Good morning. Today, online commenters attack an influencer for keeping a secret; Nike gives in to the power of Amazon; NBC tries to land America’s pastime for less; and Sam Altman and Jony Ive give OpenAI staff hints about the devices they are developing together.

Influencer Janelle Rohner is facing a storm of online complaints after documenting her weight-loss journey for millions of followers, selling a $200 course on macronutrients along the way, before revealing last month that she’d lately been on a GLP-1, Megan Graham reports for CMO Today.

“If you’re in the fat loss world and taking a GLP-1, you must disclose it,” one commenter wrote. “There’s nothing wrong with taking one but not disclosing it WHILE SELLING FAT LOSS COURSES is slimy as hell.”

Rohner told The Journal she didn’t initially disclose her decision to begin taking a GLP-1 because she wasn’t mentally prepared at the time to handle millions of people’s opinions about her body and weight.

Sales for her “Macros 101” courses have dwindled since its introduction four years ago, with fewer than 30 sold in the past year, and she hasn’t marketed it in more than two years, Rohner said.

She is offering refunds to any “Macros 101” buyers from the last 11 months.

More influencers: Publicis Groupe bought influencer marketing tech firm Captiv8 in a deal valued at $150 million, building on last year’s $500 million purchase of influencer contract broker Influential. [WSJ]
 

Nike plans to sell through Amazon’s U.S. site for the first time in more than five years as it looks to boost lagging sales, Kelly Cloonan writes.

The sportswear giant said it is also partnering with luxury department store Printemps and other companies with retail locations and introducing AI-powered conversational search on its site.

Nike stopped selling to Amazon directly in November 2019 to focus on its direct business, the company said at the time. The brand’s officials had also grown disappointed in Amazon’s failure to stop counterfeit merchandise.

More Swoosh: Nike is raising prices on some sneakers, clothes and equipment that cost more than $100. [Front Office Sports] 

Amazon told third-party sellers that offer Nike products on the platform that they won’t be able to sell certain items after July 19. [Modern Retail] 

NBCUniversal has made an offer to Major League Baseball to take over the package of regular-season and postseason games that ESPN is walking away from, offering much less than its rival currently pays, Joe Flint and Jared Diamond report.

NBC is offering less partly because it isn’t seeking the international and radio rights that the Disney-owned sports network licenses from MLB, or the rights to highlight clips, people familiar with the matter said.

But TV networks and streamers are also furiously calculating and recalculating how much sports rights are worth in viewers and advertising.

ESPN in February opted out of the last three years of its $550 million-a-year MLB contract after this season, ending a 35-year partnership.

NBC meanwhile won the right to carry some NBA games starting this year after Warner Bros. Discovery failed to reach a deal to keep them. 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman gave his staff a preview Wednesday of the devices he is developing to build with the former Apple designer Jony Ive, laying out plans to ship 100 million AI “companions” that he hopes will become a part of everyday life, Berber Jin reports.

Employees have “the chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here,” Altman said after announcing OpenAI’s plans to purchase Ive’s startup, named io, and give him an expansive creative and design role.

The product will be capable of being fully aware of a user’s surroundings and life, according to Altman and Ive. It will be unobstrusive, able to rest in one’s pocket. And it will be a third core device a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone, they said.

More AI: Google is bringing ads to AI Overviews on desktop search results and testing them in its new chatbot-style AI Mode. [The Verge]

Coca-Cola used an AI agent to find social-media users who like fast food and autonomously retarget them with personalized ads in other apps. [Ad Age] 

The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer ran a summer reading list with AI-generated recommendations for books that don’t exist. [NYT] 

Universal’s new $7 billion theme park opens today, setting off a new arms race with Disney. [WSJ]

Why Universal’s Epic Universe could actually benefit Disney World in the long run. [BI] 

Crocs Inc. promoted Terence Reilly to the newly created post of chief brand officer for both Crocs and Hey Dude. [Footwear News]

Why TV brand names are having a moment in streaming. [THR] 

McDonald’s new ad campaign promotes its expanding late-night hours. [Restaurant Business]

Waffle House is courting EV drivers with new chargers at locations in the South and Southeast. [Electrek] 

Meet Emily English, the 29-year-old cookbook author and TikTok star being held up as a Nigella Lawson for Gen Z. [Tatler]