Can an automotive ad that doesn't mention or show any cars turn buyers on to the idea of dropping up to $80,000 on an electric vehicle? That's one of several questions raised by the debut of a new Volvo ad that recently aired in Saudi Arabia. Produced by Dubai-based Lion Creative for Volvo's Europe, Middle...
It turns out that Gen Z is often just as anxious about artificial intelligence booting them from a job as many other people. One of the most common assumptions made in corporate America over the last quarter century is that "digital natives"--a term coined by educator Marc Prensky in 2001--are inherently comfortable with digital technology....
Earlier this month, when a driver on his way to the Big Ten collegiate athletic conference saw the flashing lights of a police car behind him, he pulled over. It's easy to see how he caught the cops' attention. The vehicle heading for Sacramento was a 20-foot-long fiberglass almond weighing 10,600 pounds and powered by...
In a development that's startled analysts and serves as a reminder that shorter tenures apply to CEOs and CMOs alike, consumer products giant Unilever announced that its chief executive will step down after a tenure of 1 year and 10 months. Hein Schumacher will leave the CEO's office on May 31st, to be replaced by...
When the Swedish apparel retailer signed up Karl Lagerfeld to design a limited-time collection in 2004, it raised hackles in haute couture circles. But after the entire Karl Lagerfeld x H&M collection sold out in a few hours, H&M never looked back. For the ensuing 20 years, it signed deals with a who's who of...
Earlier today, nonprofit She Runs It unveiled its 62nd annual Women of the Year, three executives who embody She Runs It's mission and esprit de corps. The 2025 honorees are Alicia Tillman, CMO of Delta Air Lines; Sarah Hofstetter, president of ecommerce analytics platform Profitero; and Katie Williams, the United States CMO for the British...
The Peter Gabriel song "Solsbury Hill"--written just after the vocalist departed the prog-rock band Genesis--has been a radio mainstay since its 1977 release. Its galloping 7/4 time and catchy guitar riff have blessed it with eternal pop life, casting it in countless movies and TV shows. And for those who've somehow never heard the tune,...
Since the poet Geoffrey Chaucer linked St. Valentine's Day with the beginning of birds' mating season, the holiday has been synonymous with love, romance, and sex. National Retail Federation data shows that 56% of consumers will buy some sort of gift for a loved one on February 14, and 61% of couples report that the...
In 2023, a self-styled influencer in the U.K. sent an email asking for a free car in exchange for touting the brand to her 33,000 Instagram fans. She didn't get the car. What she did get was a social media storm of fury over her having the gall to ask for such a big gift....
Kanye West has never been easy to figure out, even before he became radioactive goods following antisemitic rantings on social media in 2022 and an appearance on Alex Jones' show InfoWars in which he announced, "I like Hitler." Over the years, the multiplatinum-selling rapper has also dined with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, announced that George...
At a time when the country is deeply and evenly split along political lines, it's not surprising that this year's crop of Super Bowl ads is playing it safe by trotting out the creatures. Mountain Dew's got singing seals, Coors Light's got sloths, Booking.com's got the Muppets. Oh right, and Totino's has a space alien--Chazmo....
Nostalgia's always been one of the most reliable instruments in the marketer's toolkit. Kantar data shows that a touch of nostalgia in an ad can result in a 9-point increase in emotional connection and 15-point boost in enjoyability. Little wonder, then, that nostalgia is so often deployed--arguably to its greatest effect--in Super Bowl ads. This...
THE AD: It's more of a non-ad, really. Angel Soft's new mascot, Angel, breaks the fourth wall and orders viewers to take a bathroom break--a directive that takes 10 seconds. The spot's remaining 20 seconds feature a countdown clock. That's it. To those who remain couchbound, a frustrated Angel scolds, "Do not watch this!"--meaning, the...
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control cautions that people who put off needed bathroom breaks aren't just making themselves uncomfortable, they're running a higher risk for urinary tract infections as well as bowel, bladder, and kidney disorders. Full bladders can be painful and distracting enough that sufferers actually run a higher risk of injuring their...
THE AD: Actress and writer Issa Rae is running late for her appointment at one of those dreary chain tax-prep places. She speeds through traffic, snares a parking place, and then stumbles out with a box full of receipts--only to find that the office is closed. Fortunately, it was all a bad dream and Rae...
If you look past the predictable profusion of celebrities in this year's Super Bowl ads, you might see a lot of something else: creatures. NerdWallet's got a talking Beluga whale and Totino's has a bearded space alien. Instacart has the Energizer Bunny and Heinz's galloping dachshunds, among many other brand mascots, mostly non-human. Mountain Dew...
According to 2024 data from the Pew Research Center, over half of Americans (53%) say they are very bothered by the complexity of the American tax system. And, in their defense, there's a lot to be bothered by: the Internal Revenue Code now fills no fewer than 4,192 pages. Little wonder that every April, 79%...
THE AD: After making friends with a bunch of suburban kids in a Totino's spot released in October, Chazmo--the pizza-roll-eating space alien--has decided it's time to return home. Regrettably, a mechanical mishap with his spaceship kills Chazmo instead. MY HOT TAKE: Boys aged 12 to19 consume more pizza than any other demographic, so why is...
As the General Mills marketing people tell it: "When Rose and Tim Totino opened their first pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951, they probably never imagined that they'd be serving up 300 million Totino's Party Pizza each year." Here's another thing Rose and Tim could never have imagined: an alien hawking their frozen pizza rolls...
For football fans curious to know the history of New Orleans' Caesars Superdome--which will host Super Bowl 59 on Sunday--its homepage features an interactive timeline brimming with trivia. Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, and Taylor Swift have packed the Superdome's seats. Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard have boxed beneath its dome. The 50-year-old venue has...
