• Activision Blizzard Inc. is facing another lawsuit, this time from employees and the media labor union Communications Workers of America who claim the video game company used intimidation tactics to stop workers from unionizing. Amid the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard announced two new senior hires: Chief People Officer Julie Hodges, who comes from human resources at Walt Disney Co., and Chief Commercial Officer Sandeep Dube from Delta Air Lines Inc. (The Washington Post)
• Fox Corp. will conduct daily COVID-19 testing of its unvaccinated employees, the company said in a memo, as it deals with scrutiny over Fox News personalities promoting vaccine skepticism. About 90 percent of Fox employees are vaccinated, according to a memo from Kevin Lord, the executive who oversees human resources for the media company. (Variety)
• Apple Inc. unveiled its new 5G-enabled iPhone 13 series, as well as several refreshes to the iPad and Watch, during its annual event on Tuesday. The announcements came amid a difficult time for the world’s most valuable company as it faces public labor disputes and an antitrust lawsuit from Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. — which recently ended with a court ordering Apple to make changes to its App Store. (Financial Times)

Comfort With Shopping Malls Ticks Back Down After Two Weeks of Increases

Morning Consult

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Facebook Promotes Video Ads As Solution For Brand Safety

Garett Sloane, Ad Age

Social media giant discusses quality control in video at IAB event.

Call of the great outdoors fades for advertisers during muted commuting

Alistair Gray, Financial Times

Spending on billboards and travel hubs predicted to remain below pre-pandemic level until at least 2023.

NFL Data Finds Audiences Where Commercials Can’t

Jason Notte, Adweek

How marketers can locate underserved niches in football’s massive following.

Integral Ad Science: Contextual ads are effective in driving brand recall 

Sabrina Sanchez, PRWeek

The study suggests that contextual ads could be a viable alternative to cookies.

TikTok taps Mediaocean to expand ad sales: ‘Market the way consumers consume’

John McCarthy, The Drum

TikTok has partnered with media intelligence company Mediaocean to open its inventory to a broader audience and pit it against digital rivals.

WW appoints TMW Unlimited as its creative agency

Fayola Douglas, Campaign

Weight loss and wellness brand WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, has appointed TMW Unlimited as its creative agency following a three-way pitch.

Uber And Anheuser-Busch Work With MADD To Fight Drunk Driving

Sydney Gold, Ad Age

The “Decide to Ride” campaign features ads, Uber discounts and Snapchat filters.

Steph Curry’s Unanimous Media Signs Massive Talent Deal With Comcast NBCUniversal

Matt Donnelly, Variety

NBA star Stephen Curry and his Unanimous Media production label have signed a sweeping, first-of-its-kind talent deal with Comcast NBCUniversal.

Comcast Faces $2 Billion U.S. Battle for Premier League Rights

Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg

Having secured the rights to the Olympics and the National Football League well into the next decade, Comcast Corp. is now turning its attention to another major sports franchise: the English Premier League.

‘Sunday Night Football’ Season Opener Viewership Slips To Multi-Year Low; CBS Tops NFL Games With Cleveland-KC Afternoon Matchup

Dominic Patten, Deadline

Once again, the matchup was played in the City of Angels, once again the Rams won (34-14), and once again NBC took a viewership drubbing.

MTV’s VMAs Ratings Slip 17% Among Adults 18-49

Tony Maglio, The Wrap

Sunday’s VMAs on MTV alone had a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. The negative movement in that important demo is actually pretty positive when you consider the fact that many recent awards shows dropped 50% year to year.

Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show

Georgia Wells et al., The Wall Street Journal

Its own in-depth research shows a significant teen mental-health issue that Facebook plays down in public.

TikTok rolls out features to help teens’ mental health as Instagram comes under fire

Salvador Rodriguez, CNBC

TikTok’s announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that said Facebook has repeatedly found its Instagram app is harmful to a number of teenagers. TikTok’s new features will direct users to support, such as a Crisis Text Line if they search for the term suicide.

