When a film or TV series is remembered as a classic, it’s usually because of the characters — or a breakthrough in digital effects — but sometimes a fictional company becomes just as iconic. That’s why a new study of Google data from SmallPDF determined which nonexistent businesses Americans search for the most.

Congrats, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fans, because the winner — with 66,000 monthly searches in the U.S. — is Los Pollos Hermanos, Gustavo Fring’s fast-food chain and drug kingpin cover story. (Maybe it’s not technically fictional since AMC opened temporary locations as a real-life, pop-up marketing stunt.)

Krusty Krab from SpongeBob SquarePants earned the No. 2 spot, and The Office’s Dunder Mifflin came in at No. 3. It’s no surprise that wizards of Hollywood storytelling would have a talent for branding. So instead of hiring a fancy creative agency, maybe just call an up-and-coming screenwriter?

DEI: We analyzed over 4,000 companies’ reports.

Podcast: Brown Ambition inspires.

Two Good: Yogurt against food waste.

(Source: Shutterstock)

More and more U.S. employers are incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives into their recruiting practices. To find out who’s being represented and who’s leading the charge, business.com conducted our own examination. 

Seeking publicly disclosed statements on DEI, our research team visited 4,200 websites of the largest businesses operating in the U.S. Of that amount, 680 companies (16%) publicly disclosed their DEI numbers.

In analyzing this DEI data, our research team found:

• In approximately half of all companies examined, representation for women and people of color fell “well below” their population levels — meaning, at least 10% were below the national workforce level. 
• Representation fell short in many industries. Only 25% of industries analyzed in our research satisfactorily represented women and people of color.  

Industry Representation for Women

Recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data says 57% of women are in the American workforce. Our research shows 44% of women are represented. The following industries are well above the national average:

• Finance and insurance
• Retail and grocery
• Pharmaceuticals
• Personal care

However, the following industries (and plenty more) are well below the national average for women: 

• Energy and utilities
• Manufacturing
• Food, beverage, and nutrition
• Communication and technology
• Automotive
• Transportation and logistics

Industry Representation for People of Color

Here, things appeared more promising, as we found more industries represented Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) well above the national average than for women. These industries included:

• Retail and grocery
• Hospitality and entertainment
• Food, beverage, and nutrition
• Communication and technology
• Apparel 
• Transportation and logistics

Industries that represented BIPOC well below the national average included:

• Energy and utilities
• Manufacturing
• Business services and marketing
• Construction, building materials, and heavy equipment

Our research team also examined representation of women and BIPOC in senior leadership. For insight into this topic and more, read the full study at business.com.

14%

Companies with senior leadership teams that are at least 40% women

There are a lot of brand-building podcasts out there, but Brown Ambition — hosted by Get Good with Money author Tiffany Aliche and CNBC alum Mandi Woodruff-Santos — shines on a human level. In addition to useful weekly biz talk, the pair take deeper dives into layered topics like workplace bullying and what to do when imposter syndrome creeps in.

The pod curates a space that is as nurturing as it is challenging, and the women-centric guest slate — from Blavity CEO Morgan DeBaun to New York Times finance writer Farnoosh Torabi — regularly impresses. Promising “a weekly conversation between two successful women of color dealing with topics of professional and financial ambition, will, and so much more,” this is one listen that fully delivers on its ambition.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Replacing sweetened cereals with low-sugar Greek yogurt is a great way to make your breakfast more nutritious — and potentially less wasteful. That’s because the yogurt brand, Two Good, has partnered with Full Harvest, which buys and sells imperfect but totally edible produce for its “Good Save” label. 

Starting with a Meyer lemon flavor in 2020 and expanding to pumpkin and mandarin orange, Two Good became the first dairy product to use 100% verified rescued fruit to reduce food waste at the ground level. With 2.5 billion tons of food going uneaten per year (40% of food grown around the globe), that’s a fine goal indeed.

Two Good closed out 2021 at well over $200 million in retail sales, a 46% increase from the previous year. Even better? For every cup of yogurt purchased, they give a cup of yogurt to someone in need via partnerships with City Harvest and We Don’t Waste. Your move, Jamie Lee Curtis.

(Source: Twitter)

Written by Grace Ferguson and Dan Ketchum.