ADVERTISING

Night of the Living Spokesmen

Alex Hammond knows every wrinkle, mole, and skin tag on Albert Einstein, just so long as it's above the belt. Not a former lover of or personal dermatologist to the famous physicist, Hammond is a digital artist who’s brought Einstein back from the dead—to star in a series of commercials for a British utilities campaign.

• Hammond serves as joint head of 3D at The Mill, the production studio behind the return of Bob Ross, who died in 1995—but was seen shilling for Mountain Dew in March.
• In both instances, the estates of the zombie spokesmen gave the go-ahead, but The Mill’s work is part of a growing trend of using deepfakes, computer-generated imagery (CGI), and other technology to reanimate the deceased in advertising.

It’s never been easier to do—and they’ve never looked more convincing. But advertisers are weighing the ethical nuances of using dead pitchmen and figuring out where to draw the line.

“There's always a sensitivity around the ethics of bringing someone back digitally, and, let's face it, some of the tech [has] proven that it can be done very well now,” Hammond said. “The more convincing it becomes, the more sinister it gets, in a way. It’s not a caricature of that person; it’s a real representation of them.”

Monster Mash

Brands know it’s an ethical minefield. Nicole Portwood, Mountain Dew’s vice president of marketing, recently told The Drum that there’s a “fine line between honouring someone and making it feel self-serving,” while discussing the brand’s Bob Ross push. 

• “We wanted to recreate rather than parody Bob, and we never would have done this without the approval and partnership of the Bob Ross Company,” she said.

Even if a brand gets formal approval from a celebrity’s family or estate, that’s not the same as the actual individual giving the okay. 

“They don't get to make a choice about whether they want to be involved in these ads,” Irina Raicu, director of the Internet Ethics Program at Santa Clara University, told Marketing Brew. “This deprives people of autonomy...Shouldn't you have a right to decide how you're perceived, whether you're alive or after?”

Read our feature on how marketers are resurrecting the dead here.—RB

D&I

Netflix fails the Bechdel test

On Wednesday, a Twitter user pointed out that the crossword answer for “_______ and chill” recently invited a group of sound engineers to a virtual event on June 5 led by six industry experts...all of whom are men, and one of whom is named “Woody Woodhall.” You can’t make this stuff up. 

That’s the same Netflix that... 

• Very publicly pledged $5 million to female filmmakers in March, and...
• Thanked “all of the women who have broken barriers” on its official brand Instagram for International Women’s Day this year. 

Devil’s advocate: In terms of its employee base, Netflix isn’t doing half bad (pun intended)—women make up 47% of its workforce. That makes this slip-up even more confusing. 

A Netflix spokesperson told Marketing Brew that it’s added Lori Castro, a sound engineer at the company, to the June 5 event.

“Increasing gender representation in the sound community is important to us,” they said. “Which is why we work to recruit and expand our network of female sound engineers with events like Women in Sound.”

Why it matters: Netflix’s blunder shows what can happen when companies make public promises but fall short internally. Case in point: McDonald’s pledging to double ad spend with diverse-owned companies, as Allen Media Group sues the chain for discrimination.—PB 

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SPORTS

Washington Football Marketer

Whenever the Washington Football Team eventually lands on a name, it’s going to be Will Misselbrook’s job to sell it. The franchise’s chief creative and digital officer—a role that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the NFL—just finished his first week with the team and gave Marketing Brew a look at what’s next.

A bit of no-background: After a long refusal to drop its former name, which was widely seen as a slur, the franchise finally caved amid public uproar last summer. It’s since gone by the Washington Football Team, and its new name and identity are expected to debut in 2022.

That’s where Misselbrook comes in. With a background spanning creative agencies, publishers, and brands, he’s the kind of marketer who uses terms like “content frontier.” 

• “The rebrand is an opportunity for us to really evolve our own brand story,” he told Marketing Brew. “We will certainly use the legacy and the historical element of the Washington Football Team as a foundation, but build upon that.”
• In practice, he’ll be tasked with finding branded partnerships and expanding media projects, like the team’s Unfiltered series. Rolled out last year, Unfiltered’s shows touch on everything from player fashion to gaming and tech.

Misselbrook’s job is to “think bigger”—he called his new employer a “media powerhouse”—and open up the tent of fans to not just those who were appalled by the Washington Football Team’s previous name, but beyond the typical regional constraints of the sport. “I personally see us going beyond the Beltway, not just nationwide but internationally recognized as well,” he said.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Popeyes published data on its marketing team’s ethnic and racial breakdown, stating it will now seek out ad agencies committed to improving diversity. 
• Twitter is finally letting users request the blue check again. 
• Apple gave itself a pat on the back for iOS 14.5 in its latest ad about data privacy.
• TikTok is adding bulk comment deletion and reporting tools to its platform.

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FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

Case studies: Looking to grow your brand’s Instagram following...but with really engaged, loyal followers this time? Click here to find out how one small biz, a stationery company called STIL, got to 30k the right way. 

Competitor analysis: This guide breaks down the six key elements of competitor analysis, including tried and tested tools.

Tech: We’ve been thinking about Emerging Tech Brew’s Guide to AI lately. It was published last year, but as AI becomes increasingly important in the marketing industry, why not take a look?

756 million pros: Yep, that’s how many of the biz world’s finest are on LinkedIn. And here’s your chance to get your marketing message to them in the place where business is done. Learn how here.*

JOBS

Bigwig gigs don’t grow on trees. If you’re an exec, looking for job opportunities in the usual places probably won’t cut it. That’s why we partnered with ExecThread, the platform with confidential jobs for people who’ve graduated beyond job boards. Today’s featured postings: VP of Marketing at a Fortune 500 company, CMO at a pro sports team, and Director of Growth Marketing at a company that grows e-commerce brands. Check out all the super cool jobs here. 

METRICS & MEDIA

Stat: There are now five+ billion searches on Pinterest every month. So you could say it’s an important enough platform for your favorite newsletter to host an event about (stay tuned for a recap of our amazing workshop next week ).

Quote: “Advertisers are recognizing that just doing something in June is a form of tokenism.”—Condé Nast Chief Business Officer, Culture Eric Gillin for Digiday, on Pride Month ad spending.

Read: Retail Brew’s Halie LeSavage wrote about the evolving world of DTC restaurant partnerships this week, and we think you’ll love it.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• What WeWork’s former head of social media has learned from running a job board for women throughout the pandemic
• Big Dairy™ wants you to think of milk as a sports drink
• Progressive groups are telling media buyers to ditch Fox News