Brands
Oven Story serves up cheesy freedom with week-long pizza party
MUMBAI: Who says freedom can’t come with extra cheese? As India gears up for its 79th Independence Day, Oven Story Pizza is swapping the tricolour for a triple helping of indulgence with its week-long ‘Freedom Week’ from 11 to 15 August, a festival where pizza, prizes, and playful surprises share the same table.
The celebration is far from a standard pizza promo. For five days, Oven Story is firing up ovens and imaginations with daily temptations: free garlic bread on every order, a complimentary Choco Lava Cake for sweet patriots, a Buy 1 Get 3 Pizzas deal that laughs in the face of moderation, and budget-friendly combos to keep both hearts and wallets warm.
But the real twist comes from the brand’s Instagram feed, where it’s staging a digital treasure hunt. Over the week, 79 exclusive promo codes will drop via Instagram Stories each unlocking a different reward, from meal upgrades and free add-ons to the jackpot prize: free pizza meals for your entire gang.
“It’s about more than just deals,” says Rebel Foods CMO Nishant Kedia. “Food especially pizza, has this uncanny power to bring people together. Freedom Week is our way of turning Independence Day into a shared celebration of joy, community, and flavour.”
With an irresistible blend of indulgence, gamification, and community spirit, Oven Story’s Freedom Week promises to be a delicious rebellion against the ordinary. Whether you’re in it for the garlic bread, the grand prize, or just the thrill of the hunt, one thing’s certain this is one freedom you’ll want a slice of.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
