Good morning. Today, new owners bring Svedka’s old “Fembot” to TV’s biggest stage; food marketers are accused of deception; and Netflix explores the boundaries of strange promotions.

Svedka vodka will use artificial intelligence to feature its old “Fembot” mascot in the brand’s first Super Bowl commercial, Megan Graham reports for CMO Today.

AI in advertising has at times triggered fury or disdain from some industry employees and consumers, but CMOs continue to explore how it can factor into their creative work.

Using the tech fit the theme of an ad campaign depicting a futuristic robot, according to Sara Saunders, chief marketing officer at Sazerac, the spirits company that bought Svedka early this year.

“There’s a misnomer that AI is a shortcut,” Saunders said. “I don’t think my team has worked harder on any ad that we’ve created for any brand.”

“AI Inside” ads still get attention from curious press and consumers, but that will fade over time. What about marketers who use AI as a foil?

The work-boots brand Red Wing next week will debut a campaign next week called “Boots Drop the Hard Way,” using billboards made by tradespeople with materials like leather and wood.

The idea is to create a contrast with “taking the easy way out,” Creative Director Aaron Seymour-Anderson told Glossy, citing generative AI and that Apple ad showing creative tools being crushed and replaced by an iPad.

The image battle over ultraprocessed food is escalating.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu stood near a table of popular products from Lunchables to Oreos on Tuesday as he announced a lawsuit accusing food companies of knowingly making and marketing harmful foods. “Addictiveness is a feature not a bug,” he said.

Chiu’s press conference came a day after the Consumer Brands Association began an ad campaign promoting food makers’ role in Americans’ lives, Jesse Newman notes. A 30-second ad features a woman overrun by chickens in her living room. She begins:

The campaign builds on the feisty approach from David Protein—not a defendant in the lawsuit but sometimes a target of ultraprocessed critics.

That point plays better with lean protein than cookies or salty chips, though, so a lot rides on how consumers receive another key industry argument: that processed food has a bigger problem with image than nutrition.

Or, as the Consumer Brands Association puts it on a campaign website, “Just because it’s hard to pronounce, doesn’t mean it’s bad for you.”

The Hollywood Reporter’s headline gets the framing right for covering “Stranger Things” cross-promotions, collaborations and products: “It Might Be Easier to List Who Netflix Is Not Partnering With on ‘Stranger Things 5’ Merch.” Here’s a small sample of the story:

Making deals like a “yes, and…” improv troupe here is nearly standard for big releases now, as the Journal reported in the run-up to the first “Wicked”:

See also: high-profile movies from “Barbie” (2023)​ to “The Lorax” (2012), about a beloved Dr. Seuss character who speaks for the trees and SUVs.

And headlines about overkill are just part of the PR plan.

But the Overton window on “just short of obnoxious” has shifted if a “Stranger Things” lineup spanning Tide (“No Stranger to Stains”) and Fiat seems normal. Or else Netflix is just pushing it.

Meanwhile: How has a windbreaker promoting Timothée Chalamet’s new ping-pong movie “Marty Supreme” turned into the hottest clothing get of the year? [NYMag]

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Nike eliminated the chief commercial officer role and brought its sales and direct-to-consumer business under its CFO as part of broader changes to advance its sweeping turnaround plan. [WSJ] 

American Eagle’s Aerie grew more than the flagship brand in the latest quarter despite the American Eagle campaigns starring Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce. [Adweek]

Macy’s posted its highest quarterly sales in more than three years as its turnaround plan shows early signs of taking hold. [WSJ] 

A Procter & Gamble executive warned that the company’s U.S. sales fell “significantly” in October and likely did the same in November. [Ad Age] 

K-pop, Buldak noodles and K-beauty took the world by storm. Webtoon, a company launched by South Korean internet giant Naver, hopes online comics will be next. [WSJ] 

A “brand-safe, apolitical” campaign to “reignite the American spirit” during the country’s 250th anniversary celebration is gathering big-name supporters like Mark Cuban and Charles Koch as well as advisers including marketing veterans like Jim Stengel and Jill Baskin. [BI] 

Can you name the artists that inspired each of Spotify’s logos for its annual Wrapped listening recaps? [Creative Bloq]

Increasingly posh store brands are winning over more-affluent shoppers. [Fast Company]