Morning Update: Denny’s ambushes Burger King; Maccas’ problems; Snapchat charging for unviewed ads?; Netflix’s new audience
AdWeek: Denny’s Offers to Partner With Burger King, Since McDonald’s Is Being a McChicken
For something proposed as a peace offering, this McWhopper idea from Burger King sure seems to be escalating the burger wars.
Last night, Denny’s blitzed its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts with the proposal to partner with Burger King on creating “a Slampper© or a Whammper© or a Whoppaslamus-rex© or something.”
The diner chain is volunteering as tribute in these hunger games to take the place of McDonald’s, which meekishly declined Burger King’s invitation this week to create a McWhopper in honor of Peace Day.
AdAge: Love on the Rocks: Survey Reveals Problems, Opportunities for McD’s
Consumers don’t think the food is high-quality, healthy or even that tasty. The restaurants seem dated and unwelcoming. For a fast-food restaurant, it takes too long for customers to receive their orders. And even accounting for changes that McDonald’s is making or considering, nearly half of Americans say they wouldn’t increase their visits to restaurants operated by the nation’s largest fast-food chain.
And yet: Despite its well-documented struggles over the past two years, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based giant remains by far the dominant fast-food restaurant in the country, visited more in a recent seven-day period than its next two competitors combined.
The Guardian: Rebekah Brooks answers the Sun’s siren call
Rebekah Brooks has always been returning to a slot in the Murdoch empire since, 14 months ago, a jury declared her not guilty of all phone-hacking charges. Rupert has stood by her, a special case and (in his view) talent. But where could she go now? To New York, Los Angeles, Dublin? Surely she couldn’t be plonked straight back in the London front line?
Well, cancel your last prognostications. Ongoing negotiations sit her more or less where she was before disaster and humiliation rudely interrupted: running the London operation – though with a difference. David Dinsmore, the cheery, very competent editor of the Sun, is scheduled to play chief lieutenant, and there’ll be a new person in his chair. Exit chief executive Mike Darcey, imported from Sky specifically for his brilliance at drumming up subscriptions behind paywalls.
Creativity: This Audio Brand’s Sound Quality Is So Amazing, Even Honeybees Are Fooled
In this clever video, British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins demonstrates the sound quality of its new T7 portable Bluetooth speaker using the elegant, calming sounds of bees.
The film follows a sound recordist — Sam Nightingale of Organic Sounds, who narrates the film — as he tries to capture and play the sounds of honeybees on the Bowers & Wilkins device. Nightingale (who sticks his microphone right into the hive) said he wants to put a theory to the test: if he can replicate the honeybees’ sounds with the speaker, will the bees flock to it thinking it’s a hive? The final shots of the film reveal that, in fact, they do. As well being a great way to show off the speaker, the video ends on a topical note about the preservation of bees.
Digiday: Snapchat charging brands for video ads viewed less than a second, according to buyers
Snapchat is charging advertisers for “zero-second video views,” according to industry insiders, who said the pricing system has brands worried that they’re paying for unseen ads.
Brands pay every time an ad loads, even if a user didn’t spend a full second with the video, according to a number of advertising sources with knowledge of Snapchat’s viewability standards.
NYTimes: Netflix Looks to ‘Narcos’ for a New Audience
“Say yes to your life,” Nancy Reagan commands near the end of the first episode of Netflix’s new series “Narcos.” It’s a moment from the famous “Just Say No” speech that she delivered with her husband, President Ronald Reagan, in 1986. “And when it comes to drugs and alcohol,” she continues, “just say no.”
Cut to a drug dealer kneeling in a Colombian field who pleads “No no no no, Pablo no,” before being shot in the head.
