Top Stories

  • Anheuser-Busch InBev SA ratcheted up its legal battle with Molson Coors Brewing Co. by filing a counterlawsuit that contends a MillerCoors employee in February received secret recipes for Bud Light and Michelob Ultra from an Anheuser-Busch employee. MillerCoors, whose spokesman denied the allegation, sued Anheuser-Busch in March over a Bud Light Super Bowl ad that MillerCoors said falsely suggested that Miller Lite and Coors Light used corn syrup. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • It’s not even Halloween, but Cost Plus World Market Inc. is kicking off the winter holiday advertising season with a 95-second ad, “The Tradition,” from barrettSF, which tells the story of a father passing on his childhood holiday traditions to his children. The ad will run on the Hallmark Channel and on Hulu. (Adweek)
  • KFC is selling 500 “Seasoned Tickets,” for $75 each, on StubHub, which will grant the ticket holder a weekly order of 48 KFC chicken wings for nine weeks and a final order of 96 wings in the 10th week. The deal, which provides subscribers with 528 wings at a $406.99 value, will be promoted throughout the fast-food brand’s football-themed ad spots. (Ad Age

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Events Calendar (All Times Local)

10/18/2019
Digiday Media Buying Summit
B2B Marketing Summit
Digital Ascendant Conference West
10/20/2019
MediaPost’s TV & Video Insider Summit
10/21/2019
Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2019
Holmes Report’s eighth Global Public Relations Summit
MediaPost’s TV & Video Insider Summit
Incite Group’s Brand Marketing Summit and Social Media Marketing
Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit
10/22/2019
Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit
10/23/2019
Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2019
Holmes Report’s eighth Global Public Relations Summit
MediaPost’s TV & Video Insider Summit
Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit
View full calendar
SPONSORED BY THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL

Poll: Politicians Account for 4 Most Serious Problems in Washington

A new Public Affairs Council poll conducted by Morning Consult examines what outrages people most about Washington politics. Politicians account for the top 4 (out of 10) factors rated as contributing to the Washington, D.C. Swamp. Republicans and Democrats polled found common ground in their frustrations – 72% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats blame politicians who put getting re-elected ahead of acting on their principles.

Advertising

AT&T’s Xandr Prepares to Buy Clypd from RTL
Ronan Shields, Adweek

Trade deal comes amid speculation over parent companies’ ad tech strategies.

Just In Time For Halloween, A Vintage … Hot Dog Ad?
Brian Braiker, Ad Age

Sealed hot dogs are front and center in this seasonal 1966 Armour Star Frank ad, but it’s the whistle that gets us thinking.

GYK Antler CEO Travis York Founds York Creative Collective
Erik Oster, Adweek

Former Arnold CEO Pam Hamlin will lead strategy and operations as president.

‘We realized we could pull it off’: 2 years in, Bayer is on track to take all digital media buying in-house by 2020
Kristina Monllos, Digiday

Bayer didn’t bring programmatic buying in-house on a whim. 

A US Ad Agency Was Behind Those Fake Ads Featuring Marilyn Denis, Mike Holmes, And Ron McLean
Craig Silverman, BuzzFeed News

Ads Inc, which is shutting down in in the wake of a BuzzFeed News Investigation, used the images of some of Canada’s biggest TV stars as part of a massive Facebook scam.

Media and Entertainment

Spirited Away and other Studio Ghibli films find their first-ever streaming home
Aja Romano, Vox

Classic Miyazaki films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro will stream on HBO Max starting next spring.

Apple News Strikes Ad Deal With Verizon And Issues New Guide For Publishers
Garrett Sloane, Ad Age

An inside look into how media partners operate on Apple’s platform.

Stephen Colbert extends ‘Late Show’ contract through 2023
Sarah Whitten, CNBC

Stephen Colbert signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him on “The Late Show” through August 2023.  

Disney films accounted for nearly 40% of the US box office in the first nine months of 2019
Sarah Whitten, CNBC

So far in 2019, Disney films have sold more than $8.1 billion in tickets.

Meet the New Face of the Trump Resistance at Fox News
Gerry Smith, Bloomberg

Anchor Chris Wallace gains attention for tough interviews with Trump aides.

