Consumers are recoiling at food inflation, punishing manufacturers and retailers that hike prices.

• 😡 Why it matters: After years of rising grocery bills, people are fed up and looking for alternatives — including private-label brands, lower-tier retailers and discounts.

⚠️ Driving the news: General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said today that the company's price-cut decisions over the past year have focused on "price cliffs," or levels where consumers will stop considering their products.

• "We see people switching some categories. We see consumers switching where they purchase, switching channels," he said on an earnings call, referring specifically to consumers making under $100,000 a year.

🏷️ Zoom out: General Mills' price/mix in North America is down about 3% this year, easing slightly after more than 30% in cumulative inflation-driven price increases in recent years. Price cuts have helped boost sales volume but have cut into profitability.

• Competitors are facing similar choices. PepsiCo said earlier this month that it would lower prices in key food brands to boost sales volume.
• And Harmening's comments come a week after Campbell's Co. reported that its attempt to raise prices on some of its ready-to-serve products had backfired.

💸 Follow the money: Looking to save, many consumers — including higher-income folks — have been trading down to store brands and more affordable shops, such as Walmart, Dollar General and Dollar Tree.

The bottom line: The pandemic-sparked bout of price elasticity has ended.

Go deeper

Warner Bros. Discovery's board this morning rejected Paramount's hostile $30-per-share, all-cash offer, unanimously blasting the bid as risky and accusing the company of misleading shareholders, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

• 💵 Among its concerns: the reliability of a backstop from CEO David Ellison's family — the funding the Ellisons have promised to put forward if funding partners back out.

⏳ The onus will now be on Paramount to decide whether or not to increase its offer, which could prompt another bidding war.

What's next: Paramount's tender offer will continue to be open to WBD shareholders until Jan. 8.

• If it can convince a majority (51%) to tender their shares, then Paramount would effectively take control of WBD, but that would be a big uphill battle.

The bottom line: Shareholders need to decide whether it's best to follow the board's lead and support a Netflix offer, take Paramount's $30-per-share offer now, or wait for a bidding war to possibly yield higher offers from both parties.

⚖️ Tricolor Holdings founder Daniel Chu was charged with fraud, leading the subprime auto company into bankruptcy. (AP)

🤖 Amazon is naming Peter DeSantis — who oversees most of the company's AWS engineering teams — as its new AI chief. He'll lead a new group that combines Amazon's AGI, chipmaking and quantum computing research teams, reporting directly to CEO Andy Jassy. (CNBC)

🚀 SpaceX told employees it's entering a quiet period in a move that would set the stage for an IPO in 2026. (Bloomberg)

Chalk up another win for the streamers — The Oscars is moving to YouTube in 2029.

• 📺 The new deal, which gives YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars with the 101st Oscars ceremony in 2029 through 2033, will see the show leaving ABC for the first time in more than 50 years, Sara Fischer writes.

Zoom in: The ceremony will be available live on YouTube's free app globally and on YouTube TV in the United States.

• As part of the deal, YouTube will also broadcast a red carpet pre-show, behind-the-scenes content during the event, the Oscars nomination announcement, the Governor's Awards, and the Oscars nominees, luncheon and other Academy Awards-related content.

The big picture: Landing the Oscars is a major feat for YouTube, which has invested enormously in live rights over the past few years.