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Your favorite podcast might be making thousands for inviting guests
Podcast guests are frequently paying to appear on popular shows — as much as $50,000.
You won't get a Twitch 2021 recap if you switched off marketing emails
If you hate junk mail, you might have missed out.
Apple ditches its ‘far beyond HDR’ claim for the Pro Display XDR in the UK
The Advertising Standards Authority reportedly asked the company to stop using the phrase.
KFC made a bucket-shaped gaming PC that warms chicken
“KFC and Cooler Master have unveiled a bucket-shaped gaming PC that also warms chicken,” is a sentence I never expected to write in my tech journalism career.
KFC slips ads into Spotify Premium through artist profiles
You might not avoid ads in Spotify just because you pay for a Premium account. KFC Middle East and the ad agency Memac Ogilvy recently ran a promo campaign for the Kentucky Burger by taking over the profiles of artists Flipperachi, Moh Flow and Shébani. Their photos, bios, event calendars and even their playlists all pitched the chicken burger whether you cared for it or not.
Snapchat will host exclusive NBC Olympics coverage
The 2020 Olympic Summer Games don't commence for six months, but plenty of marketing work goes into the international event well beforehand. NBC, which owns the media rights to the Olympic Games, has renewed its deal with Snap to publish daily coverage of competitions in the US. The two companies have partnered before, with similar deals involving the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, this year's deal ensures far more content: NBC will produce more than 70 episodes for Snapchat -- three times than in 2018, according to Variety.
NY Attorney General sues Juul for deceptive marketing
Yesterday, California filed a lawsuit against e-cigarette company Juul for allegedly targeting underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices. Today, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a similar lawsuit against Juul "for deceptive and misleading marketing of its e-cigarettes, which contributed to the ongoing youth vaping epidemic in New York State."
California is suing Juul for allegedly targeting minors
California is suing e-cigarette maker Juul. The lawsuit alleges that Juul targeted underage Californians with its marketing and sales practices, failed to warn consumers of their exposure to chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects, failed to properly verify the age of its customers and violated the privacy rights of minors by retaining their email addresses even when they failed age verification. Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and the County of Los Angeles announced the lawsuit today.
Amazon told to stop tricking UK users into signing up for Prime
Think Amazon is a little too eager to sign you up for Prime? You're not alone. The UK ad industry's Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an Amazon promo for Prime was "likely to mislead" and could have tricked users into subscribing to the service. A page in the checkout process pitched a 30-day Prime trial and prominently displayed a gold "order now with Prime" button, complete with a gray box promising "free one-day delivery," but relegated the skip option to a plain, subdued "continue and don't gain Amazon Prime benefits" link. This may have made it look like the only two options were the gold and gray boxes signing you up for Prime, the ASA said.
Samsung's 'SpaceSelfie' balloon crashed in someone's yard
Samsung is learning first-hand about the risks of using high-altitude balloons for promotional stunts. A Michigan couple found the phone maker's "SpaceSelfie" balloon (meant to pitch the Galaxy S10) in their yard after it crashed to Earth on October 26th. The vessel didn't hurt anyone or damage property, but it was clearly a less-than-ideal touchdown -- Samsung characterized it as an "early soft landing in a selected rural area" that was prompted by US weather conditions.
The FTC is reportedly investigating Juul's teen marketing tactics
Juul is facing yet another investigation. This time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into the company's marketing practices. It will decide whether Juul used deceptive marketing, including targeting minors and using social media influences, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. The FTC may seek monetary damages.
The North Face gamed Wikipedia to boost Google searches
Apparel giant The North Face apparently resorted to some less-than-scrupulous tactics to ensure its gear stood out in search results. The Wikimedia Foundation reported that The North Face and its ad agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made admitted to having "unethically manipulated" Wikipedia for the sake of a campaign. In a video, the two firms said they switched Wikipedia photos with their own to ensure that North Face would show at the top of Google when people searched for adventure. It claimed that it had been "collaborating with Wikipedia," but the site denied this -- it even pointed to the companies boasting that they avoided attention from Wikipedia moderators.
