Morning Update: Kmart puts a Christmas twist on ‘Ship My Pants’; Thank-You Batkid billboard
This is our Morning Update, rounding up international media and marketing news from while you were sleeping.
Mashable: Kmart Puts a ‘Christmas Carol’ Twist on ‘Ship My Pants’
“Kmart has remade its massively popular “Ship My Pants” ad with all the same actors and the same script, but recast everyone in garb out of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and has given the original dialogue a Victorian spin.”
The Guardian: Andy Coulson ‘do his phone’ email was order to find NoW mole, jury told
“An email from News of the World editor Andy Coulson to a senior journalist investigating George Best’s son telling them to “do his phone” was an order to investigate a suspected mole on the paper, the Old Bailey has heard.”
AdWeek: Anonymous Donor Buys Thank-You Billboard for Batkid
“Just in case you thought the San Francisco Batkid story couldn’t get any cuter, a mysterious billboard near the Bay Bridge is thanking the miniature hero, better known as 5-year-old leukemia patient Miles Scott, for keeping the city safe. Whoever paid for this thing employed some Bruce Wayne-level secrecy, because it surprised the Make-A-Wish Foundation—who helped turn San Francisco into Gotham City for young Miles—as much as everyone else. Batkid has turned into quite the donations magnet for Make-A-Wish, which is great and all, but gestures like this sign also offer a lot of value by keeping this story fresh in people’s minds. “
Telegraph.co.uk: Beyoncé’s album has topped American charts in two days
Beyoncé, the self-titled “visual” album from Beyoncé Knowles, has sold enough copies to win it the number one place on the Billboard 200, the American album charts, on Thursday.
Knowles released her album without prior announcement on Friday morning on iTunes. More than 80,000 copies were sold within three hours of the release and sales had reached approximately 350,000. With the sales tracking week set to finish later on Sunday, Billboard predicts Beyoncé could sell more than 600,000, guaranteeing it a number one slot in the chart.
The Guardian: ‘Santa just is white … Jesus was a white man too’, says Fox News presenter
“Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly insists that not only Jesus Christ but also Santa Claus were white during a debate on her television programme The Kelly File. Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago in the Middle East, making it unlikely that he was white. The discussion was prompted by a Slate article by Aisha Harris.”
Mashable: Rising Paywalls Are Already Paying Off for Publishers
“Not long ago, Bloomberg Businessweek declared 2014 the “Year of the Paywall” for the news industry. Sure enough, everywhere you look in publishing these days, you see news organizations ranging from Politico (and its Capital New York offshoot) to the new tech-oriented website the Information experimenting with online-subscription models. “I would not start a media company today based on advertising alone,” Politico Chief Executive Officer Jim VandeHei told Businessweek recently. “I think it would be crazy.””
The New York Times: ‘S.N.L.’ to Add Black Female Performer
“How seriously did “Saturday Night Live” take the furor around its lack of a black female performer?
Seriously enough to hold a special audition Monday night on the “S.N.L.” stage for seven or eight candidates, one of whom will be hired and will join the cast for shows beginning in January.
The show’s creator and executive producer, Lorne Michaels, said in an interview on Thursday that he had committed to that timetable to add the show’s first black woman since Maya Rudolph left the series in 2007. Several casting sessions were held over the last few weeks leading to this week’s audition.”
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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Beyonce’s album release is definitely shaping the future of the music industry.
1. She has released a ‘visual album’ with a music video for every track.
2. There was no pre warning, no marketing in the build up to the album release.
The shock value of the album release alone is making this album sell like hot cakes.
She’s a genius, it will be interesting to see just how many other artists follow in her foot steps and begin releasing visual albums in a similar style.
iTunes has been given a new life thanks to Beyonce.
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