Enjoy AdForum’s daily roundup of the latest news, trends, and notable work in the advertising industry.
Ad Fail: Bloomingdale’s Scrambles to Apologize for Date Rate Ad
“Bloomingdale’s has apologised for an ad in its recent holiday catalog which sparked outrage after it appeared to make light of date rape. The ad reads “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking,” and shows a smartly dressed man looking at a woman, who is laughing and appears not to notice him. Hundreds of angry tweets soon followed with people castigating the department store for the ads implications.” More at The Drum.
REI CEO Learns the Real Definition of Transparency on Reddit AMA
“REI will be closing its stores on Black Friday and paying 12,000 employees to take the day off, a move that has generated lots of goodwill—except on Reddit. The outdoor retailer's CEO, Jerry Stritzke, took to Reddit on Tuesday evening for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session to talk about why the chain would be closed the day after Thanksgiving. ‘You might have heard about us recently when we announced that we would be closing all of our stores on Black Friday this year,’ wrote Stritzke. ‘I have my team here helping me answer questions, so go easy on me.’” Read more at Adweek.
6 Ad Agencies That Are Revolutionizing the Recruiting Game
“Attracting and keeping talent is already one of ad agencies’ biggest concerns, and now they’re not just competing with each other for talent but also with tech companies like Google, Facebook, Uber and Airbnb. So agencies are trying to apply some of their creative muscle to recruiting. Here are recent examples of unorthodox ways that agencies have mined talent.” Full story at Digiday.
Job of the Day: Experience Director at Huge in Brooklyn
The Experience Director leads our most complex and innovative projects, creating products used by millions of people every day. They have an intuitive feeling for the way products should work and a deep understanding of what users want and need when it comes to digital media. The work includes digital strategy and interaction design across any touch point— web, mobile, social, tablet and in-store. The Experience Director monitors our projects from the very start. They oversee interdisciplinary teams through research, strategy development, concepting, product definition, and design. More at Huge.
Creative Corner: Storytelling Tips for Lifestyle Brands
(Image via Fimb)
“Sisters Danielle and Jodie Snyder first started making jewelry as teenagers growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, but after a few years working in fashion, they decided to cast out and turn their old hobby into a full-fledged business. Since founding Dannijo in 2008, the Snyders have built an influential roster of fans ranging from musicians to actors to entrepreneurs: Beyoncé, Lupita N'Yongo, Zosia Mamet, and Sarah Jessica Parker were early supporters. But what's more impressive is how they've used social media— particularly Instagram, where they have over 136,000 followers—to build an avid, engaged audience.” Read more at Fast Company.
Jason Lonsdale Tapped as Chief Strategy Officer at Mekanism
"Back in July, CP+B swiped Mekanism’s strategic lead Eric Zuncic as part of its latest post-shakeup reorganization, and this week the latter shop went all the way to Australia to find his replacement. Jason Lonsdale most recently served as executive planning director at Saatchi & Saatchi’s Sydney offices, and he has taken a somewhat circuitous route to the New York gig: he started his career in music before heading into agency planning at New Zealand’s Colenso BBDO in 2000." More at AgencySpy.
Agency of the Week
Critical Mass: Critical Mass is a global experience design agency with a relentless focus on the customer. We’ve been doing digital for nearly two decades, but we still meet every challenge head on, with the same tenacity as we have since day one. We’re thinkers. Tinkerers. Makers. Do’ers. We speak a dozen different languages and are inspired by a million different things. But no matter our discipline or where we are in the world, we’re united by a common excitement for digital that’s absolute and contagious.
Because today is Thursday, check out this T-Mobile ad by Publicis Seattle featuring Aaron Paul.