App Annie and co-founder charged with securities fraud, will pay $10M+ settlement

Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged App Annie, a leading mobile data and analytics firm, as well as its co-founder and former CEO and Chairman Bertrand Schmitt, with securities fraud.

Snap Inc hires first global head of platform safety

Elizabeth Culliford, Reuters

Snapchat’s owner has hired a longtime online safety advocate as its first global head of platform safety, as the company continues to ramp up efforts around user safety and as social media firms face mounting global pressure from regulators and lawmakers.

Companies are coworking in the metaverse to stave off Zoom burnout and spark new types of collaboration

Alexander Lee, Digiday

Many companies have adopted virtual communication tools to make up for in-person collaboration, but those channels have come with limitations.

The battle between Twitch and YouTube has only just begun

Nathan Grayson, The Washington Post

YouTube, the once silent behemoth in Twitch’s midst, is starting to make some noise.

Comcast will soon launch smart TVs under its new XClass TV brand

Janko Roettgers, Protocol

The cable company is getting ready to launch two smart TV models manufactured by Hisense.

Payment Jewelry Still Has Its Fans, Despite Smartwatch Dominance

Katie Deighton, The Wall Street Journal

Smaller companies say rings and bracelets with payment technology are selling well, even as some banks retreat from wearable jewelry.

Sam’s Club Boosts Starting Wage to $15 an Hour

Brendan Case, Bloomberg

Sam’s Club is boosting its starting wage to $15 an hour as of Sept. 25, joining a rush by retailers to increase pay in a tight labor market. 

Amazon plans to hire another 125,000 employees, paying them an average of $18 per hour

Samantha Subin, CNBC

The roles come in addition to the 40,000 corporate and tech jobs the company said it was hiring for earlier this month.

Wells Fargo Pushes Back Return-to-Office Date Again to Nov. 1

Hannah Levitt, Bloomberg

The firm, which has the biggest workforce of any U.S. bank, will now begin bringing back employees who have been working remotely starting Nov. 1, according to an internal memo Tuesday from Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell. 

Biden to Meet With Top Executives on Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate

Sabrina Siddiqui, The Wall Street Journal

Microsoft, Walgreens and others are expected to give their input after president announced plan to contain pandemic.

How Delta Air Lines mandated employee vaccinations without losing workers

Courtney Vinopal, Quartz

US president Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 order directing companies with more than 100 workers to require Covid-19 vaccinations or weekly testing has caused concern among some business owners, who worry workers will quit as a result of the mandate.

Casper cuts its CMO, CTO and COO amid further layoffs

Natasha Mascarenhas, TechCrunch

Casper has laid off dozens of employees, including three C-Level executives: its chief marketing officer, chief technology officer and chief operating officer, sources say. The mattress company declined to comment.

Warburg Pincus-backed firm buys Odwalla brand from Coca-Cola

Krystal Hu, Reuters

Full Sail IP Partners, a Warburg Pincus-backed investment firm that acquires brands, told Reuters it has bought the rights to Odwalla from Coca-Cola Co in a bid to revive the juice and smoothie label that the soft drinks giant discontinued last year.

Groceries nationwide in 30 minutes? Instacart and Kroger say yes

Zlati Meyer, Fast Company

Breakfast cereal and a package of raw chicken can be at your door in as little as 30 minutes, according to a new grocery delivery service unveiled yesterday.

Regulators across the US are targeting the food delivery industry

Michelle Cheng, Quartz

Recently, New York City and San Francisco placed permanent fee caps over how much third-party delivery services could charge restaurants.

Robinhood Is Going on a College Tour to Recruit New Customers

Peter Rudegeair and Caitlin McCabe, The Wall Street Journal

The app criticized for gamifying trading is kicking off a nationwide push to court students, including a shot at a $20,000 prize.

EV start-up Rivian beats Tesla, GM, Ford as first automaker to produce electric pickup

Michael Wayland, CNBC

EV start-up Rivian is the first automaker to bring an electric pickup to the consumer market, beating Tesla, General Motors and others in what’s expected to be a hotly contested segment in the years ahead.