Oklahoma Business Briefcase For Jan. 29, 2020

Red Lobster, the casual dining chain that won fans with inventions like popcorn shrimp and “endless” seafood deals, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The 56-year-old chain made the filing late Sunday, days after shuttering dozens of restaurants. “This restructuring is the best path forward for Red Lobster. It allows us to address several financial and operational challenges and emerge stronger and re-focused on our growth,” said Red Lobster CEO Jonathan Tibus, a corporate restructuring expert who took the top post at the chain in March. Red Lobster said it will use the bankruptcy proceedings to simplify its operations, close restaurants and pursue a sale.

Call of Duty has never shied away from bombastic collaborations that at first glance look…wacky and out of place but are a triumph as soon as the match begins, and the same could be said of the upcoming Season 4 collab. Hot off the tail of an epic Warhammer 40k x Call of Duty crossover event, yesterday (May 19), both the Bandai Namco and Call of Duty official X accounts dropped a teaser for an upcoming Gundam collab. It’s time for the shadows to rise up Gundam comes to Call of Duty in Season 4

Senator Joseph Addabbo and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow are backing proposed legislation for the introduction of casino licenses in New York City, intending to expedite the current timeframe. As reported by the New York Post, the two Democrat lawmakers are striving to deliver change in the late stages of the state legislative session which requires bids to be tabled by July 31, and for the gaming commission to sign off on three casino licenses by March 31, 2025. The State Gaming Commission recently briefed that the new casino approvals would not be granted until December 31, next year, which has caused consternation from officials who are ready to commence plans for new gaming facilities.

In 2021, Razer, the video game peripherals company, launched the Razer Zephyr, a supposedly N95-grade facemask that would supposedly protect against COVID-19. A new ruling by the FTC will see them repaying over $1.1 million in full refunds after it was found that they were falsely advertising benefits the mask did not provide. According to a press release from the FTC, they will also be subjected to a civil penalty of $100,000 and have been barred from “making COVID-related misrepresentations or unsubstantiated health claims about protective health equipment.” When initially launched, Razer advertised the Zephyr as N95-grade masks – this means they supposedly filtered out 95% of particles between 0.1 and 0.3 micrometers in size, making them a useful element of a COVID-protection strategy. However, the FTC revealed that Razer never submitted the masks for testing and grading at the FDA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and thus they were never certified as N95 or otherwise. Razer continued to advertise the masks as N95-graded and as health and safety items until they garnered a significant amount of negative press, alleges the FTC.

Fallout has been the hottest talking topic of not only gamers but most of the world since the Prime Video adaptation hit the streaming service in April. Since then, all of the franchise’s games have seen a huge resurgence and now, there’s a huge collab with one of the most popular games of all time – Fortnite. Yes, that’s right, Fallout x Fortnite is on the horizon and here we’ll be revealing all we know on the crossover including the release date, any leaks, all important info on skins, and more.

Apple is said to be developing a new edition of the popular AirTag tracker, which is to be introduced as a successor to the existing model at some stage next year. The US multinational tech giant is working on the new product, code-named B589, with plans already well-advanced, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple’s AirTag device allows consumers to keep track of important items such as keys, wallets, documents, luggage and more.