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Morning Update: Subaru tests on dogs; Nikon photo comp winner ‘Photoshopped’; Vice ‘remaking’ TV ad model

AdWeek: Subaru’s Driving Dog Family Returns for More Adorably Comical Spots

The first new spot, a :60 titled ‘Puppy’, is the best of the lot, showing a tired Mr. Barkley driving around at night with one of his pups, trying to get him to sleep. It’s one of those themes that just instantly connects with parents – McDonald’s did a memorable take on it with its wonderful drive-through ad back in 2010.

The Subaru spot is great, too, taking its time in slowly building the humour, with some great facial expressions from the doggie driver.

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Mumbrella Asia: Nikon Singapore sorry for ‘oversight’ after social media exposes Photoshopped contest winner

Nikon Singapore has apologised on Facebook for its “oversight” in awarding a photography prize to an image that fans of the brand pointed out had been Photoshopped.

The brand has responded to the large volume of equally obviously Photoshopped images posted to parody the winning entry by conceding that the competition rules need revisiting, but also that it welcomed the “funny and witty” mock entries that ensued its NikonCaptures winner announcement yesterday – even though some suggested that their entries were equally deserving of a prize.

Chay Yu Wei won a Nikon trolley bag for a photograph he took of a set of ladders that had amazingly captured the precise moment a plane had passed directly overhead, Nikon announced on Facebook.

However, it was quickly pointed out by a poster on Facebook that, after playing with the levels settings, the photograph is a fake.

The Drum: Ben and Jerry’s co-founder creates special flavor supporting Bernie Sanders 

Politically conscious and aware Ben Cohen, one of the co-founders of the legendary Vermont ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s, has created a highly limited edition flavour in support of the presidential bid by their State’s senator, Bernie Sanders.

The flavour, ‘Bernie’s Yearning’, not created for the brand but by Cohen himself, is a simple combination of mint ice cream and a thick disc of chocolate.

However, the twist is how to enjoy the concoction.

AdAge: ANA-4A’s Feud Heats Up as ANA Unveils Investigation Hotline

Yesterday, the 4A’s released its “Transparency Guiding Principles of Conduct”without the ANA’s support, once again creating a rift between the agency and advertiser trade groups amid concern around media buying and planning practices.

Today, the Association of National Advertisers is responding with an official statement acknowledging its dissatisfaction with the principles and a hotline to aid the investigation by K2 Intelligence, one of two firms the ANA hired late last year.

The issue dates back to March of last year, when former media agency executive Jon Mandel used a speech at an ANA event to allege that media agencies were letting undisclosed rebates from vendors influence their work on behalf of clients. The organisations created a joint task force to tackle the issue and assuage concern among clients and agencies, but that collaboration was short-lived when, in October, the ANA hired K2 and Ebiquity/Firm Decisions to investigate the issue.

Campaign: James Murdoch returns as chairman of Sky

James Murdoch has made a highly symbolic return as chairman of Sky, four years after quitting in the wake of strong criticism from Ofcom and some MPs over his handling of the phone-hacking scandal.

His return to the top job at Sky sends a signal that 21st Century Fox, the US media giant controlled by his father Rupert Murdoch, wants to keep a close eye on Europe’s biggest pay-TV firm and does not plan to sell its 39 per cent stake.

James Murdoch said he was “proud to have been asked by the board of Sky to serve as chairman”.

The Guardian: Online comments: is the space below the line too toxic or can they be fixed?

Online comments as we know them are dead. Or such, anyway, is the view of Andrew Losowsky – a journalist who, as project lead on the Coral Project, is helping to shape the future of reader interaction.

Losowsky – whose venture is a collaboration between the Washington Post, the New York Times and Mozilla – acknowledges that this view may be a little hyperbolic. But it is one that many publishers share in the current divisive media landscape, where commenting can either be seen as the best way to interact with your audience or an affront to journalism.

“The word ‘comments’ has come to mean toxic space, harassment, overwhelmingly young white male, a lot of abuse, people showing no respect, no compassion and no empathy,” says Losowsky, who believes publishers should think of comments as “contributions” to escape the negative connotations of the word.

AdAge: How Vice Is Trying To Reinvent The TV Ad Model

Vice is looking to woo marketers to its new cable channel with the promise of reinventing TV advertising.

With the debut of Viceland, its joint-venture with A&E Networks, next month, Vice is offering advertisers less commercial clutter along with custom content and pod takeovers, according to media buyers and people familiar with the network.

Viceland is not exactly “reinventing the wheel”, as one media buyer put it, but advertisers are certainly at least curious about the potential to reach Vice’s young audience, a demographic that’s severely under-represented on linear TV. Buyers declined to talk on the record since most were in active negotiations with Vice.

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