Table of contents for May 16, 2016 in Adweek

Budweiser just got a very patriotic makeover. Last week, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand revealed its new packaging design, from Jones Knowles Ritchie, with “America” replacing “Budweiser” on its 12-ounce cans and bottles. On shelves from May 23 through November’s election, the packaging is a fundamental part of Budweiser’s summer campaign, “America Is in Your Hands,” which the brand hopes will inspire consumers to “embrace the optimism upon which the country was first built.” As part of the effort, Bud’s famous creed has been amended to include phrases from the Pledge of Allegiance as well as lyrics from “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful.”…

Democrats and Republicans generally agree that censorship is, at best, antisocial. So when a former Facebook news curator claimed to Gizmodo that Facebook regularly omits buzzy conservative news from its trending topics section, eyebrows were raised. Among other anti-conservative accusations, the former Facebook staffer told the online publication that “it was like they had a bias against Ted Cruz.” Facebook denied the allegations, stating it maintains political neutrality when providing content to its 222 million monthly North American users. But since it’s an election year, it’s unlikely that conservative talking heads will allow this topic to stop trending anytime soon.…

PROGRAMMATIC Fox and NBCUniversal are both introducing new programmatic advertising offerings. Fox’s will be cable only, while NBCU will make both broadcast and cable inventory available. DATA CURRENCIES As data takes on a bigger portion of discussions, Turner, Fox and NBCU will be doing some transactions on new, yet distinct, data-based currencies, as opposed to Nielsen’s C3 and C7 metrics. “We want to be able to look at the entire landscape of a consistent data set. If you use different sets, it’s difficult to aggregate that,” said one buyer. UPFRONT VS. SCATTER Both sides will look to rebalance this season’s disparity between scatter and upfront pricing, which will also factor into decisions about volume and price.…

The summer blockbuster is as ubiquitous as fireworks on the Fourth of July—it wouldn’t be summer without them. But as it becomes increasingly easy to keep up with the latest entertainment from the comfort of home, advertisers and marketers can be left wondering who is actually filling those theater seats. Omnicom Media Group’s data arm, Annalect, had the same question and recently compiled data about millennials’ theater-going habits. “Movies—especially the experience of going to see movies in a theater—play an important role in millennials’ lives. That’s something that smart marketers across all categories can leverage to build brand relationships,” said study author Pamela Marsh, Annalect’s director of custom research.…

LITTLE BIG SHOTS (NBC) “It’s a fantastic co-viewing environment, family-friendly and super-clean,” says Dan Lovinger, evp, entertainment ad sales group at NBCUniversal, who will be searching for new brand opportunities and “highroad” integrations, perhaps by way of backstage or short-form content that could move across platforms. “We’re looking for advertisers that feel as good about the show as Steve does in doing it,” he says. CELEBRITY FAMILY FEUD, DREAM FUNDER (ABC) Debbie Richman, svp, prime-time sales at ABC, will emphasize Celebrity Family Feud’s “safe environment, the kind of show that a family could watch together and that advertisers are drawn to.” As for his new show with Mark Burnett, Richman will play up Harvey’s other TV successes. “He’s witty, engaging and has a big following, which is always helpful when…

DISNEY, HEARST, FOX + VICE Disney and Hearst, through the jointly owned A+E Networks, invested $250 million in Vice. Separately, Disney put in another $400 million, bringing its total stake to 10 percent. Fox invested $70 million. TURNER + MASHABLE Turner invested $15 million in Mashable this spring with an eye toward co-developing and distributing video content on digital and linear platforms (including cable networks TBS and TNT) and collaborating on tech and ad opportunities using Mashable’s Velocity, a data tool that helps ID content likely to go viral. Time Warner Investments previously put $17 million in Mashable. NBCU + BUZZFEED NBCUniversal invested $200 million in BuzzFeed, with collaborations expected across film and television, the Olympics, cable networks (Bravo, Oxygen, Esquire) and advertising. This, on top of NBCU’s $200 million…

Multichannel network Studio 71 (formerly known as Collective Digital Studio) is teaming up with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his production company Seven Bucks Digital Studios to launch a new video channel this summer. Unlike most millennial-obsessed digital players, AwesomenessTV is putting an emphasis on reaching the teens and tweens of Gen Z, announcing that it will partner with messaging app Kik to launch a bot that combines native video and chat. For its first NewFronts presentation, SheKnows shared data from a recent survey, which found that 46 percent of women identified as a feminist, to back up its slate of girl-powered original videos. Boasting the biggest Instagram following of any noncelebrity brand, National Geographic announced plans to leverage its social dominance with several new digital initiatives, including 10 digital…

For the past few years, digital agency 360i had tinkered in its innovation lab with a line of toys to help those with paralysis actively play with children. This month, the concept became a reality with the release of the shop’s Adaptoys campaign, which was launched in partnership with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The goal is to raise $155,000 in order to build race cars controlled by headsets and later a voice-controlled pitching machine. Adaptoys is just one of the cool products to come out of the lab, which is designed to work with new technology and figure out ways to use them in client campaigns. Agency labs are not new—Resource/Ammirati, recently acquired by IBM, opened one of the first labs in 2006—but as new technology, from virtual…

You have a big portfolio as chairman of the NBCU International Group and Telemundo Enterprises. Where is your impact felt most? It’s an incredibly fast-growing market, and we have probably the most compelling suite of products, regardless of language, that help our clients tap into this high-growth market. Historically, there’s been a tremendous amount of focus on the U.S. But over the last few years we’ve started to build our business outside of the United States. You moved to NBCU almost three years ago, after 10 years at Univision. What’s the biggest difference culturally between the two companies? What I have really enjoyed about being a part of Comcast NBCU is that we have a real mentality of running our businesses as owners, not renters. We really believe in making…

