celebrating the character Heinz ketchup stains add to apparel, inviting our fans to embrace a new iconic symbol,” she added.
The release comes at a time when the demand for secondhand clothing is higher than ever, with the 2022 Resale Report showing that 62% of Gen Z and Millennials search for a thrifted item before purchasing it new.
By believing that every outfit deserves a second life, “even summer barbeque casualties,” ThredUp wanted to work on a collection that celebrated reuse, and what better way to appeal to fashion risk-takers and food lovers alike than with ketchup-stained clothes?
In addition to the eco-friendly message, the capsule was specially designed to be inclusive across all sizes and genders, ranging from XXS to XXL. 100% of the proceeds from the sale will go towards Rise Against Hunger to support global hunger relief, so you can feel extra good about your purchase.
Rey Mysterio shows off some of the most important masks from his extensive collection, including his first mask and one inspired by Mexico’s national soccer team.
There was no confetti. No congratulations or fanfare of any kind. No one cheered for Steve, a 36-year-old software engineer in Texas, when he woke up at 6 a.m. on March 15, 2022, and made his final student loan payment. He didn’t think this moment would be so matter-of-fact, considering the huge—and at times painful—impact his loans had on his life.
It took Steve nearly 12 years to pay off more than $100,000 in student loan debt, just five months shy of the Biden administration’s announcement it was forgiving $10,000 in loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year.
Despite the financial, mental, and even physical pain that carrying more than six figures in student loan debt caused Steve, he says he’s happy for anyone who receives student loan forgiveness—he doesn’t resent anyone eligible for the government’s $10,000 (up to $20,000 for Pell Grant holders) forgiveness plan.
“Forgive all of it is my opinion,” Steve says. “$10,000 is a nice start…maybe with this amount of debt off their backs, people can begin to build their lives.”
The Biden-Harris student debt relief plan is expected to wash out roughly $300 billion worth of debt, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model. Approximately one-third of federal student loan borrowers (me included) will have their debt completely wiped out, with benefits going disproportionately to working-class and middle-income households.
Since 1980, the cost of public and private colleges has nearly tripled. Federal support has not kept up, which means more people have had to borrow money in order to get degrees.
Recent data totals student loan debt in the U.S. at $1.75 trillion, with the average college graduate carrying as much as $40,000 in debt. The average graduate student owes up to $189,000 in federal student loan debt.
“I’m not mad I missed out”
Steve graduated undergrad in 2008 with a degree in English that he says was virtually free because of an in-state scholarship program. But after struggling to find a decent job, he went back to school to get a master’s in teaching. It was a mistake, he says. He borrowed roughly $70,000, but interest ballooned the total to $118,000.
He couldn’t pay off his loans on his teaching salary, and by the time he turned 30, he was questioning what he was doing with his life. He had no savings, and worrying about the debt impacted his physical and mental health. “If I had had a medical emergency, I would be in ruin,” he says.
Desperate to make a change and dig himself out from under the debt that was keeping him up at night, Steve taught himself to code—there was no chance he was going back to school—and changed careers. He refinanced his loans for a lower rate and, with his higher salary, began making extra payments.
“I knew what I was getting into somewhat when I got the loans,” Steve says. “I knew teaching wasn’t a lucrative career, but I thought I could stay afloat, you know? I definitely miscalculated.” He says he left his heart in the classroom.
It was so easy, though, to get that loan at 22, he says.
“I had no employment history, no income. Universities know that, and they just jack up the prices,” Steve says. “I want to live in an educated society…[but] you shouldn’t have to ruin your life to get an education. The fact that you can’t even declare bankruptcy—the only way to relieve the debt is to die—that’s just really messed up.”
Submitting his final payment—paying off six months’ worth of debt in one foul swoop—was rather anticlimactic, Steve says. It took a while to sink in, but once it did, he says, he began to feel like anything was possible.
With the additional income, he began to think he could get his finances on track, so he decided to meet with a financial planner: “Just maybe I’ll be able to retire some day.”
His friends ask him often, he says, whether he’d be upset at a loan forgiveness program, having just paid off so much in student loans. He’s actually quite excited, he says. Though it would “be nice if I could retroactively benefit. But I’m not mad I missed out by a few months.”
Prostitution has been part of the fabric of Amsterdam for centuries. But some want the city to have a reputation for art and architecture, not sex and drugs. And that might mean closing the windows of the world-famous Red Light District for good.
Some Angelino Heights residents say the filming of the latest “Fast and Furious” movie in their neighborhood is bringing nightly street takeovers and making them feel unsafe.
Many Verizon Wireless customers have been infuriated after receiving notification from the telecom that their monthly bill for data will go up as much as $12 due to “rising operational costs.”
Of course, price increases are part of the telecom business shell game, but they typically heat the proverbial waters around the ol‘ lobster by marginal increments — such as the $1.35 “economic adjustment” fee increase applied by Verizon this month to its postpaid customers for “administrative cost” increases.
But consumers will definitely feel 12 bucks.
Verizon’s move follows a very similar price bump announced earlier this month by AT&T — single-line-of-service customers got a $6-a-month increase, while AT&T shared data customers saw a monthly surge of $12.
Verizon said its increase will take effect “no sooner” than August 2.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg raised the possibility of such a price bump during his company’s first-quarter earnings report, suggesting something simply had to be done to keep up with inflationary pressure. (He didn’t mention any adjustments to his own executive compensation, which exceeded $20 million last year.)
Thanks, Obama?
Blaming the current administration for inflation has been a go-to messaging point for far-right media outlets as they propagandize for the November midterm elections. And that agenda seems to be catching on, based on President Joe Biden’s currently low approval ratings. But increasingly, it appears that corporate greed might be a principal driver for the current upward price pressure we’re all experiencing.
A study by the Economic Policy Institute published in April found that more than half of the overall increase in consumer pricing can be attributed to initiatives intended to drive “fatter corporate profits.”
In this clip, Vlad started off speaking about Peter Rosenberg saying that he doesn’t understand why people do interviews on VladTV, which led to DJ Akademiks speaking about why Rosenberg isn’t on the same level as him and Vlad. Akademiks then stated that radio hosts are “salty” at where they’re at, and he went on to give Rosenberg credit for having one of the earliest podcasts, which he says also makes Rosenberg salty. Vlad then offered to pay Rosenberg to do interviews for him, and he added that he was not joking about the offer.
Strippers who would normally be inside the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar entertaining were instead outside on the sidewalk picketing. For the last five months, it’s become a common occurrence outside the club, but now with the backing of a major national union, they are one step closer to making history.
He loosened us with his wine, and pot brands, now Snoop Dogg hits us with his own wholegrain breakfast.
Snoopy turns cereal killer with Snoop Loopz, a boxed brekky that will drop at grocery stores through his Broadus Foods business.
Think gluten-free Froot Loops, with “more corn, more flavor and more marshmallows,” enthuses hip-hop entrepreneur Master P, who unveiled Snoop’s new snack food via his socials — accompanied with a cut of “Still A G Thang.”
Founded by Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg), Broadus Foods already boasts a range of Mama Snoop’s breakfast products, including cereal, oatmeal, grits, pancake mix and syrup, and supports charitable organizations, including Door of Hope.
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