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Morning Update: Gamergate threats hits SXSW; US store shutting on Black Friday; Tesco Halloween prank

Campaign UK: Tesco pranks customers for Halloween campaign

Tesco has released an online film of its staff playing Halloween pranks on customers in stores.

Black Sheep Studios, Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s in-house production studio, created the online ad, which is set in a Tesco supermarket and filmed with hidden cameras.

AdWeek: BuzzFeed and Vox Call Off SXSW Plans After Conference Cancels Anti-Harassment Panels

On Monday, South by Southwest Interactive decided to pull the plug on two gaming panels planned for the 2016 tech festival, citing “numerous threats of on-site violence related to this programming.” In response, BuzzFeed and Vox Media canceled plans to participate in and report on the week-long conference in Austin, Texas.

In an online statement, SXSW Interactive director Hugh Forrest said it is canceling panels about gaming culture—”Level Up: Overcoming Harassment in Games” and “SavePoint: a Discussion on the Gaming Community.” The former panel intended to explore ways to solve discrimination and abuse in the gaming community, while the latter panel included speakers associated with the GamerGate movement, including Lynn Walsh and Perry Jones.

“We had hoped that hosting these two discussions in March 2016 in Austin would lead to a valuable exchange of ideas on this very important topic,” Forrest wrote. However, a number of threats forced the conference to shut down the panels. “Preserving the sanctity of the big tent at SXSW Interactive necessitates that we keep the dialogue civil and respectful. If people cannot agree, disagree and embrace new ways of thinking in a safe and secure place that is free of online and offline harassment, then this marketplace of ideas is inevitably compromised.”

Mumbrella Asia: AOL digital prophet David Shing: Bad ads are uninvited guests to the party

In a fast-paced talk, Shing said that many brands were treating mobile “like an infant” and were still using advertising to push messages on consumers rather than engage them in an experience.

“Bad ads are the uninvited guests to the party,” he said, adding that the proliferation of poorly conceived apps was not helping brands in their efforts to engage people on mobile devices in an age of “media overload”.

AdAge: REI Will Shut Consumers Out on Black Friday

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home.” Environmental philosopher John Muir wrote those words in 1901, but REI CEO Jerry Stritzke brought them back in a letter he just sent to the 5.5 million members of his outdoor lifestyle retailer and co-op. The letter announced that the company would be closing its 143 stores on Black Friday in an effort to encourage consumers to experience the world, not the madding crowds, on the busiest shopping day of the year. What’s more, the retailer is even paying its 12,000 employees who won’t be working that day to ensure they enjoy some time outside too.

The Guardian: Lena Dunham signs deal with Hearst to commercialise Lenny newsletter

Girls creator Lena Dunham has signed a deal to commercialise her Lenny newsletter with Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire publisher Hearst.

Hearst will sell ads in Lenny, and also syndicate content from the newsletter across its titles.

Lenny was set up by Dunham and Girls showrunner Jenni Konner in September and features a mixture of “feminism, style, health, politics, friendship and everything else” aimed at young women.

DigiDay: Beyond dieting: Lean Cuisine shifts its messaging

Nestlé’s Lean Cuisine isn’t your mother’s go-to diet and weight-loss brand anymore. This summer, it ditched its weight-loss message for one focused on health and lifestyle.

Along with new packaging and entrees, the brand launched a social campaign with agency 360i called “#WeighThis” that encouraged women to “weigh what matters” instead of their weight. For the second phase of the campaign, artist Annica Lydenberg is painting hundreds of bathroom scales in Grand Central Station to celebrate women’s accomplishments.

 

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