Sony’s latest ad for the newly released PlayStation 5, by adam&eveDDB, is so epic and action-packed that at first glance, one might mistake it for a movie trailer. The 60-second spot shows a man in a small boat on a rolling ocean who is suddenly surrounded by pirates and airships as his craft is drawn…
Next to the oil industry, the apparel business–with its water use, fabric dyeing and high waste rate–is the most polluting business in existence, sending a quarter of the planet’s carbon emissions into the air. Increased consumer concern over this issue has led not only to the rise of ethical clothing brands such as Threads 4…
Over the weekend, Twitter users began to notice something potentially prejudiced about the way the social network’s algorithm crops photos for thumbnails: Post an image containing two headshots–one of a person of color and one of a white person–and the automatic feature seems more likely to zoom in on the latter in the image preview….
The procedures necessary for Norwegian and Royal Caribbean to get back in the water amid a global health crisis are fairly straightforward: test, test, test. That’s what the cruise lines have told the Centers for Disease Control and prevention in a joint 66-page report, which came out of a conference back in July, that features…
A TikTok account created by two BBDO Atlanta creatives for Street Grace, a nonprofit dedicated to ending child trafficking and exploitation, is trying to attract the attention of Gen Z via videos that share bite-sized facts and advice on how to stay safe. It’s the latest collaboration between the agency and Street Grace. Last year,…
Key Insight: Ratings for TV’s biggest award shows had been falling even prior to the pandemic. Sunday’s telecast of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, the first to be produced remotely due to Covid-19, went remarkably smoothly, even though the show’s producers had been bracing for the worst. The ABC ceremony’s ratings, however, were another story:…
At a time when apparel brands such as Lucky, J. Crew and John Varvados are sliding into bankruptcy and analysts are forecasting the final chapter of the department-store era, Walmart has made yet another decisive grab for a share of the apparel segment. Earlier today, the big-box retailer announced the debut of a private-label brand…
Facebook Monday introduced Rights Manager for Images, a new version of its Rights Manager intellectual property protection tool that uses image matching technology to help creators and publishers protect and manage their images at scale. Page administrators can submit applications here for content they have created and wish to protect, and Rights Manager will find…
For fans of epic space adventures, there is a debate that will never die: Star Wars or Star Trek? And those who take a side tend to stick to it vehemently. UberEats has brought that rivalry to life in a new ad campaign by agency Special Group Australia featuring Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker…
Instagram is teaming up with My Block, My Hood, My City and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on two-day virtual small business festival Experience Chicago. The event takes place Tuesday and Wednesday (Sept. 22 and 23)–during the rescheduled National Small Business Week and Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month–and the goal is to shine a…
Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here. How CEO Gary Friedman Built Restoration Hardware Into RH, a…
Earlier this month, McDonald’s launched a promotion with Houston-based rapper Travis Scott by naming a meal after him, the first such deal of its kind in nearly three decades. The last time a celebrity had a meal named after them, it was NBA superstar Michael Jordan during the height of the Chicago Bulls hype in…
The Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lighting begin their battle for one of sports’ most iconic trophies when the puck drops for game one of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Final Saturday night, and Twitter shared some data, along with details on related initiatives during the games. The social network said there were 22%…
Sometimes, food is so good, it makes you want to sing. That’s especially the case for iconic crooner Michael Bolton, who was moved to song by Panera Bread’s latest addition to its menu, Broccoli Cheddar Mac and Cheese, in a new digital short video for the fast-casual chain from creative agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners,…
Mozilla continued to take YouTube’s recommendations engine to task, this time in the form of an extension for its Firefox browser and Google Chrome. The nonprofit released the RegretsReporter extension this week with the aim of crowdsourcing research into issues with YouTube’s recommendations engine and better understanding why those issues exist. Mozilla vice president of…
WD-40 is one of those rare successful products that defies basic branding conventions. Nobody agrees on exactly what’s it’s good for, since the product has over 2,000 documented uses (among them debugging windshields and removing chewing gum). Few people know what the name means, either (but just for the record, it’s Water Displacement, version No….
Americans will be unable to download TikTok on mobile devices through American app marketplaces after Sunday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced today. However, the administration extended its earliest deadline for ByteDance to sell the popular social video app to Nov. 12. Ross, who also took action against Tencent-owned messaging app WeChat, said the decision was…
Week two of the 2020 National Football League season kicks off Thursday night with the Cincinnati Bengals visiting the Cleveland Browns, and Twitter shared some highlights on its platform from the campaign’s first week. The social network said it had the most NFL video views among all social platforms for week one, including highlights and…
With the southeastern United States in the midst of a brutal hurricane season, Stillhouse whiskey is looking to help residents of storm-prone areas prepare with window shutters inspired by its own packaging material. The Bacardi-owned brand is partnering with disaster relief nonprofit SBP to provide 400 metal shutter panels to homes across Florida’s panhandle. The…
If you’re a gin drinker, someone searching for a cheap wireless plan or happen to be shopping around for an ad agency, odds are you’ve heard of Aviation Gin, Mint Mobile and Maximum Effort–three ventures that occupy the time of Ryan Reynolds. And even if none of these circumstances applies to you, odds are you’ve…
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