THE BAND An elastic strap to keep the book closed is a Moleskine signature. And while the notebook covers now come in a range of colors, the band is standard. THE PAPER Smooth, creamy and lined (though variants come unlined), the Moleskine paper (estimated at 72 weight) holds ink well—one reason writers laud it. THE SCRIBE Computers and web-enabled digital devices were to have replaced notebooks years ago, but Moleskine’s sales rise by double digits yearly. Lin-Manuel Miranda worked for six years to get his Grammy- and Pulitzer-winning musical Hamilton from his head onto a stage. He worked on the songs everywhere—on his honeymoon, on the subway—and, as the lyrics came to him, he committed them to a Moleskine notebook. “Moleskine is an iconic object, with a very contemporary design,…

As Discovery Communications’ president of ad sales, Joe Abruzzese’s spring training comes in the form of intense preparations for the looming upfront season. But in a parallel universe his spring training uniform is still a pinstriped suit—except it’s covered in mud from playing catcher for the Yankees. “Baseball has always been a part of my life,” he said. And while his career as one of TV’s top execs doesn’t require much athletic prowess, Abruzzese has turned his New York office into a mini baseball hall of fame of sorts. From signed memorabilia to World Series ticket stubs, Abruzzese is a proud collector of things he loves. “There is no rhythm or reason to the vibe in my office,” he said. “I enjoy collecting things, so I like to keep the…

Pizza Hut has concluded its latest review by naming Droga5 its new creative agency of record. The move came less than 18 months after the fast-food chain chose the Los Angeles office of Deutsch to handle creative on its business. Droga5 will be Pizza Hut’s fifth creative agency in less than six years after BBD0—which had worked on the account for more than two decades—declined to participate in a 2009 review. Sources told Adweek that the decision to part with Deutsch was mutual and that the agency helped the client move through the review.…

Adaptoys 360i’s race car, powered by a headset and straw, helps those who are physically disabled. Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Visualizer Resource/Ammirati created the first color-matching app integrated with Pinterest. Lisnr The startup sends inaudible signals to smartphones to unlock brand experiences.…

For the past 25 years, advertising’s share of total marketing spending has trended slowly downward. Until recently, that is. Two recent analyses of the marketing of large American advertisers showed that ad spending as a percentage of total marketing outlay increased between 2012 and 2015. The changes so far are small—a percentage point or two—but that’s not the news here. The news is the direction of the trend: up, not down. Why is this happening? In a word, precision. Supported by more and better data, and evolving technology and tools, marketers are able to be more precise with their advertising today than ever before. More precision means less waste—less advertising directed at people who won’t respond. Less waste means a better return on investment. As the ROI of advertising improves,…

‘I never saw myself as a game show host … [but] I said, if you let me make it funny, I’m your man.’ NBC’s Sunday night audience vanishes after Sunday Night Football concludes each January, so the network had modest expectations for the 18-49 demo performance of Steve Harvey’s variety series Little Big Shots before it premiered in March. “I was told by some folks at NBC, ‘We want a 1.2 [rating], and we’re going to be tipping champagne glasses,’” Harvey recalls. Instead, the numbers for his America’s Got Talent/Kids Say the Darndest Things hybrid, in which talented children from around the world show off their skills and swap zingers with Harvey, more than doubled that during its first Sunday airing: a 2.8 rating, with 15 million total viewers tuning…

Television is dead—long live television! That could become the unofficial motto, or at least the crawl at the bottom of the screen, to explain the recent flurry of hookups between digital players like BuzzFeed, Vice and Mashable with old-guard media companies such as NBCUniversal, Disney and Turner Broadcasting. While BuzzFeed can get 800,000 people to watch a watermelon explode—live on Facebook!—and YouTube claims to reach more consumers 18-49 than any TV network, the digital world obviously thinks TV still has its charms. Hint: massive reach and enviable ad dollars from blue-chip brands. Though it’s not the only reason for the current wave of mergers, acquisitions and investment, TV is a driving force for the nascent relationships blurring the line between linear and digital and introducing sexy young things to a…

Simplehuman Pro Wide-View Sensor Mirror $400 There are few things as frustrating as carefully applying a full face of makeup at home before stepping outside to discover that your look actually reads more clown than chic. To help avoid such cosmetic disasters, Simplehuman’s new app-connected, wide-view sensor mirror features the company’s tru-lux light system, which uses the full color spectrum to accurately simulate nearly any lighting condition imaginable, from bright sunlight to a dim restaurant. You can even use the Simplehuman app to capture light settings from the world around you—think your office, the gym or even your local coffee shop—and have the mirror replicate them at home, so you know exactly how you’ll look throughout the day. Buy it: simplehuman.com Jump On It Tangram Smart Rope $90 Think jumping…

What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I’ll probably look at my phone to see if I have text messages or phone calls, but I’m not necessarily on Twitter or anything like that. Because I have a young child, mornings are madness. What’s your go-to social media platform? Even more than Twitter, I follow people on Instagram. I don’t know whether I’m getting any information from it, but it’s definitely something that I compulsively look through for reasons unknown. Who do you follow on there? I follow all the Real Housewives. I find them to be so insane and wonderful to watch on television, and they do such a presentation of themselves on Twitter. It’s so styled and so thought out. What I appreciate the most are the…