Former Fox RSNs Will Stay On DirecTV After Sinclair, AT&T Strike Carriage Deal
Dade Hayes, Deadline

Ending a period of short-term extensions, AT&T and Sinclair Broadcast Group have reached a carriage deal that will keep the 21 regional sports networks once owned by Fox on DirecTV and other platforms.

Social Media and Technology

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says in interview he fears ‘erosion of truth’ but defends allowing politicians to lie in ads
Tony Romm, The Washington Post

His approach to political speech has come under fire in recent weeks

Facebook looks to improve child protection over fears encryption will raise risks
Madhumita Murgia, Financial Times

Social media group seeks to counter fear that its privacy plan will impede efforts to track abusers.

Video giant Twitch pushes Trump rallies and mass violence into the live-stream age
Drew Harwell and Jay Greene, The Washington Post

Twitch’s evolution shows how quickly the Internet can change.

Facebook’s Tweak May Cause Organic Page Impressions to Drop
David Cohen, Adweek

The social network is rolling out a change to the way it filters that metric through Oct. 28.

Brands are using Instagram to sell colored contacts. They might not be safe to wear.
Terry Nguyen, Vox

Most colored lenses are not FDA approved, but influencers and even average customers are promoting them online.

Snap launches dynamic ads to draw more advertisers
Sheila Dang, Reuters

Snap Inc. said on Thursday it is introducing dynamic advertising that automatically create ads and target audiences in real-time, as the parent company of photo messaging app Snapchat looks to compete for digital ad dollars.

PR and Marketing

Juul Suspends Online Sales of Flavored E-Cigarettes
Sheila Kaplan, The New York Times

Facing multiple inquiries into its marketing practices and its role in the rise of teenage vaping, the company suspended internet access to mango, cucumber and other pods.

When Brand Trump Met Brand Vuitton
Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times

A new workshop in Texas brought the president and the king of luxury together. Is this good or bad for both their brands?

Fred Smith Created FedEx. Now He Has to Reinvent It.
Paul Ziobro, The Wall Street Journal

The 75-year-old CEO confronts the rise of e-commerce and the challenge of Amazon; ‘we’ll let the points be counted up at the end of the game.’

Rothy’s Won’t Chase Trends—It’s Making Them
Ann-Marie Alcantara, Adweek

With new collections, the direct-to-consumer brand is setting itself up for long-term success. 

With WeWork Staff Morale Suffering, Another Top Executive Is Leaving
Ellen Huet, Bloomberg

As WeWork scrambles this week to raise cash needed to keep afloat, several top executives aren’t sticking around to see the results.

N.B.A. Commissioner: China Asked Us to Fire Daryl Morey
Sopan Deb, The New York Times

Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, also said the financial fallout from Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong protesters has been “substantial.”

The shoe industry is at war with itself over stolen design
Elizabeth Segran, Fast Company

The footwear industry produces a whopping 24.8 billion sneakers a year for 7.5 billion humans. To keep up with this pace, brands are ripping each other off.

At Chick-fil-A, new table service means no waiting in line to order
Hilary Russ, Reuters

Fast-food chicken chain Chick-fil-A is turning the tables on in-house dining, unveiling a new sit-down table service through its app that means customers will not have to wait at the counter to order.

Airbnb’s latest stunt is a sleepover in Barbie’s Malibu Dream House
Elizabeth Segran, Fast Company

And it’s not even the most elaborate marketing project the company has launched this year.

A Message from the Public Affairs Council:

Poll: Americans Still Tuning Out Trump’s Tweets

A new Public Affairs Council poll conducted by Morning Consult finds that only 15% of the public read President Trump’s tweets very often, the same percentage as 2018. 63% percent say they rarely or never pay attention to his tweets, up from 60% in 2018. When the president tweets criticisms of specific companies, 80% of Americans don’t change their opinions. Only 11% say they have a less favorable opinion of the company.

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

Can Shoppers Hold Up Global Growth?
Daniel Moss, Bloomberg

The world’s two biggest economies have become reliant on consumers. That pillar is looking increasingly fragile.

Morning Consult