Table of contents for Nov-16-15 in Adweek

CBS’ late-night lineup of Stephen Colbert and James Corden will get their biggest promotional push on Super Bowl Sunday. A special, live episode of Colbert’s The Late Show will directly follow CBS’ broadcast of the big game on Feb. 7, 2016, the first time a late-night show has been given the plum slot. Following Colbert and local news, CBS will then air a special Super Bowl episode of Corden’s Late Late Show. Though scripted shows historically don’t get much long-term lift from the post-game positioning, CBS hopes putting its hosts in front of viewers who ordinarily watch NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon or ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! will boost the still-new late-night lineup.…

The holidays are just around the corner, meaning the so-called “war on Christmas” is upon us yet again. Starbucks last week got plenty of grief for its red seasonal cups, missing the holiday iconography of past years. Some critics blasted the company for ditching imagery like snowflakes and Santa, while presidential aspirant Donald Trump even suggested boycotting the chain. In response, Starbucks put out a statement, explaining, “This year’s design is another way Starbucks is inviting customers to create their own stories with a red cup that mimics a blank canvas.”…

Prolific television producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey never considered their programming to be underground—so fringe that only the cool kids would like it—when they launched a talk show starring the statuesque drag queen RuPaul and a docu-series about transgender college students nearly 20 years ago. “We always thought our subjects were ready for prime time,” Barbato said recently from his industrial-chic Hollywood office. “Not that many people agreed with us. They thought we were delusional.” How times have changed. Not only does Barbato and Bailey’s company, World of Wonder, have a dozen shows on various cable networks, but it also has about 18 more in development, along with a handful of full-length documentary films—the producers’ first love—in the works. Competition series RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo will kick off…

Ten years ago, when YouTube made its debut, the video-sharing site was better known for its mindless cat videos than for hosting slickly produced content teeming with talent. Today, social stars like PewDiePie and Bethany Mota are engaging millions of cord-cutting millennials that Hollywood and marketers are eager to reach. “YouTube is absolutely proving that it has the ability to retain an audience and stay relevant,” said Chris Jacquemin, a digital media agent for William Morris Endeavor. “It’s still very early, but I don’t think [YouTube] creators are a flash in the pan.” Even so, with new players like Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram vying for brands’ budgets, creators can’t rest on their laurels. Marketers are increasingly looking for talent that can master digital video on multiple platforms beyond the Google-owned…

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, marketers and retailers are gearing up for the year’s biggest shopping onslaught: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Per usual, millennials are the most coveted demo. When product-discovery platform Influenster surveyed 6,000 millennials to get insights into their plans this year, it found that nearly the entire group plans to do at least some shopping at the annual kickoff of the holiday retail season. So marketers can rest assured they’re speaking to an engaged audience. “During these last few days leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” said Influenster CEO and co-founder Aydin Acar, “marketers should make sure that millennials are buzzing about their brands on social media and that there is a lot of user-generated content surrounding their brands so that they don’t…

Ginkgo Solar Tree $120 When it comes to eco-friendly design, “stylish” isn’t usually the first word that comes to mind.XD Design’s solar-powered smartphone charger, however, is a definite exception to the rule. Inspired by the Japanese Ginkgo tree, the bamboo and recycled plastic charging station uses three solar panels to collect clean energy, which is then stored in a 4000 mAh rechargeable lithium battery. Just plug your mobile device into the pair of USB outlets on the Solar Tree’s base—the battery is large enough to provide two full charges. Buy it: bitemyapple.co Fancy Footwork Digitsole $199 Even your insoles are now getting the “smart” treatment, thanks to French wearables startup Digitsole. But before you ask why you need yet another device to track your activity (which Digitsole, of course, can…

When American business tycoon, inventor and filmmaker Howard Hughes headquartered Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles’ Playa Vista neighborhood, he probably couldn’t have imagined that it would someday become home to one of the most innovative and creative advertising agencies around. After Hughes went under in 1997, its offices fell into disrepair and were subjected to years of neglect, even graffiti (an original route map of Hughes-owned TWA that hangs in the lobby was tagged by street artists after the building was abandoned). But in 2012, when 72andSunny CEO John Boiler was looking for the perfect space to relocate his growing shop, he saw the dilapidated digs as the perfect destination. “We designed for optimism—open spaces, lots of light, no personal offices,” Boiler explained. “We made a space that has timeless…

Bloomingdale’s landed in hot water last week over an ad some saw as making light of date rape. An image in its holiday catalog shows a woman and man at a party with the caption, “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.” The ad sparked outrage online where thousands blasted the retailer. Bloomingdale’s ended up apologizing, calling the ad “inappropriate and in poor taste.” “I’ve been offered everything. And I don’t want to water myself down … I don’t want to be the face of anything.”ADELE ON WHY SHE WON’T ACCEPT BRAND ENDORSEMENTS, VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES.…

Facebook wants to become a one-stop shop for breaking news while giving content producers more mobile channels for reaching viewers. Last week, it launched Notify, an app that curates push notifications from among dozens of sources and displays them on the Apple iPhone’s lock screen. It initially will feature content from 70 sources, including CNN, Comedy Central, BuzzFeed, Hulu, The New York Times and Vice. The social media giant touts the app as a destination for sports scores, weather updates, news alerts and movie trailers. —Marty Swant…

