Morning Update: Qiaobi apologises for racist ad; LG’s vacuum spider-woman; Top Gear UK premieres; the fall of Salon
https://youtu.be/drqNuYArDMg
BBC: Chinese firm apologises over Qiaobi race-row advert
A Chinese firm has apologised over an advert for detergent which has provoked a storm of allegations of racism. The manufacturer of Qiaobi said it strongly opposed and condemned racial discrimination, and was sorry the advert had caused controversy.
In it, a black man is stuffed head-first into a washing machine before emerging as a light-skinned Asian. In its initial response several days ago, the firm had suggested that its critics overseas were too sensitive.
https://vimeo.com/167820244
Ad Week: Ad of the Day: How Good Is This Vacuum? You Can Climb a Skyscraper With Its Suction
We’d like to preface this story by saying “Don’t try this at home,” but we already know somebody—probably in Ukraine—is going to seize the opportunity anyway. Having warned you, we hereby assuage our consciences.
Companies like GoPro and Samsung have made a mark on YouTube culture by using powerful demonstrations—from smart surfboards to sledding toddlers—to punt their fare. Now, LG’s jumping into the fray with something we can’t quite recall seeing before.
The Drum: Twitter tears Chris Evans’ Top Gear a new one…mostly with lots of love for Matt LeBlanc
And so the new dawn for the BBC’s most successful show, Top Gear has broken and the response on social media was predictably negative, although the first episode was actually a moderate success.
In the end it came across as a mix of TFI in its energy, allowing Evans to clearly steer the direction of the show, but the production, writing and directing all felt as it was before the hiatus.
Politico: The fall of Salon.com
A Facebook page dedicated to celebrating the 20th anniversary of digital media pioneer Salon is functioning as a crowdsourced eulogy.
Dozens of Salon alumni have, over the past several months, posted their favorite stories from and memories of the once-beloved liberal news site described as a “left-coast, interactive version of The New Yorker,” a progressive powerhouse that over the years has covered politics with a refreshing aggressiveness, in a context that left plenty of room for provocative personal essays and award-winning literary criticism.
Digiday: ‘No walled gardens’: Discovery embraces platform distribution
Discovery Communications has taken the wraps off of a rebrand of its Seeker digital network, gunning for more growth by embracing Facebook and other social platforms beyond YouTube.
Seeker, which initially launched a year ago, is an effort to reach younger audiences with science, news and other thought-provoking content. It enjoyed some modest success: It has amassed 300,000 subscribers and close to 30 million views on its central YouTube channel over the past year, covering topics such as the effect of global warming on the Bering Strait and global trade and why Americans don’t use the metric system.
Digiday: Confessions of a newspaper publishing exec: ‘We’ve screwed up by pursuing scale’
Building massive audiences with the help of social platforms like Facebook has become a standard publisher go-to move. But that scale doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with revenue. Headlines have been peppered lately with staff cuts at publishers ranging from newspapers such as the Guardian, The Telegraph, as well as the digital media players like Vice and Mashable.
In the latest edition of Digiday Confessions, in which we grant anonymity in exchange for brutal honesty, we spoke to a senior publishing executive at a U.K newspaper.
Mumbrella Asia: Jeffrey Seah departs Starcom: ‘The network will miss a force of nature’
Jeffrey Seah, one of the most recognised figures on Southeast Asia’s media scene, is leaving Starcom.
The outspoken Singaporean, who has worked for the media agency in two stints over 15 years, the last seven as Southeast Asia CEO, is working out his notice before moving on.
The ‘Walter Presents’ on-demand sub-brand inside All 4, the home of Channel 4 online
V-Net.TV: What The Future Of Online Commercial Broadcasting Looks Like
Channel 4 is demonstrating what the future of online commercial ‘broadcasting’ looks like. The UK broadcaster closed its digital shop – the 4oD catch-up service – and instead built a digital shopping mall called All 4, which launched in March 2015. There you can find linear channels, catch-up TV, short-form content and online originals. And the icing on the cake is ‘Walter Presents’, the ambitious sub-brand that pulls together great foreign drama into a curated collection of box-sets for online viewing.
Ad Week: Y&R’s Special Olympics Ad Offers a Truly Remarkable Take on Fatherhood
Ahead of Father’s Day, Young & Rubicam Mexico launches a spot for the Special Olympics that follows an expectant dad in a frenzy of anticipation over an upcoming blessed event—the birth of his son.
“When I found out you were coming, it was the happiest day of my life,” the voiceover begins. “A boy. A boy that would love football as much as I did. I waited nine long months, and then you were born. And you gave me the most unexpected surprise.”
