Alexander Payne, the Academy Award-winning director of The Holdovers and Sideways, reunited with his longtime collaborator, actor Paul Giamatti, for a campaign celebrating New York hospital Montefiore Einstein’s Advanced Lung Failure and Lung Transplant Program. Giamatti is known for playing curmudgeons in Payne’s films, but in this ad by independent creative agency Alto, he’s surrounded…Read More
Digital health and wellness platform Noom has appointed a new chief brand officer (CBO) in Rachel Mahoney as it jumps into the off-label weight loss drug market. Mahoney was most recently chief marketing officer (CMO) at Shutterstock. She will now be the architect of Noom’s brand strategy as it continues to add anti-obesity drug offerings…Read More
Unexpected brand collaborations literally have fans covered head to toe in 2024, whether it’s Lipton Ice Tea’s creamy yellow hat from its range with streetwear label Cruel Pancake or McDonald’s Hamburglar-themed Crocs. With the average American exposed to anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 ads every day, it’s tough for brands to stand out. Enter weird…Read More
“Narrative” is one of those words in the water right now. Politicians talk about “resetting the narrative” after campaign missteps. Coaches go hoarse trying to change the narrative after a string of losses. Savvy business leaders are recognizing the need, too, with the understanding that narrative can supercharge alignment across a growing organization and shift…Read More
On Memorial Day of 1934, 28-year-old Tom Carvel loaded his trailer with ice cream and dreamed of dollar signs. His plan was to sell scoops to New York motorists headed up into the country. But then Carvel got a flat in front of a pottery shop in Hartsdale, and he watched as his inventory–which he’d…Read More
As a follow-up to its satirical “Ask Your Doctor” campaign, Missouri cannabis brand Show-Me Organics is taking another sharp-elbowed jab at Big Pharma, challenging company leaders to personally use the opioids they hype to American consumers. A documentary-style ad called “Taste Your Own Medicine” revolves around that dare, with the goal of advocating for cannabis…Read More
From sleeping in make-up to popping pimples and skipping on sun protection, e.l.f. Skin is calling out “skin sins” in its largest campaign yet. The cosmetics brand’s skincare division has tapped comedian and Hacks actress Megan Stalter for a series exploring common skincare slip-ups like sleeping in makeup or popping pimples. Stalter plays a mischievous…Read More
Please be on the alert for:
Spam that includes your name, address, phone number and other personal details.
Phone calls that are from human-sounding bots that pretend to be from friends or trusted brands.
Job offers.
Video mashups that include AI-generated people that seem to be made just for you.
Security alerts that are actually precisely the opposite.
Links that sure look trustworthy, but go somewhere you don’t expect.
It makes me sad that people with skills spend their time building ever-more ornate scams. It also bums me out that the emails from this blog often end up in the spam folder, but spam somehow manages to make it to my inbox.
PS a few typos in yesterday’s post. Sorry. If you encounter a bad link or a typo, visit my blog for the latest, corrected version. Thanks.
Espoo outside of Helsinki is turning into quite the quantum hub. The city’s latest addition to the Finnish quantum computing ecosystem is QMill. The newly minted algorithm startup just raised €4mn in seed funding to leverage near-term hardware to deliver real benefits to industry through quantum computing. “There is momentum growing at the moment [in quantum], and investors can see that a lot of companies are experimenting with quantum computing now — but so far they have not found quantum advantage,” Hannu Kappinnen, QMill co-founder and CEO, told TNW. “We are the ones who will be the first to provide…
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Google is bringing more AI ad tools to search results. Google is expanding AI-driven search ads to German, French, and Spanish languages in its AI search engine, AI Overview. Google said the new tool will help small and medium-sized businesses run ads in global markets. Google unveiled the update at digital marketing conference DMEXCO in…Read More
