Super Bowl

• Planters is successfully drumming up attention for its Super Bowl ad after announcing in a pregame ad the death of its 104-year-old mascot, Mr. Peanut, who perished to save actors Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh during a road trip. 

• During the Super Bowl, Fox will run its own promotional ads alongside campaign ads from President Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg so that other advertisers aren’t sharing the same commercial breaks as the politicians, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump’s ad is expected to run during the first half, while Bloomberg’s will appear during halftime, a second source said.

• Tide is coming back to the Super Bowl after taking 2019 off and after a successful 2018 multi-spot campaign featuring “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour, who argued in a commercial during every quarter of the big game that every ad could be a Tide ad if the clothes are clean.

Advertising

• Kotex launched a new ad campaign on social media and streaming TV depicting menstrual blood as red, making it the first big brand to show a realistic blood-red fluid, instead of the usual antiseptic-blue liquid, when marketing a menstrual product. 

• Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings reiterated that there is no reason to change its “simpler” ad-free business model as the streaming wars heat up because Netflix is “not interested” in investing heavily in the infrastructure required to sell ads on a streaming platform as Google and Amazon.com Inc. do, plus the company prefers to stay out of government crosshairs when it comes to user data privacy. 

• The Association of National Advertisers appointed L’Oreal USA and Colgate-Palmolive Co. alum Nadine Karp McHugh to serve as the president of its SeeHer initiative, a new position for the four-year program aimed at pushing for more accurate portrayals of women and girls in advertising.

Departures

• Bill Abbott, CEO of the parent company of the Hallmark Channel, is abruptly stepping down weeks after the network sparked a controversy over its decision to pull ads that featured a same-sex wedding, a move that was later reversed. 

• Gap Inc. confirmed that CMO Alegra O’Hare has left the company just shy of a year after taking on the role, as the clothing brand looks to “redefine” the position. 

• Companies reporting earnings this week include Apple Inc. (Jan. 28), McDonald’s Corp. (Jan. 28), Starbucks Corp. (Jan. 28), Microsoft Corp. (Jan. 28), Amazon (Jan. 29), Boeing Co. (Jan. 29) and Hershey Co. (Jan. 30).

• Super Bowl LIV, and its annual showcase of the advertising industry’s most creative work, airs Feb. 2.

• The Public Affairs Council’s four-day Advocacy Conference — aimed at teaching best practices in grassroots, communications and engagement strategy — kicks off Feb. 3 in Las Vegas. Representatives from eBay Inc., Target Corp. and the National Retail Federation will be in attendance. Also, Morning Consult Managing Director Caroline Bye will be presenting new polling data during a panel on social media, political advertising and the 2020 election.

1) Brands Should Be Wary of Bragging About Doing the Right Thing, Polling Shows
Joanna Piacenza, Morning Consult

2) Planters really has killed off Mr. Peanut, with a funeral planned for the Super Bowl
Jessica Wohl, Ad Age

3) 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer
Edelman

4) This Company Says It Will Fix Your Smile. It May Shush You if It Doesn’t.
Erin Griffith and Peter Eavis, The New York Times

5) Planters kills off its mascot in supposed Super Bowl commercial leak
Jessica Wohl, Ad Age

6) Google’s latest user-hostile design change makes ads and search results look identical
Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch

7) Gap looks to ‘redefine’ CMO role as Alegra O’Hare exits after 11 months
Katie Deighton, The Drum

8) The rise and fall of Bed Bath & Beyond, one of America’s most iconic big box retailers
Bethany Biron, Business Insider

9) Hallmark TV Chief Leaves After Dispute Over Same-Sex Wedding Ad
John Koblin, The New York Times

10) Industry standouts: The companies most admired by the business world
Scott DeCarlo and Matthew Heimer, Fortune