• Walmart Inc. is set to pitch its advertising business to large consumer goods companies and large advertising companies for the first time next week, in an attempt to siphon ad dollars from Google, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. The event is a culmination of a number of efforts that the retail giant has made since its shareholder meeting last year, including bringing its website advertising team in-house, consolidating ad sales for its stores and website under Walmart Media Group and purchasing the startup Polymorph Labs. (Reuters)

• Natura Cosméticos, the Brazilian owner of The Body Shop, is buying Avon Products Inc. in a more than $2 billion all-stock deal, according to sources with direct knowledge of the deal, which will help Natura further expand globally. The São Paulo company will have a 76 percent stake of the merged entity, with Avon shareholders holding the rest, the people said. (The Financial Times)

• Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it will tighten its policies for abortion-related ads after an anti-abortion organization known for persuading women not to end their pregnancies posted ads suggesting that they provide abortions. Starting in June, those wishing to post ads for abortion-related services in the United States, Britain and Ireland will need to be certified as abortion providers or non-providers through Google. (The New York Times)

IPG’S Huge Names Pete Stein New Global CEO
Lindsay Rittenhouse, Ad Age

Razorfish alum marks second exec in the post since last March.

New Twitter ‘Experiment’ Shows Some Users Many More Ads
Kurt Wagner, Bloomberg

If you feel like you’ve been seeing more Twitter ads lately, it’s not just your imagination.

Online ads can be targeted based on your emotions
Kaitlyn Tiffany, Vox

Brands that want to reach women, for example, are buying ads on sad New York Times articles.

Platform ad revenue opportunities are growing for publishers, but scale still matters
Sahil Patel, Digiday

Publishers still need a ton of scale on Facebook to earn decent-sized checks from pre-roll and mid-roll ads.

Fox News Welcomes Pete Buttigieg. Trump and ‘Fox & Friends’ Aren’t Pleased.
Michael M. Grynbaum, The New York Times

The night began with a campaign-style biographical video and ended with a standing ovation. The candidate called President Trump’s behavior “grotesque” and lamented the “media noise machine on the right wing.”

California bill would give tax incentives to film, TV productions that leave states banning abortion
Jeff Daniels, CNBC

A California lawmaker introduces a bill to offer tax breaks to film and television productions that relocate from states with restrictive abortion bans, including Georgia and Alabama.

‘Aladdin’ Is Latest Test of Disney’s Live-Action Remake Strategy
Rob Golum and Anousha Sakoui, Bloomberg

Walt Disney Co.’s “Aladdin,” which debuts this weekend, has a lot riding on its magic carpet.

YouTube is changing how subscriber counts are displayed, possibly shifting its culture
Julia Alexander, The Verge

YouTube is introducing a major change to the way real-time subscriber counts are displayed, which could prevent analytics sites like Social Blade from actively displaying whether creators are gaining — or, more importantly, losing — subscribers.

Oreo Mocks Ben Carson Cookie Confusion: Reo Stands For ‘Really Excellent Oreo – Everyone Knows That’
Christina Zhao, Newsweek

After Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson confused a basic housing acronym related to foreclosure with an Oreo cookie during a hearing Tuesday, the chocolate sandwich cookie jokingly weighed in on the term.

Why lingerie and swimwear brands are not happy with Instagram’s new policy
Amy De Klerk, Harper’s Bazaar

A number of swimwear and lingerie brands have spoken out against a new policy on Instagram which is causing them to have lower engagement and, consequently, to lose money.

In Ford’s future, two-legged robots and self-driving cars could team up on deliveries
Kirsten Korosec, TechCrunch

Autonomous vehicles might someday be able to navigate bustling city streets to deliver groceries, pizzas, and other packages without a human behind the wheel.

‘MissionRacer’: How Amazon turned the tedium of warehouse work into a game
Greg Bensinger, The Washington Post

Inside several of Amazon’s cavernous warehouses, hundreds of employees spend hours a day playing video games.

With Pepsi’s AR filters, Instagram is coming for Snapchat (again)
Kerry Flynn, Digiday

Instagram’s next attempt to overshadow Snapchat is here — well, almost.

Urban Outfitters to Start Renting Clothes
Khadeeja Safdar, The Wall Street Journal

Retailer launches $88 monthly service, jumping into market led by Rent the Runway.

Coca-Cola and ‘Stranger Things’ think we can get nostalgic for a lot of things, even New Coke
Amelia Lucas, CNBC

Coca-Cola is partnering with Netflix to promote the third season of “Stranger Things” by re-releasing New Coke.

Big Retailers’ Sales Lag as They Gird for Tariffs
Suzanne Kapner and Aisha Al-Muslim, The Wall Street Journal

Kohl’s, J.C. Penney, Home Depot fall short of analysts’ estimates, plan for impact of higher duties on Chinese merchandise.

Making Billions at the Dollar Store
Phil Wahba, Fortune

Dollar General has relied on a crafty mix of 7-Eleven-like convenience and Walmart-like low prices to become a retail giant. How much bigger can it get?

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain collapses
Julia Horowitz, CNN

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire in the United Kingdom has collapsed.

Harley-Davidson Tries Revving Up Sales with Loans
Austen Hufford, The Wall Street Journal

Hog maker’s strategy comes with risks as it looks to broaden appeal beyond baby boomers.

Lowe’s tumbles as earnings fall short and forecast cut as higher costs weigh on results
Maggie Fitzgerald, CNBC

Lowe’s shares plummeted 8% before the bell Wednesday after the company posted mixed fiscal first-quarter results and cut its forecast for the year, as higher costs weighed on results.

Target quarterly results trounce estimates on higher online sales
Aishwarya Venugopal, Reuters

Target Corp’s same-store sales and profit for the first quarter beat Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, benefiting from higher online sales and an increase in shoppers at its stores, sending its up nearly 8% in early trading.

Inclusive Sizing Is Revolutionizing Fashion. Just Don’t Call It Plus-Size
Rory Satran, The Wall Street Journal

Designer labels have long ignored anyone outside the standard 0-12 size range. As the radical idea of ‘inclusive sizing’ takes hold, however, even upscale brands are dramatically extending the limits of chic.

Frito-Lay’s Summer Campaign Pitches 3 Brands
Karlene Lukovitz, MediaPost

Frito-Lay is co-marketing three of its biggest brands — Lay’s,  Doritos and Tostitos — as the perfect snacks for the biggest snacking season of them all: summer.

The new hot thing on YouTube is destroying someone else
Abby Ohlheiser, The Washington Post

The world of YouTube drama comes with a built-in scorecard. When famous creators fight, the winners and losers are dictated by the rise and fall of subscriber counts.

The cashless retail revolution has been overestimated
Ruth Reader, Fast Company

More and more people are ditching cash in favor of cards and digital payments, but that doesn’t mean cash it out of the picture, according to a new report from financial tech company Square.