Creative professionals who just a few years ago would have shunned the agency and branding worlds are working off a new script today, seeking jobs at shops and, in some cases, finding advertising a better fit than more traditional entertainment companies. Of course, studios, networks and even the music business still have enormous cachet. Even so, the 30-second spot has largely given way to increasingly sophisticated multi-platform storytelling on par with Hollywood’s best productions. And creative pros increasingly view agencies as viable venues for realizing their dreams. We chatted with professionals—folks in the trenches, not the A-list directors who only dabble in commercials—who have worked in both the advertising and entertainment worlds. They discussed how far the two may converge and whether the agency model may one day rival the…

Specs Current gig CEO, co-chairman at PMK-BNC Previous gig CEO, chairman and co-founder at BNC Twitter: @Mnymanpmkbnc Age 51 What’s PMK-BNC’s mission? We help our clients—whether they are major consumer brands, talent or popular entertainment properties—connect with consumers through popular culture. One example is helping a client like Audi connect with consumers by creating a piece of content featuring the Muppets that showcased the brand’s sponsorship of the Emmys. Why was that campaign successful? The partnership worked on three levels. One, Audi, like in previous years, was keen to call attention to their association with the Emmys. Two, the timing of uniting with the Muppets was key. The new show was set to debut and we knew there would be a lot of buzz around their return to prime time.…

Specs Age 43 Claim to fame Host of Talking Dead (Sunday nights after The Walking Dead on AMC) and @Midnight With Chris Hardwick (Monday through Thursday at 12 a.m. on Comedy Central); founder, CEO and creative head of Nerdist Industries Base Los Angeles Twitter @hardwick What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I check my email because that immediately tells you what pieces of business you have to deal with before you can go to the bathroom in the morning [laughs]. Twitter’s the next piece of business—just scroll through, see what’s going on, make sure no one’s shouting at me for a reason I’m unaware of—then Instagram. For the last few days, there’s also been about 20 minutes of Animal Crossing. What is that? It’s a game I…

U.S. ARMY The U.S. Army has extended McCann Worldgroup’s contract for recruitment advertising services through September 2017, nearly a year and a half past its original expiration date. This development does not derail the Army’s ongoing advertising review. In fact, the extension ensures that Worldgroup will be on board to handle assignments during the agency evaluation process. The Army’s mandated request for information was issued in June 2014, and an industry forum for agency representatives was held last December. Since then, however, there’s been little movement. The Army spends about $200 million annually on ads. –David Gianatasio…

Wendy Clark, an industry veteran with a wealth of agency and client-side experience, has been named president and CEO of DDB Worldwide’s North American operation. Clark will join DDB in January from Coca-Cola North America where she served as president of sparkling brands and strategic marketing. She has held several senior marketing positions since joining Coke in 2008. At DDB, Clark succeeds Mark O’Brien, who will move to evp at Omnicom Group, the agency’s parent firm. –David Gianatasio…

PEYMON MASKAN TBWA\Media Arts Lab music director, formerly music supervisor on ABC Family’s The Middleman and films such as Dance of the Dead. CORY MUSSELMAN Deutsch LA, post producer, worked on NBC’s American Odyssey and Deception series and Fox’s The Maze Runner. TED MARKOVIC Deutsch LA, executive integrated producer, worked on CBS’ Blue Bloods and NBC’s 30 Rock. AUSTIN MEYERS Deutsch LA, director, VFX, Emmy winner for his work on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire TOM DUNLAP 72andSunny chief production officer, formerly executive producer at RSA Films…

Specs Claim to fame David Messinger, Co-Head of CAA Marketing, is Vice Chair of the American Advertising Federation. Base Los Angeles For decades, marketing has been predicated on interrupting someone else’s content. Now, as marketers continue to explore creating content that people want to watch for its own sake, there are many useful lessons to learn from Los Angeles’ entertainment community. This observation isn’t to naively suggest that marketers and content creators share the same playbook. They don’t. After all, marketers develop marketing content to distinguish their brands from the rest of the pack and to drive sales. For these marketers, “content” is the means to an end. On the other hand, content creators aim for stellar box office returns, strong ratings and sold-out ticket sales. For the entertainment industry,…

Kathy Griffin has done it all: television, movies, stand-up, writing, comedy albums, New Year’s Eve with CNN’s Anderson Cooper (this will be her ninth year in Times Square with the snowy-haired newsman) and even singing (she performed the theme song for her short-lived talk show, Kathy, on Bravo). She’s got two Emmys and a Grammy (“half an EGOT,” as she likes to say, missing only the Oscar and the Tony), big-time celebrity friends (Cher, Sharon Stone), and a very large house in the Hollywood Hills. But what she really wants is to be the face of your brand. We’re talking a big, fat endorsement, people. “Come on, it should be a good deal!” she says during an interview in her living room as she prepares to set off on a…

THE ARROW While the original 1948 sign promised “No Delay,” the Snyders replaced it with this bent arrow in 1954. After all, it’s quicker than reading. THE NAME Founder Harry Snyder pioneered the two-way drive-thru intercom—which, the story goes, allowed customers to just “pop in and out” of his restaurant. THE PALM In 1972, In-N-Out began planting crossed pairs of palm trees in front of its restaurants. Palm trees also adorn the chain’s cups and French fry containers. It’s a secret—not The famous Not So Secret Menu is basically a way of customizing core items by using a patois unique to In-N-Out. “Animal Style” means the beef is cooked in mustard and slathered in grilled onions and extra sauce. Want to swap out the bun for lettuce? That’s “Protein Style.”…