Hasta La Creative!

Influencer marketing is currently undergoing something of a trust crisis. Recent media attention around problems such as follower buys, perceived inauthenticity and disclosure shortcomings have shaken confidence in partnerships between brands and the influencers with whom they work. Some have gone so far as to question the ultimate effectiveness and staying power of the practice…

Ageism is toxic both for the culture of the advertising industry and its creative output.

The street artist known for taking over billboards with poetry believes advertising has the power to create social change and warns creatives against cynicism.

(TrendHunter.com) The newest lineup of Boosted electric skateboards introduces the Boosted Mini, the brand’s first mini skateboard. Boosted first achieved recognition with its orange-wheeled electric longboard….

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. What people are talking about today: Facebook has been facing relentless PR crises, but its ad sales are doing just great, actually. Facebook had ad revenue of $11.8 billion in the first quarter, up 50 percent from the same period a year ago, as Ad Age’s Garett Sloane writes. For months, the company has faced flak for allowing the spread of misinformation and propaganda made by Russian trolls. Then came the Cambridge Analytica user data privacy scandal — which broke near the end of the first quarter, so its potential impact on ad sales isn’t clear yet. Anyway, this is another reminder that advertisers and users don’t share the same concerns. And also, as Sloane writes, advertisers want more data on Facebook users, not less.

Also: A new nationwide campaign from Facebook reminisces about the good old days of Facebook, when it made us feel “a little less alone.” It promises to put the focus back on friends, like how it was before Facebook’s problems with “spam, clickbait, fake news and data misuse.” Read more by Ad Age’s I-Hsien Sherwood, and watch the spot here. (Trigger warning: This video contains footage of people flashing engagement rings, showing off baby bumps and celebrating their birthdays with friends who look so much more fun than yours. Enjoy!)

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The John Lewis Partnership has launched a new format for its retail tech innovation programme JLAB – which will now run throughout the year.

Outgoing chairman of Cannes Lions, Terry Savage, will join The Marketing Academy as its first global chairman when he leaves his current role in June.

Sir Martin Sorrell stayed too long as WPP chief executive, even before the personal conduct row that abruptly ended his tenure after 32 years.

Billionaire Vincent Bollore was charged by French investigators as part of a probe into the possible use of bribes in two African countries to obtain port contracts from public officials, according to a statement from his company.

The charges stem from a case focusing on suspicions of foul play when Bollore SA was awarded contracts to operate container terminals in Lome, Togo, and Conakry, Guinea. The case has a link to ad group Havas as well. Bollore has wide-ranging business interests, and at the time of the alleged events in 2010, he was Havas’ chairman and controlling shareholder.

Bollore “remains presumed innocent” as the investigation continues, according to the statement. In France, charges are announced prior to any decision on whether to refer the case to trial and can be dropped later. The move allows his defense team to have access to the case files underpinning the allegations, which they haven’t seen so far, and “have the opportunity to answer these unfounded accusations,” according to the statement.

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Innocent, the smoothies brand owned by the Coca Cola Company, is creating a series of dance performances to bring its latest TV ad to life.