A teddy bear is typically a symbol of childhood innocence, comfort, and play. But in a harrowing ad from nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, the stuffed animal serves as a stark reminder of how the gun violence epidemic is impacting childhoods across the U.S. As the organization's latest public service announcement (PSA) reminds viewers, teddy bears...
The merger and acquisition advisory firms JEGI Clarity and Leonis Partners announced a merger on Monday, creating a combined company whose area of expertise includes media, marketing, information, software, fintech, and technology. The newly minted company, which will be called JEGI Clarity Leonis (JCL), will be headquartered in New York, with a presence in London,...
One of advertising's most famous mascots, Planters' Mr. Peanut, is about to become a movie star. The anthropomorphic peanut character, which has been the Hormel Foods-owned brand's mascot for over a century, will make his feature film debut in upcoming Netflix movie The Electric State, released on Friday (March 14). Mr. Peanut is a major...
Flau'jae Johnson has been an LSU Tiger, an NCAA Champion, a rapper, a business major, and a prolific endorser--but being financially stable has become a similarly important part of her identity. As March Madness tips off, Johnson is using her sports marketing partnership with credit firm Experian to help fans get there as well. She'll...
Interpublic Group (IPG)'s sale last week of R/GA to private equity (PE) firm Truelink Capital signals a coming wave of PE buying and investing in creative agencies, industry leaders tell ADWEEK. R/GA is not the only agency that has recently sold to PE: last year, Svoboda Capital Partners invested in creative agency Highdive; Keystone Capital...
WWE Monday Night RAW is coming back to Madison Square Garden for the first time in three years--and Netflix will be there live. The streaming giant officially became the new exclusive home of RAW, WWE's flagship weekly program, beginning this year. And according to Netflix, it has sold out its ad inventory for WWE RAW...
CBS News' parent company, Paramount Global, has filed a pair of motions seeking to dismiss President Donald Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against the news organization. The president filed the lawsuit in October 2024 accusing CBS News of aligning itself with "partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference." Trump was specifically referring to edits...
Top of the Ticker: Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst was honored at the Radio Television Digital News Association's 34th annual First Amendment Awards on Thursday night. In his acceptance speech, Yingst thanked the Palestinian journalists reporting on the situation in Gaza, calling them "brave," and adding: "[They have] risked, and often given their...
Hulu is a bringing a taste of Pakistani American culture and comedy to audiences. The streaming service premiered its new series, Deli Boys, this week. The half-hour show centers on a pair of Pakistani American brothers whose family owns a convenience store. When their magnate father unexpectedly dies, the two are forced to reckon with...
The Coca-Cola company has selected incumbent WPP and Publicis Groupe as finalists in a closed door review of its U.S. media business, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ADWEEK. WPP has held the account since 2021, when it won The Coca-Cola Company's global business and launched a bespoke team called OpenX to...
Trips to the dentist can be stressful under the best of circumstances, whether you're a marathon man or a kid from Skid Row. But keeping regular dental appointments is a particularly big ask if you're among the 20% of the population who are sensory sensitive or neurodivergent. For those individuals, the lights, noises, and physical...
The Brutalist director Brady Corbet has made his advertising directorial debut with a trio of ads for Bloomberg Media. Fresh off his post-war epic, The Brutalist, winning three Oscars, Corbet directed "The Contextualist," the latest installment of Bloomberg Media's "Context Changes Everything" campaign created by agency Wieden+Kennedy New York. Corbet recently revealed on the "WTF...
Podcasts have long been a popular news and information source, and the various news networks--along with podcast companies like Wondery--have been steadily building their catalogues to meet the growing demand. However, a shift has emerged in the industry: Listeners also want to watch what they're listening to, which has resulted in podcasts transitioning from an...
Dan Amos will be the first to tell you that he never expected to become CEO when he joined Aflac as a sales rep in 1973. He was happy in sales, and good at it. When the supplemental-insurance giant offered him the presidency in 1983, taking that post actually meant a financial step down. "I...
Happy Friday to all who celebrate! Soon we will have more daylight and less sleep. Oh, the humanity. Which is better? Do we have to choose? In this week's edition of stories we didn't write up for one reason or another, we see the usual turnover at local stations. We also bring you one man's...
For years, right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro has read out the standard 60-second host-read ad, plugging sponsors with the same no-frills efficiency on his podcast. But this year, his audience will hear something new: real-time answers verifying claims thanks to AI search engine, Perplexity. This isn't your typical ad placement. Instead of a scripted endorsement,...
Adtech firm LiveRamp will lay off 65 employees, representing approximately 5% of its full-time staff, the company confirmed in an SEC filing Thursday. "The restructuring," the company wrote, "is part of a broader strategic reprioritization to build a stronger, more profitable company by tightening our focus and simplifying and driving efficiency into our business processes."...
Fox News' The Five ascended to new heights on Wednesday evening as cable news' most-watched program broke crossed 5 million total viewers and 500,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demo. The Rachel Maddow Show continues to be MSNBC's most popular program in both measured categories, while an Anderson Cooper-less AC360 was the most-watched show on...
As Elon Musk's influence in Washington, D.C., continues to grow, large brands have restarted or bumped up ad spend on X, and five Democratic senators expressed concern that this trend is no coincidence. Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) sent a letter to...
The April 5 deadline to decide TikTok's U.S. fate may not be set in stone. While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on March 6, President Donald Trump indicated that he would extend the deadline for TikTok to find a U.S.-based buyer if a deal is not reached, reports The Hill. Trump noted that...
