Table of contents for January 27, 2020 in Adweek

BE DIVERSE, BUT AVOID STEREOTYPES It’s easy to applaud brands like Olay, which is featuring five female stars in its ad this year, but that’s only half the battle. Aside from casting diverse talent, marketers need to ensure that they’re doing these stars justice by not falling into gender or racial stereotypes. According to the Advertising Benchmark Index, which measures gender equality in ads, half of last year’s Super Bowl ads featuring women scored “below norm,” meaning viewers did not feel as though they were realistically or accurately portrayed. SOCIAL MEDIA IS YOUR FRIEND A celebrity’s social media presence has become an increasingly important asset for marketers that want to ensure they get the most bang for their Super Bowl buck. If a star has impressive follower counts or engagement…

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly advanced, how many years out are we from machines being able to write mainstream commercials? It might seem like a fantastical notion or an academic exercise to some, but for copywriters and creative agencies, it’s also an existential question that some in the industry are taking seriously. While text-generating AI in its current form is probably ill-suited for creative projects beyond novelty gags, like Adweek’s recently launched Super Bowl Bot and its surreal ad concept pitches, even these projects show glimmers of impressive complexity or genuine cleverness that hint at the growing, inventive power of AI. “We are elbows deep in this stuff, trying to figure out what it means to our clients, what it means to the kind of work we’re doing, what it…

BUMBLE 2019 “The Ball Is in Her Court” Serena Williams encourages women to “make the first move,” noting, “If I waited for change to happen, I never would have made a difference”—a nod to the fact that on the self-proclaimed “feminist” dating app women must be the first to send a message. AUDI 2017 #DriveProgress Audi’s 2017 “Daughter,” in which a father worries how he’ll tell his daughter about the gender pay gap, was surprisingly divisive. Critics jeered it as “liberal propaganda,” and snarky commentators wondered how women who earn 77 cents on the dollar could afford an Audi. ALWAYS 2015 “Like a Girl” The P&G brand explored people’s negative associations with the phrase “like a girl”—and took home a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. The spot also inspired “#Unstoppable,”…

Last May, Fox and the NFL had a big surprise for advertisers considering buying a spot in Super Bowl LIV. The companies said they would be reducing the number of ad breaks in each quarter of Sunday’s championship game from five to four, in order to speed up pacing and improve the viewing experience. The new format—which mirrors that of regular season NFL games, consolidating the same number of in-game spots into four fewer ad pods—resulted in a contraction of premium inventory: namely, the coveted A or Z positions (referring to the first and last ads of each pod). Buyers sprang into action. The pod reduction “ignited our marketplace” and “created a lot of anxiety in terms of getting those positions,” says Seth Winter, evp, sports sales, Fox Sports. “I…

Along with underinflated footballs and costume malfunctions, it is the stuff of Super Bowl legend. It is also easily the best earned-media opportunity in the history of advertising. We speak, of course, of the Gatorade Shower. The tradition of dumping an icy cooler of the PepsiCo-owned drink onto the head of a winning coach actually began during regular-season play—as far back as 1984, when Chicago Bears lineman Dan Hampton surprised coach Mike Ditka. A year later, New York Giants defensive tackle Jim Burt did the honors for coach Bill Parcells. But it was linebacker Harry Carson who made the dunk famous by performing the rite at the Super Bowl. In 1987, when the Giants trounced the Denver Broncos at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Parcells took a shower in…

It’s Super Bowl central here at Adweek. A frenzied week of marketing and media coverage is upon us, and you’ll find up-to-the-minute news on who’s in, who’s out, best/worst ads live from our Game Day war room, along with strategies and other insights on all our platforms, including our Big Game Tracker at Adweek.com and, of course, this entire Super Bowl-themed issue. Correct me if I’m wrong (as I’m sure you will), but you’re reading the only publication entirely dedicated to this annual brand bacchanal. And why shouldn’t it be? With 30-second spots going for as much as $5.6 million this year, which doesn’t include millions spent on production and talent, your ad better be memorable—in the best way possible. One spot we knew would catch some early buzz was…

This year’s Super Bowl ads will literally be the biggest ever. “You’re going to see more longform content spots in this year’s Super Bowl than you’ve seen in the past, by far,” says Magna’s Kevin Collins. As of press time, 28 of Fox’s 77 in-game units are devoted to long-form ads, ranging from 45 to 90 seconds. Some Super Bowl clients have tried, unsuccessfully, to extend the length of their spots. “We have a marketer that has purchased a 60[-second ad] and we’re trying to make it a 90, but they can’t accommodate it anywhere,” says Collins. “They’re sold out of the game, and there’s not enough room to rejigger the pod.”…

‘Your work is what makes you uniquely you and not a cookiecutter creative.’ Big Mistake “A couple of times I’ve made employment decisions based on landing a better job title,” said Binder. “Those didn’t work out.” Lesson Learned Instead of chasing a title or a salary bump, focus on fit. “It’s really important, maybe the most important, to be where I fit in,” he said. How He Got the Gig Binder was recruited to join W+K by a former colleague at Saatchi & Saatchi. Pro Tip To Binder, nothing’s more important than your personal preferences and how they are reflected in your work. “As a creative, you really have to know what your tastes are and what the tastes of culture at large are,” he said. “Being able to tell…

Recently, an article in Sierra, a publication from the Sierra Club, alleged that some of Thinx’s products contained polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the “inside layers of the crotch.” PFAS is linked to fatal health concerns, like cancer, and decreased fertility. In a statement, Maria Molland, CEO of Thinx, said, “While Thinx products comply with all legal safety standards in Europe and the United States, we go beyond those requirements and are constantly working to improve our products and manufacturing processes to use the safest substances and materials available.” Molland also said Thinx’s products undergo testing through third parties and meet Europe’s safety standards of REACH and OEKO-TEX, which as recently as September 2019 did not detect PFAS chemicals. Adweek has reached out to Sierra for comment.…

Jamie Babbit Helming the spot is director Babbit, whose credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Russian Doll and Silicon Valley. This is her first Super Bowl commercial, but she’s not stressed. “Women directors everywhere; we thrive under pressure,” says Babbit. “So I’ll take the maximum pressure possible.” Nicole Stott The retired astronaut spent 27 years with NASA—and went on five missions to the International Space Station—before retiring in 2015. Stott says that the spacesuits made for Olay’s space mission were incredibly similar to the ones she wore for NASA—only this time, it’s “a little more fashionable.” Taraji P. Henson She says playing seminal NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in Hidden Figures drove home the importance of spotlighting women in STEM. “Representation is everything,” she says. “Young women don’t know the dream…

A big reason Olay wanted to get into the game was to increase female representation on advertising’s biggest night. The brand’s spot does this both behind the camera and on screen. Two-thirds of the 70 people involved in the spot’s creation are women, which, beyond the five females featured in the ad, includes Badger & Winters CCO Madonna Badger, director Jamie Babbit and Arcade Edit co-founder and co-owner Kim Bica. “Having all of those pieces fit together is so exciting,” says Badger.…

Exactly six years ago, as football fans were gearing up for Super Bowl XLVIII, a minor crisis erupted in the shopping aisles of America. It began as a rumor, a suspected hoax, until Kraft Foods took to Facebook to confirm the worst in a Jan. 9 post: “As you have likely seen or heard by now, there is currently limited availability of some Velveeta products in many stores nationwide.” The Cheesepocalypse was upon us. Fortunately, the world did not end, the game went on and caloric intake was uninterrupted. The fact that a shortage of Velveeta before the Super Bowl was news in the first place points to the place of importance that this edible yellow brick occupies both on the coffee table and in the cultural pantheon. It goes…