AdForum’s daily round-up of the latest news, trends, and notable work in the advertising industry.
Target’s Advertising Leads Way in Erasing Gender Stereotypes
Target has announced an official effort to rid its stores – particularly the toy and bedding aisles – of gender-based signs that indulge and promote cultural stereotypes of young boys and girls. In a testimony to the power of social media, earlier this summer Target became the target of parental outrage as customers called out the retail giant on its insensitive and obtuse use of stereotypes to promote its inventory. Read more at Adweek.
BFG 9000 Hires Roger Bova as Head of Design
Head of Design is a newly created position at BFG 9000, and Bova will work across all accounts, reporting directly to founder and chief creative officer Gerry Graf. Bova arrives from Anomaly, where he served as design director beginning in December of 2011. Visit AgencySpy for more details.
GoDaddy Forgoes Super Bowl Ads and Embraces Reality
GoDaddy, the domain-name company renowned for advertising that featured scantily clad women doing, well, being half-naked, has had a change of advertising heart upon realizing that the majority of its clients – small businesses – are 58% owned by women. The change in attitude also hinges on a cultural shift that increasingly values diversity in the workplace and the advancement of women in the tech industry. Better late than never. For more visit USA Today.
The New Yorker Takes On TMZ in Article Written by “Getting Bin Laden” Author
In an act that many will consider the universe finding its balance, TMZ – the relentless purveyors of shame, Schadenfreude, and soullessness – are in are the crosshairs of The New Yorker and Nicholas Schmidle, an acclaimed journalist best known for his account of the pursuit and capture of Bin Laden. Harvey Levin, the unapologetic boss and spiritual leader of TMZ’s character assassins, will star in the expose that purportedly includes details about unscrupulous payments to sources and other incriminating evidence. Schmidle, presumably, did not conduct interviews of his subjects as they scampered toward the exits of LAX. Read more at MediaPost.
Kim Kardashian's Morning Sickness Advice Leads to FDA Response
Endorsements promoting Diclegis – a morning sickness drug manufactured by pharmaceutical company Duchesnay – sent by Kim Kardashian through social media channels Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to take action. The FDA’s warning letter addressed the promotions – which reach Kardashian’s millions of social media followers – failure to include important risk information and provide details about the limitations of the drug’s efficacy. OMG. Read more at Ad Age.
Forbes on Content Marketing and Brands
"We’re in an age of radical transparency. In this paradigm, authenticity isn’t a marketing tactic; it’s the only option for survival." Forbes writer Ross Crooks tackles branded content, authenticity, and corporate storytelling in this article titled "How 'Human' Content Marketing Connects Brands With Customers."
Agency of the Week
Wunderman: We live at the collision of data and creativity. We believe one cannot function without the other, and together they are powerful tools. Our ideas are born and rooted in cultural intelligence. We make sense of data exhaust to understand customers’ values and connect to them on an individual level. Because when we know what matters to people, people care about what we do. Learn more about Wunderman by visiting their AdForum profile page.
Because Google and the advent of Alphabet have been dominating the news this week, check out our collection of Best Google Ads!
Finally, AdForum's #AdoftheDay, which made us laugh, is from Trulia and Mekanism (see below). Nice work, folks!
(Coffee photo courtesy of bark.)
