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In this year's Super Bowl ads, brands are mostly playing it safe

Don't expect to see much political messaging in this year's Super Bowl ads. And definitely don't expect to see much on crypto.
BMW's commercial featuring actor Christopher Walken is among the funnier ads this year.
Screenshot via YouTube

For some small businesses, creating content is big business

Nov 8, 2023
Many small business owners rely on content creation to boost sales, promote their brands and even generate additional revenue.
Video production on social media is a mainstay of content for small businesses. Sometimes it's meant to promote their offerings, but sometimes the content itself generates revenue.
demaerre/Getty Images

Fewer Americans want brands to take a stand on controversial issues

Oct 10, 2023
A recent Bentley-Gallup survey says 41% of Americans think businesses should take a public stance on current events. That’s down from 48% just a year ago. What happened?
Maybe we don’t care what our toothpaste says about us. But we do care about what our shoes say as we walk through the world in them. Above, a 2018 Nike advertisement featuring quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Brands are using Spanglish to reach a new generation of Latino consumers

Sep 20, 2023
About two thirds of the 64 million Latinos in the U.S. speak “Spanglish” a mix of English and Spanish, according to a new report out today by the Pew Research Center. Advertisers are paying close attention.
Marketing experts recommend different amounts of Spanish and English for ads targeted at different age groups.
Rob Kim/GC Images via Getty Images

Did Burger King tell a whopper? Why false advertising suits are on the rise

Sep 20, 2023
Rebecca Tushnet of Harvard Law School explains the incentive behind companies making vague promises to consumers.
A class-action lawsuit accuses Burger King of falsely advertising the size of its Whopper.
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images

How to name your AI so humans will like it

Sep 20, 2023
A human name, like Anthropic's Claude? A helpful assistant, like Microsoft's Copilot? Nailing the right name for generative AI is a tricky branding exercise.
Ken Jennings, left, and Brad Rutter compete against IBM's AI computer, Watson, in a game of "Jeopardy." IBM's team also considered naming the computer Sherlock.
Ben Hider/Getty Images

The big business of wacky holidays

Sep 4, 2023
Holidays, even made-up ones, can be powerful marketing tools.
Volkswagen's Cameron Batten and Marlo Anderson, the founder of National Day Calendar, onstage at a reveal of National Volkswagen Bus Day on June 02, 2023 in Huntington Beach, California.
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Volkswagen of America

For public good, not for profit.

We're used to spam calls and emails. How about spam texts?

Aug 1, 2023
Cutting off advertising conversations in your text messages "is a little bit of a game of whack-a-mole," Vox reporter Emily Stewart says.
A positive of SMS marketing? Companies "probably aren't going to inundate you the same way that they will with emails because there's a cost factor to it," says Vox reporter Emily Stewart.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

For brands facing transphobic backlash, walking back inclusive campaigns may be "shortsighted"

Jun 16, 2023
Target and Bud Light bowed to pressure for supporting LGBTQ people, but now many of those shoppers may take their money elsewhere.
A customer browses Pride Month accessories at a Target store on June 6. Following a backlash, the company pulled some products catering to LGBTQ shoppers.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

U.S. Army brings back "Be All You Can Be" amid lagging recruitment

Apr 12, 2023
Maj. Gen. Alex Fink says the Army is dealing with a tight civilian labor market as well as a problem of "knowledge and relatability."
Army trainees at a South Carolina base. The service is dealing with a "knowledge and relatability" challenge, Maj. Gen. Alex Fink says. The relatively small veteran population is part of that.
Scott Olson/Getty Images