Samsung's US marketing lead quits following department investigation
Samsung's US marketing team is in the midst of turmoil, and that might include some high-profile casualties. Wall Street Journal sources claim that Samsung recently fired "several" workers in its American marketing division after an internal investigation into possible violations of policies through dealings with business partners. Not long after, Samsung's marketing chief Marc Mathieu (above) and VP of media and partnerships Jay Altschuler both left -- it's not clear that the events are connected, but the timing is at least raising eyebrows.
Apple's new augmented reality exec shows how important the tech is
Bloomberg points out that an executive formerly in charge of iPhone marketing for carriers, Frank Casanova, has a new title: "Senior Director, Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple Augmented Reality." While Google is dipping its toe into using AR to enhance Google Maps, Apple also has major plans for the technology that could impact its rollout of future iPhones and iPads. In a world where profits from iPhones, iPads and Watches may have already peaked, adding the flair of reality-enhancing features could encourage people to upgrade their phones earlier, if not buy all-new hardware like headsets. Over the last couple of years Apple has tipped its vision of AR as something made for use in a shared world with people operating virtual objects as easily as real ones via ARKit-powered experiences. While LG is promising a front-facing "time of flight" camera in its next flagship phone that could enhance AR, the latest rumor from Bloomberg suggests a similar laser-assisted approach could come to the iPhone's rear-facing cameras by 2020. Putting someone like Casanova in place now is a hint at the importance of AR going forward. Stuff like Pokémon Go or simple face filters are just the beginning, once things go all Dennou Coil it will just be another battlefield for tech giants, and Apple is already preparing.
Google kills off Android’s spam-ridden Nearby Notifications
After launching just three years ago, Google is putting an end to Nearby Notifications on Android. The feature, which was intended to serve up location-specific information, had recently become inundated with marketers and spammers. Android users will stop receiving Nearby Notifications entirely on December 6.
Google-backed startup's chat bots turn ads into conversations
AdLingo, a marketing platform fresh out of Google's Area 120 incubator program, is making advertisements "conversational" with the help of AI. AdLingo doesn't build its own chatbots, but instead connects third-party chatbot tools with a company's marketing department.
Netflix is distancing itself from the term 'binge-watching'
The Oxford online dictionary has seen a spate of zeitgeist-related inclusions in recent times – 2014 was a particularly busy year, with "yolo," "clickbait" and "adorbs" working their way into the wordy hall of fame. Ditto "binge-watch," a term used to describe the consecutive hours and hours lost to watching new series releases, and often synonymous with Netflix, the platform that facilitates exactly that. But it seems Netflix isn't too keen on that phrase.
Marketers collected personal info from closed Facebook groups
It looks like Facebook has another privacy issue on its hands, this time over its closed groups. CNBC reports that Andrea Downing, a moderator of a closed Facebook group, discovered that a Chrome extension called Grouply.io let her download names, employers, locations, email addresses and other info on the group's 9,000 members. The finding was especially troubling given that the group is for women who a have gene associated with a greater risk of developing breast cancer, medical information many don't want to share widely outside of the group.
Pizza Hut's 'smart' shoes turn you into a fashionable couch potato
When it comes to fast-food PR stunts, Pizza Hut doesn't hold back. Seriously, this is the company that's made a jacket that keeps you as warm as, well, a pizza. The ridiculous garment came with the same insulating materials as those used in Pizza Hut's delivery pouches, including an inner pocket where you can fit a naked slice to take on the go, because why not. But, as mind-boggling as the parka is, Pizza Hut's best stunt might be the Pie Tops II, a pair of sneakers that let you order a pie and control your DVR right from the tongues.
Google uses AI to place ads across the internet
Google's ubiquitous AdSense ads are already heavily automated by their nature (they're targeted based on a look at a site's content), but it's taking that hands-off approach one step further. The search firm has officially launched Auto Ads, a system that uses machine learning to not only determine the types of ads you see, but how they're placed. The AI technology will decide how many ads are appropriate for a page and where to put them. Advertisers have to give up control, but Google has bet that they won't mind the results. A long beta test saw publishers rake in an average of 10 percent more revenue.
