Tech earnings take over.

Quarterly results from Microsoft (Tuesday), Alphabet Inc. (Tuesday), Meta Platforms Inc. (Wednesday) and Amazon.com Inc. (Thursday) will dominate headlines this week, with special attention likely paid to the companies’ competing investments in artificial intelligence. Be on the lookout for a new story from me tomorrow about how U.S. consumers are responding to Corporate America’s big AI marketing push.

Several major food and beverage players will also report earnings this week, including The Coca-Cola Co. on Monday and Pepsico Inc., McDonald’s Corp. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. on Tuesday. 

Ad Age’s A-List & Creativity Awards Gala is tomorrow.

Leaders and rising stars from across the advertising ecosystem will gather at Cipriani in New York City for this annual celebration of the industry’s most innovative ideas, agencies, people and work. This year’s ceremony features a new prize category, “Best Use of TikTok,” the finalists for which include State Farm and Yum! Brands Taco Bell.

The Insights Association is hosting its Annual Conference in Hilton Head. 

This three-day event, running Monday through Wednesday, will allow market and consumer insights professionals to explore emerging trends and quality advancements across four research disciplines: qualitative, quantitative, behavioral and experience. Headlining presenters represent prominent brands like The Kellogg Co., Walmart Inc., Merck & Co. Inc. and  LinkedIn Corp.

MediaPost’s Outfront Forum is Wednesday in New York. 

Media buyers will gather at this half-day event to discuss short and long-term industry outlooks in advance of the Upfront season’s formal kickoff in May. DirectTV and Roku Inc. are scheduled to deliver advertising spotlight presentations. 

AMA’s annual BrandSmart gathering is on Thursday at Chicago’s Navy Pier. 

The main topic at this year’s BrandSmart, the longest-running brand marketing conference in the United States, is brand resilience. Marketing leaders at top agencies (VMLY&R, Edelman) and companies (Coca-Cola, Sirius XM Holdings Inc.) will hold mainstage seminars on maintaining brand health amid constant consumer behavior changes and economic challenges.

• Twitter removed “government-funded media” labels from the primary accounts of several news organizations, including National Public Radio (NPR) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), both of which stopped posting content to the platform in recent days in response to the labeling. (Reuters) 
• Alphabet Inc.’s Google is reportedly planning to roll out a suite of AI-powered advertising tools over the coming months, marking its latest push to incorporate the emerging technology into existing offerings. According to an internal presentation viewed by the Financial Times, the products will be able to create sophisticated ad campaigns from inputs provided by human marketers, such as reference images or stated target audiences. (Financial Times) 
• Netflix Inc. announced a series of major changes on its earnings call Tuesday, including plans to roll out password-sharing restrictions by the end of June and to sunset its DVD rental business in September. The streaming giant also said it added 1.75 million subscribers globally during the first quarter, continuing a trend of slower growth compared with what the company saw in the pandemic’s early months. (The Wall Street Journal)
• The Media Ratings Council reinstated Nielsen Corp.’s national TV ratings system accreditation after an independent auditor review of the company’s progress. The measurement firm initially lost the critical industry stamp of approval in 2021 when it was found to have undercounted TV audiences. (Axios)
• Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement on Friday in response to nearly two weeks of backlash from conservatives over Bud Light’s partnership with a transgender social media influencer, saying the brand “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” Whitworth also said that the brewer is “in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” but did not include any direct reference to the anti-trans sentiment driving the controversy. (Bloomberg)
• Netflix Inc. tweeted an apology Sunday night after the live reunion special of its original dating show “Love Is Blind” was delayed by more than an hour for many subscribers. The snafu caused a social media firestorm as users poked fun at the streaming giant and questioned its live event competency. (NBC News)
• The Federal Trade Commission issued warnings to nearly 700 companies about facing penalties — some of which could total hundreds of millions of dollars — for making misleading or unsubstantiated claims in marketing materials. The move reflects the regulatory agency’s newly adopted aggressive focus on deceptive advertising, which has included targeting brands for everything from sustainability claims to fake online reviews. (The Wall Street Journal)

57%

The share of self-identified NHL fans who said they support leagues’ hosting LGBTQ+ pride events, according to a new Morning Consult survey featured in my colleague Mark J. Burns’ latest story. The Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks were among a handful of teams that scrapped plans for such theme nights throughout the 2022-2023 season. 

Later this week, I’ll have a story exploring consumer sentiment toward brands’ marketing campaigns aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion, in response to the ongoing right-wing backlash against Bud Light for partnering with a trans influencer.

1) Nike Has a Plan to Take Digital Goods Mainstream. Just Don’t Call Them NFTs.

Marc Bain, Business of Fashion

2) Anheuser-Busch Response to Bud Light Controversy Fails to Mention Anti-Trans Backlash 

Ella Ceron, Bloomberg

3) How the Eating Habits of Remote, Hybrid and Office Workers Differ 

Emily Moquin, Morning Consult

4) The Future of Social Media Is a Lot Less Social

Brian X. Chen, The New York Times

5) DeSantis’s Florida board just discovered another “11th-hour agreement” shielding Disney from its oversight

Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz

6) FTC Alerts Nearly 700 Companies About Potential Penalties for Misleading Claims

Patrick Coffee,The Wall Street Journal

7) Monthly retail sales from the US Commerce Department

Daphne Howland and Caroline Jansen, Retail Dive

8) Bud Light Kicked a Hornet’s Nest and Ran Away 

Ben Schott, Bloomberg 

9) You need to establish a personal brand to succeed in the workplace of tomorrow—here’s how

Aliza Licht, Fast Company

10) Apple launches its savings account with 4.15% interest rate

Ashley Capoot, CNBC

• AI in Hiring and Evaluating Workers: What Americans Think (Pew Research Center)
• Disney tells its lobbyists to step up fight against DeSantis and his allies in Florida  (CNBC)
• Ikea stores coming soon to 8 new US locations (CNN)
• Apple CEO Tim Cook Meets India Prime Minister Modi, in Move Diversifying Supply Chain (The Wall Street Journal)
• Postmates makes 4/20 its best brand holiday with a hoodie built for eating takeout (Fast Company)
• Barbie and Gap Team Up on New Collection Ahead of Blockbuster Movie (Ad Age)
• Coach Tests ‘Circular’ Coachtopia Sub-Brand (Business of Fashion)
• Dick’s Sporting Goods Hires New CMO (Ad Age)
• Instagram takes on Linktree and others with support for up to 5 ‘links in bio’ (TechCrunch) 
• Meta Tries to Lure Advertisers With Reels Discounts, AI Tools (The Information)
• McDonald’s is upgrading its burgers (CNN)
• Lululemon Is Exploring a Sale of Mirror Fitness Unit It Bought in 2020 (Bloomberg)