CMO Today’s most-read article of 2019 covered Gillette’s unexpected embrace of the #MeToo movement, adding a new layer to its long-running portrayals of masculinity and getting boycott threats for its trouble.
But not everything was so serious. The No. 2 CMO Today story this year explored the coffee cup—rumored to be from
—that accidentally appeared during an episode of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
Readers also dove into news about logo strategy, ad-targeting and a surprising ad buy from
Kraft Heinz Co.
1.
Challenges Men to Shave Their ‘Toxic Masculinity’ in Gillette Ad, Jan. 14
Gillette, the Procter & Gamble Co. brand that for three decades used the tagline, “The Best A Man Can Get,” tweaked its slogan to fit the #MeToo movement. “Is this the best a man can get?” an ad narrator asked. “Is it?”
The reaction was predictably divided. In trying to offer younger shavers something beyond price cuts, the ad made some (like Piers Morgan and James Woods) feel attacked.
The campaign didn’t clearly help or hurt Gillette bricks-and-mortar sales in the first quarter of the year, but Gillette sales and market share showed improvement online, P&G said.
2. Misplaced Coffee Cup on ‘Game of Thrones’ Brews Buzz for Starbucks, May 6
Observant “Game of Thrones” viewers noticed something resembling a Starbucks cup sitting in front of Daenerys Targaryen, played by
Emilia Clarke,
in the fourth episode of the hit show’s final season.
Starbucks responded to the production error the next day with a tweet saying, “TBH we’re surprised she didn’t order a Dragon Drink,” referencing a beverage on its menu.
It turned out that cup really came from a non-Starbucks coffee shop in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, near the filming location.
3.
Drops Its Name From Logo, Jan. 7
Mastercard removed its name from its logo in most contexts, leaving the interlocking red and yellow circles to represent the brand on cards, in stores, at events and in advertising. The move continued an effort to play down the “card” in “Mastercard” as new payment methods spread.
It also asserted the company’s place among a small group of marketers such as
and
that can go by visual symbols alone—and as Apple did when it issued its own credit card later in the year.
Photo:
KRAFT HEINZ CO.
4. Kraft Heinz’s Devour Advertises on Pornhub as Part of Super Bowl Campaign, Jan. 28
The Devour frozen food brand owned by Kraft Heinz ran ads on pornography website Pornhub as part of a campaign built around a Super Bowl commercial with a food porn theme.
Facing criticism, Kraft Heinz later said it wouldn’t do it again.
5. Doritos Bets Consumers Will Recognize the Brand in Its Logo-Free Ad, Aug. 26
PepsiCo Inc.
’s Doritos played to young consumers’ ad aversion by running commercials where its packaging was just red or blue—no names or logos. “There’s a desire to almost reject traditional advertising,” said
Rachel Ferdinando,
senior vice president of marketing at PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division.
But the stunt was more of a nod to that feeling than anything else, of course. In addition to the “Anti-Ad,” as it was called, Doritos continued to run plenty of commercials that featured its logo as heavily as ever.
6. Hostilities Rise Inside G/O Media Over Autoplay Video Ads and Politics, Oct. 29
Editorial staffers at the former Gawker Media websites now owned by G/O Media Inc. fought management’s decision to test video ads for Farmers Insurance Group that played automatically with the sound on. Privately and then publicly, they called it a lousy user experience. Farmers pulled out.
But that dispute was soon overshadowed by another drama: the implosion of the company’s sports site, Deadspin.
Deadspin’s editorial staff left en masse after the company fired a Deadspin editor for defying orders to “stick to sports,” which they argued was meant to have a chilling effect on their writing.
7. Hulu’s Dark ‘Morning in America’ Interrupts a Saccharine Super Bowl Ad Roster, Feb. 3
A Super Bowl ad for Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” stood out among the scrupulously benign commercials that ran elsewhere in the game.
Hulu’s spot was an acidic take on the
Ronald Reagan
re-election ad commonly known as “Morning in America.” In Hulu’s version, “Handmaid” star
Elisabeth Moss
takes over the initially gauzy narration to say “Wake up, America. Morning’s over.”
8. Behavioral Ad Targeting Not Paying Off for Publishers, Study Suggests, May 29
One of the first empirical studies of the impact of behaviorally targeted advertising on online revenue found that publishers only got about 4% more revenue for an ad impression that had a cookie enabled than for one that didn’t.
Advertisers paid a bigger premium than that for targeted ads, but most of the premium is eaten up by middlemen’s fees before it reaches the publishers.
9. Walgreens Tests Digital Cooler Doors With Cameras to Target You With Ads, Jan. 11
began testing a technology that embeds cameras, sensors and digital screens in the cooler doors in its stores, a new network of “smart” displays that marketers could theoretically use to target ads for specific types of shoppers.
Walgreens and Cooler Screens Inc., the company behind the displays, said Tuesday that the six-store test was successful. They are expanding the technology to 50 stores now and plan to roll it out to 2,500 Walgreens locations in the U.S. after that, they said.
10. Consumers Say Brands Shouldn’t Bring Politics to the Super Bowl, Jan. 16
Despite marketers’ interest in taking political and social stands (see Gillette, above), two-thirds of consumers said they didn’t want to see that during the Super Bowl.
“The Super Bowl is definitely the wrong place to make a statement,” said
Michael Ramlet,
chief executive at Morning Consult, a survey research technology company that polled consumers on the question for CMO Today.
When the game aired on Feb. 3, 2019, consumers got what most said they wanted: “safe” ads, with nothing more political than Hulu’s ad for a dystopian TV show and Budweiser bragging that it uses wind power.
Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com
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