‘Shut Up, My Spot Is On’
Los Angeles — Who was the least valuable player in last year’s Super Bowl? Viewers might say it was the tousle-haired young boy in the Nationwide Insurance spot, talking about all the cool things he missed because he was killed in a household accident. Headline writers dubbed it the “Dead Kid” commercial. Social media buzzed with outrage. The company was forced to issue a statement explaining it didn’t mean to upset anyone....
Traditional Holiday Ads Move Online
Shortly before Hallmark would have traditionally launched its seasonal commercial heart-warmers, the greeting-card giant made a surprising confession: This year, for the first time ever, it would spend nothing on holiday TV ads. Instead, the struggling keepsakery will go all-digital, spending on cheeky YouTube ads and partnering with bloggers to sing the brand’s praises. It is also paying the photo-sharing app Snapchat to plaster...
Subway’s Latest Challenge: Getting out From Jared’s Shadow
New York — Subway benefited hugely from Jared Fogle’s weight loss story. Now the sandwich chain needs to figure out how to prevent him from overshadowing its future. It’s not clear how customers will react to Fogle’s plans to plead guilty to allegations that he paid for sex acts with minors and received child pornography, since it doesn’t have anything to do with Subway’s food. But the association of the company’s name with crimes...
Everyone Loses With Increase in Ad-Blocking Use
Ad blockers are growing in popularity, and that could be a big problem for any business that relies on online advertising to pay the bills. A study published last week by Adobe and the software company PageFair revealed that 45 million active users in the United States use ad-blocking software — an increase of 48 percent in one year as of June. That’s about 15 percent of U.S. Internet users. In other countries, such as Poland, the...
Video Advertising on Social Media Increasing
San Jose, Calif. — Television isn’t the only way commercials will get airtime this year. Social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter are making a stronger push to attract lucrative video advertising as more people use computers and smartphones to watch videos online. And marketers have jumped on board, turning to social networks not only to get eyes on their products but also to better target their ads to likely customers,...
