Morning Update: Dumb Ways to Die creative sold to Empire Life Insurance Co; World Cup ads shared more than Super Bowl ads; ‘Dear Kitten’ from Friskies closes in on 10m views
This is our Morning Update, rounding up international media and marketing news from while you were sleeping.
AdWeek: Nothing’s Sacred: ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ Is Now Being Used to Hawk Life Insurance
“One of the lovably misguided characters from “Dumb Ways to Die” sold both his kidneys on the Internet. Now, the client behind the beloved campaign has made a similarly greedy deal with the devil.
Through a licensing deal, Metro Trains has sold the creative product pretty much wholesale to Empire Life Insurance Co., which is cutting its own ads from it. Three 30-second spots posted online play snippets from the original musical cartoon, before a female voice pipes in and says: “What’s the dumbest way of all to die? Having no life insurance.” Empire has also done some digital ads with the characters and plans “a robust merchandise program … for multiple territories worldwide,” according to the Globe and Mail.”
The Guardian: More digital disruption ahead for mainstream news groups, says survey
“Traditional news outlets are facing a new wave of disruption as the digital revolution sweeps on, according to a new international survey.
It is likely to further change the relationship between news companies and their audiences and could have profound implications for societies in advanced economies.
According to the third annual digital news report published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), some news organisations are being outpaced by the speed of change while others show signs of rising to the challenge.”
Mashable: World Cup Ads Have Already Been Shared More Than Super Bowl Ads
“World Cup 1, Super Bowl 0.
Before the first kickoff, ads related to the World Cup have already been shared more than this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials, according to marketing-technology companyUnruly. The top-20 World Cup 2014 ads have so far netted 6.9 million shares across social media. That’s 31.4% more than the 4.7 million shares related to the top-20 ads from Super Bowl 2014.”
Mumbrella Asia: PETA highlights horrors of angora trade
“Animal rights charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a harrowing film to raise awareness to the horrors of the angora fur trade, most of which is produced in China.
The ad – which some will find distressing to watch – begins with people having their hair waxed and finishes with the plucking of a live rabbit.”
AdAge: Facebook to Use Web Browsing History For Ad Targeting
“Through its ubiquitous “like” buttons on publisher sites across the web, Facebook has long been able to watch the web surfing behavior of its 1.28 billion monthly users.
Soon it will begin to use that information for ad targeting on Facebook.”
AdWeek: ‘Dear Kitten’ From Friskies Proves Cats Still Rule the Internet
“Friskies has partnered with BuzzFeed to produce some chunky, meaty kitten content fresh out of the YouTube can. The video below, quickly closing in on 10 million views, is voiced by Ze Frank, who works for BuzzFeed and is also a YouTube celebrity in his own right withhis True Facts series, in which he tells you “true facts” about animals that are clearly not true.”
The New York Times: Ex-Times Editor to Teach at Harvard
“Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times, will teach undergraduate courses in narrative nonfiction at Harvard this fall, the university announced on Thursday.
Ms. Abramson was abruptly dismissed last month by the newspaper’s publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr. Her firing, less than three years after she was appointed the paper’s first female executive editor, stunned The Times newsroom and the media world.”
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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