Advertising

• WPP PLC is closing two agencies within its Wunderman Thompson network, iStrategyLabs and J. Walter Thompson Inside, as the ad giant streamlines and simplifies company offerings as it faces slimmer marketing budgets and fewer clients. 

• The recently formed advertising group Privacy For America released a 41-page set of principles aimed at shaping future legislation regarding consumer data collection. 

• Total U.S. ad spending in this year will rise 3.4 percent to $245.5 billion, according to a new report from WPP PLC’s GroupM, an increase from its earlier estimate of 1.5 percent growth. Total U.S. ad spending in 2020 is predicted to rise 7.1 percent to $262.9 billion, thanks to political ads, roughly in line with what the group earlier predicted. 

• ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok is increasing its spending “across all functions” in the United States and is considering the introduction of a shopping tool to allow its 1 billion monthly active users to buy directly from brands, Blake Chandlee, the social media app’s head of U.S. advertising partnerships, said in an interview. 

Controversies

• A new Peloton Interactive Inc. ad featuring a woman’s yearlong selfie journey after being gifted a Peloton bike for the holidays drew mocking comments on social media as viewers expressed confusion over the Instagram Story style of the video and criticism from those who said the spot implied the already-slim woman needed to work out more. 

• Amazon.com Inc. removed a number of holiday ornaments, a bottle opener and other items that featured images of Auschwitz after a deluge of online criticism, including from the Twitter account of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland. 

Leadership changes

• Unilever PLC has promoted Conny Braams, formerly its executive vice president of middle Europe, as its first chief digital and marketing officer, replacing Keith Weed, the industry veteran who stepped down as chief marketing officer this year. 

• Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping down from their executive roles at Alphabet Inc., putting Google CEO Sundar Pichai at the helm of both companies as regulators take a closer look at the tech giant’s businesses. 

• We’re less than a month away from the world’s biggest tech show, CES, which will be in Las Vegas on Jan. 7-10.

• Lululemon Athletica Inc. will report earnings on Dec. 11, while Adobe Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. report on Dec. 12.

1) Pantone Declares Another Year of Blue
Jessica Testa, The New York Times

2) People are confused by Peloton’s new holiday ad, which shows a woman taking selfies while riding the bike over the course of a year
Shoshy Ciment, Business Insider

3) Peloton Stock Is Pummeled on Backlash From ‘Gift That Gives’ Ad
Joshua Fineman, Bloomberg

4) Fastest Growing Brands 2019
Morning Consult

5) Ad industry groups unite behind new privacy principles
Garett Sloane, Ad Age

6) The Richest U.S. Counties Are Getting Even Richer
Alexandre Tanzi et al., Bloomberg

7) Personal Income Booms in States With Decisive Role in 2020 Race
Alexandre Tanzi and Wei Lu, Bloomberg

8) Restaurants don’t get the Black Friday boost you might expect. Here’s why
Kate Rogers, CNBC

9) Amazon pulls Auschwitz-themed Christmas ornaments, although other Holocaust merchandise remains on site
Jennifer Hassan, The Washington Post

10) Netflix just made it safe for companies to joke about sex on Twitter
Mary Meisenzahl, Business Insider