Table of contents for April 13, 2020 in Adweek

GIVING ESSENTIAL WORKERS A PLACE TO REST Medical professionals are working long hours—and going home may not be an option, whether it’s to avoid infecting their families or because they’ve taken a job far from home to help in the hardest-hit areas. Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain, with its partners American Express and JPMorgan Chase, is stepping up with Rooms for Responders, providing $10 million worth of stays for members of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association in the cities hardest hit by the crisis, including New York, New Orleans and Detroit. Hilton, also with the help of AmEx, is donating up to 1 million room nights to medical professionals through May 31. KEEPING ESSENTIAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE Pharmaceutical giant Gilead, which gives hundreds of…

These days, Chris Mohney, editor of food website Zagat Stories, knows that his children are spending more time in front of a screen than usual, watching videos on YouTube Kids and playing games. While he and his wife, a partner at a law firm, are both working from their home in Westchester County, N.Y., their jobs have been busier than ever. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are juggling their own work commitments with their children’s uncertain schedules. Blind, an anonymous professional network, found more than half of surveyed professionals are working from home with a child. “Their screen time is definitely up since they’ve been staying home,” said Mohney, who has an 11-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter. Since schools began shutting down, the popularity of children’s apps like…

Being a transwoman can be a daunting challenge. Many of us struggle to find consistent employment at all, let alone one with a living wage. While we want to believe discrimination is no longer an issue in the workplace, according to the Human Rights Commission nearly 50% of people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual remain closeted at work. While 90% of Americans now personally know someone who is nonheterosexual, there’s still enough fear of discrimination that hiding is often preferable to living out and proud in the workplace. Transgender people often don’t have the luxury of hiding in plain sight. Once we come out and transition, we’re often easily identifiable by our shapes, sizes or even simply the sounds we make when we cough. When you consider that…

After three decades in the industry, veteran animator Mike Moon is sure of one thing: Adult animation—i.e., animated projects aimed at grown-ups, not kids—is currently in its golden age. “There are so many different tones that are being tackled, there are so many different styles,” said Moon, who has headed up the adult animation division at Netflix since 2018. “Everyone is trying to move the needle right now. I don’t think there’s ever been a better time.” Hit series like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park, which started decades ago and are still going strong, have defined a generation of animation. More recently, boundary-pushing cable programs like Rick and Morty and Adventure Time broadened the medium’s potential. Now, streaming services are looking to stake their claim on adult animation’s…

Major tech companies are trying to cater to families at home during the COVID-19 crisis. YouTube Kids has specialized playlists for healthy habits and indoor activities, Amazon-owned Audible is offering free audiobooks for children while schools are closed and Messenger Kids introduced a new game for youngsters to learn proper hygiene during the outbreak. Many of these kid-centric apps—which are targeted at children under 13—are built so that parents have more control over their children’s online activity. For instance, Messenger Kids works as an extension of a parent’s Facebook account and Spotify Kids is built into the company’s family plan offering.…

Bush’s Beans was founded in 1908. Since then, it’s been a pantry staple, becoming a necessity for any American summertime grilling event or kid-friendly dinner plate. While Bush’s has long offered dozens of flavors of canned-bean products, this January the company ventured outside of the canned foods aisle with the launch of a new line of snack foods: bean-based chips and dips. Working with Cincinnati-based independent agency Curiosity, the brand developed a campaign called “Now That’s Good,” with short-form spots highlighting the flavor bursts in the new snack products. Focusing on a new, younger group of consumers, Bush’s needed creative that would play well on social media. And while it looks like Bush’s has been doing that so far, the question remains as to whether the brand will be able…

Were the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to proceed as planned this summer, Team USA would have boasted a truly world-famous member. A deal inked in February officially announced Team USA’s Global Ambassador for Inclusivity—“an iconic symbol for equal opportunity, fair play and global harmony.” And who was this vaunted dignitary? Hello Kitty. Alas, the mouthless white character and the rest of Team USA are sheltering in place like everyone else now. Even so, it’s worth pondering how it is that Olympic ambassador status came to be conferred on a cat. And Hello Kitty isn’t even really a cat (see sidebar). The idea might seem absurd, until you consider what a truly global phenomenon Hello Kitty is. Easily the most famous character to come out of Japan (with the possible exceptions of…

Agencies have long dealt with clients that are happy to push the limits when it comes to paying the bills. The issue came to the forefront once again this year when a survey of more than 100 marketers conducted by the Association of National Advertisers found that agencies wait an average of 58 days for payment, up from 45 days in 2013. In March, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers revealed that brands owe over $200 million in late payments to production partners. It appears as though the spread of COVID-19 and the uncertainty that came with it is only exacerbating the issue. John Harris, president and CEO of Worldwide Partners, a network of over 70 independent agencies, said that some clients are requesting an additional 60 days to their…

While TV news consumption has grown significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, more people are also streaming entertainment as a respite from the news, the economy, finances, politics and health concerns. That’s according to new data from Omnicom. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, people have been watching live TV, browsing social media and binge watching shows on services like Amazon Prime, Netflix and YouTube. Specifically, Gen Zers’ use of streaming services has increased dramatically (70%) since before the pandemic. “Some behaviors we are seeing—such as increased news consumption—are likely temporary, while signals of the new normal—including cord cutting, streaming and on demand—are likely to keep increasing as a result of COVID-19 putting more emphasis on choice and more pressure on disposable income,” said Kristen Colonna, chief strategy officer, OMD North America. “In…