|
Plastic Fights Back; Goopfellas Is Coming; YouTube Camp for Kids
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHOTO: JEFF HUGHES
|
|
|
Good morning. Do you know a kid who’s falling behind on becoming an influencer? Good thing summer’s almost here: Special summer camps are teaching kids as young as five how to shoot videos, edit sound and create a personal brand on YouTube.
Some camps say they try to manage kids’ expectations, the Journal reports, so they don’t wear themselves out making video in an unlikely attempt at fame. Then there’s Star Camps, which is offering a two-week, $750 YouTube camp in Los Angeles for first- through-sixth graders. “Become an Internet sensation,” its website says. “We’re trying to give kids the tools to build their own voice, because a unique voice gives you the best chance at being a successful YouTuber,” the camp director says.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A plastic bag litters a street in New York City. New York state recently joined California in passing a state ban on single-use plastic bags.SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
Plastic has delivered us ivory substitutes, safer milk bottles, necessary materiel during World War II, one of the great moments in “The Graduate,” the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and single-use straws, forks, coffee lids, takeout containers and bags. (You’ll notice the arc of history curving on this one.)
Now plastic sellers and the companies that love them are trying to turn around the escalating image crisis that’s led to bans on single-use plastic bags in California and New York and promises by chains like Starbucks to stop giving out plastic straws.
The American Progressive Bag Alliance—there’s a trade group for everything, including plastic bags—is battling proposed bag bans in states including Maine and New Jersey. And another trade group, the Flexible Packaging Association, built a consumer-focused website it says is “dedicated to combating bad press and misinformation” about plastics.
Others are making plastics a sustainability selling point. Garçon Wines, which makes flat plastic wine bottles that fit through a mail slot, says its recycled bottles are 87% lighter than glass and shaped to allow more wine to be shipped in the same space, reducing emissions. “There are undoubtedly some businesses who have not engaged with us because of the antiplastic sentiment,” CEO Santiago Navarro says. “However, that does not change what we do.”
|
|
|
|
PHOTO: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
|
|
|
Groups like Kentucky’s Original Black Bourbon Enthusiasts and the Black Bourbon Society are trying to make sure marketers know African-Americans drink bourbon, the New York Times reports. You might not know it from most bourbon advertising.
And they don’t want brands to fix the oversight with a campaign on the side. “As an African-American, I don’t want to be targeted, but I do want to be included,” said Fawn Weaver, who founded Uncle Nearest. That’s a whiskey brand named after a former slave who became the first master distiller for Jack Daniel’s. “For many brands, in their marketing you’ll see all white folks, and then a separate campaign that only appears in places like Atlanta or Washington, D.C.”
|
|
|
“Men are starting to realize, I can go to the gym and I can put butter in my coffee, but I am profoundly unhappy or I feel like I have no purpose in my life.”
|
— Elise Loehnen, chief content officer at Goop, on the reason for Goopfellas, the company’s new podcast for men. (Butter coffee is a recent thing, inspired by keto diets.)
|
|
|
|
|
19.3 million
|
U.S. viewers for the “Game of Thrones” series finale Sunday night, including the original airing, replays and early streaming. HBO says 13.6 million watched the debut on TV. Both numbers are HBO records.
|
|
|
|
Rihanna released the first campaign video promoting her Fenty line with LVMH, showing looks going on sale online next week and at a Paris pop-up on Friday. [i-D]
|
|
|
Men’s fashion brand Taylor Stitch is taking on the waste in its industry with Restitch, which repairs and sells used Taylor Stitch clothes. [Fast Company]
Walmart introduced three tablets under its Onn in-house brand, each less than $100, as part of an effort to revitalize its electronics department. [Bloomberg]
Branded keywords—the ones that include advertisers’ own names—are getting more expensive. Here’s some advice on how to handle it. [Search Engine Land]
Ford’s so-called company redesign, including the elimination of 7,000 jobs, won’t spare the marketing department. [The Drum]
Journal sports columnist Jason Gay suggests that with “Thrones” out of the way, your new favorite TV drama should be Giannis and Kawhi. [WSJ]
Twitter suspended the Houston Rockets’ account over posts that included copyrighted music. [Houston Chronicle]
Amazon Prime created a five-story faux bookstore to promote its new supernatural series “Good Omens.” [Campaign]
Schmidt’s Naturals, the Unilever brand that just introduced a deodorant with Jane Goodall, is rolling out a new deodorant line with Justin Bieber. [Ad Age]
|
|
|
|
We bring you the most important (and intriguing) marketing news every day. Write me at nat.ives@wsj.com any time with feedback on the newsletter or comments on specific items. We want to hear from you.
And follow the CMO Today team on Twitter: @wsjCMO, @natives, @alexbruell.
|
|