Morning update: Apple backs down after Taylor Swift threat; McDonald’s takeout for cyclists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ4Y6Lnv0e8
Creativity: McDonald’s just invented pretty cool takeout packaging for cyclists
Advertisers are pretty obsessed with cycling lately, judging by a number of remarkable campaigns that have been entered in the Cannes Lions festival here. (Look for a couple of bike-related ideas to win Lions at Monday night’s award show just a few hours from now.)
Now, McDonald’s is climbing aboard with a neat packaging idea aimed at cyclists.
Tribal Buenos Aires in Argentina came up with the McBike idea, which was implemented first in Denmark, oddly enough, but seems to be spreading quickly around the globe. And while it’s a bit weird to take any kind of health-lifestyle advice from McDonald’s, it feels less gratuitous when it’s tied to service-based outreach like this.
The Guardian: Apple Music to pay royalties during free trial: ‘We hear you Taylor Swift’
Apple will pay royalties to music labels and publishers during the three-month free trial of its Apple Music streaming service, the company has confirmed, after protests from independent labels and musician Taylor Swift.
Swift appears to have been the tipping point in the row that had been rumbling all week, after she published a blog post – To Apple, Love Taylor – calling on Apple to abandon its plans for no payouts during the trial period.
Apple’s senior vice president for internet software and services Eddy Cue responded directly to the star on Twitter in announcing the company’s u-turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hds_g1UslzE
Mumbrella Asia: Cathay Pacific unveils revamped first class lounge in Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific has launched a short film to introduce its revamped first class lounge at Hong Kong International Airport, The Pier, which reopened this month after refurbishment.
The video will run only through the airline’s owned media channels in social media, and is promoted only to existing fans of the brand. Business travellers will be targeted through LinkedIn.
Brand Republic: IPA blasts Heinz pitch process ‘and the long hand of procurement’
The pitch process for Heinz’s advertising account is “shocking and “shot sighted”, the IPS’s chief executive Paul Bainsfair has said.
Bainsfair was speaking to Campaign after two of the three remaining agencies pulled out of the process when an e-auction element was introduced.
Heinz had shortlisted three agencies to see at pitch stage – Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Leo Burnett and J Walter Thompson.
But it has emerged that both Leo Burnett and J Walter Thompson abandoned the process after they were told there would be an e-auction on payment.
