Good morning. Today, a “married dating” app reframes its services as merely the better part of valor.

The WSJ Leadership Institute’s Katie Deighton writes for the newsletter:

Remember Ashley Madison? (Of course you do.)

The dating platform infamous for serving unfaithful spouses is trying to clean up its adulterous image, moving away from “married dating” and rebranding as a venue for private souls who just want some discretion.

Readers with memories will find that ironic, given the 2015 hack that wound up exposing millions of Ashley Madison members’ data to the public. The company later agreed to pay $11.2 million to settle a class action suit related to the breach and said it had improved its data security.

But Ashley Madison is only the latest dating service to tweak its branding or user experience as increasingly niche dating services enter the market and consumers with no happy ending in sight lose faith in swiping. The share price of Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, has fallen more than 80% from its peak in 2022.

Ashley Madison is replacing its to-the-point tagline “Life is Short, Have an Affair” with “Where Desire Meets Discretion,” an angle it argues better reflects its users as well as broader exhaustion with “the oversharing age.”

Fifty-seven percent of its members who signed up in 2025 identified as single, the company said. And 23% of dating app users in North America say their worries about screenshots or information being shared publicly have contributed to dating app fatigue, according to the company.

The Ashley Madison app bans social-media handles in profiles, allows iOS users to disguise its icon on homescreens, and lets members blur or mask their photos so only people who get “Private Keys” can see them, the company said.

New ads for Ashley Madison go live this week on connected TV, mobile games, podcasts and billboards. They aim to convince audiences that desire is natural—but also best when kept discreet.

“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” says Paul Keable, chief strategy officer for the Toronto-based company.

Luxury brands need to embrace their authority before it’s gone.

The secondhand luxury goods business is growing faster than the primary market and now matches luxury sales through off-price outlets.

But many brands look like a rabbit in the headlights as they face competition from their own products, Carol Ryan reports this morning for The Wall Street Journal.

Labels have reached an uneasy truce with big resale platforms like Fashionphile and The RealReal, using litigation to police what resellers can and cannot do, but that’s not going to be enough:

The solution might be the same brand power that helps command high prices in the first place, Carol suggests, citing the success of Rolex’s certified (but outsourced) preowned program:

They just need to convince consumers that their involvement still adds value, long after a product’s first sale.

• Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday it has received a new offer from Paramount to buy its entire company, but didn’t provide details. The Warner board is now tasked with determining if the new offer beats Netflix’s signed agreement to acquire its prized movie and TV studios and HBO Max streaming service. If it accepts the Paramount offer, Netflix has four days to make its own new offer. [WSJ] 
   
• FedEx sued the U.S. government seeking a full refund plus interest for what it paid in trade duties stemming from President Trump’s tariffs enacted last year. Similar lawsuits have been filed by companies including Costco, Revlon, Bumble Bee Foods and Kawasaki Motors. [WSJ] 

Uber said it plans to acquire SpotHero, bringing parking reservations onto the ride-hailing platform—“for the moments when people do choose to drive,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. [WSJ] 

Hims co-founder Hilary Coles and former head of marketing Emily Boschwitz have introduced a fiber-boosted sweetener brand. [Modern Retail]

Cann co-founder Jake Bullock is racing to save his business ahead of a Nov. 12 ban on hemp-based THC drinks. Without a solution in Washington, Bullock expects Cann’s sales to dry up after July as buyers look to avoid amassing excess inventory. [WSJ]

Roku’s push into advertising and subscription services has helped the streaming platform return to full-year profitability for the first time since the days when pandemic lockdowns gave its business a boost. [WSJ] 

A lawsuit forced WPP to reveal how much top clients including Unilever, Google and Ford spent to advertise their brands over the course of a year. [The Times] 

“Smells hella bad”: Dove’s new ad campaign for Intensive Repair Serum Mask includes real, sometimes harsh Reddit reviews. [Adweek]

Longevity doctor Peter Attia is leaving his role as a CBS News contributor after scrutiny mounted over his correspondences with Jeffrey Epstein. [WSJ] 

Hulu gave “Sinners” director and writer Ryan Coogler the green light for an “X-Files” reboot. [Deadline] 

The poster for A24’s online-inspired horror film “The Backrooms” is almost nothing but wallpaper. [CreativeBloq]