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New Green Deal Marketing; Gucci Tries to Avoid a Blackface Repeat; Apple Wants a Big Bite |
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Republicans are already running ads trying to make Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed Green New Deal an anchor around the neck of Democrats, but at least one marketer appears to be trying it for a lift.
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“We've got a Green New Deal for you!” Frontier Airlines said in an email to customers. “Save 75% on flights!” The language refers to the low-cost airline’s fuel efficiency, not any political aim, a spokeswoman told Ad Age. “We are proud to be a green airline,” she said. “We are not endorsing any individual or plan.”
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| If You Want to Destroy My Sweater |
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The sweater, before it was pulled. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The French billionaire who controls Gucci promised to increase the luxury brand’s cultural-sensitivity training for employees after it offered (and then pulled) a turtleneck sweater that resembled blackface.
François-Henri Pinault, chief executive and controlling shareholder of Gucci parent Kering, said the company has teams that review products and marketing materials destined for Asian markets. “It’s true we don’t do that for the African-American community, and that’s a mistake,” Mr. Pinault said.
Gucci’s CEO plans to meet with the designer Dapper Dan and other African-American leaders this week to talk about the sweater mess. “Another fashion house has gotten it outrageously wrong,” Dapper Dan said in an Instagram post. “There is no excuse nor apology that can erase this kind of insult.”
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| Success Has Made a Brand Extension of Our Home |
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A Porsche arrives in a condo via the Porsche Design Tower’s automated car elevator. PHOTO: RHONA WISE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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While Gucci gets its house in order, other luxury brands are extending their names to ultra-high-end housing complexes.
Bulgari, Armani and Versace have licensed their brands to residential developers, Bloomberg Businessweek reports, yielding $1.3 million one-bedrooms at Armani Residences in Dubai, for example. The Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, includes a car elevator to bring residents’ cars to private “sky garages” joined to apartments by a glass wall. Plans for the Aston Martin Residences in Miami somehow somehow omitted a car elevator, but there is a berth for someone’s superyacht.
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Lego is opening a pop-up store that’s empty except through the lens of Snapchat augmented reality. [Campaign]
Major League Soccer pulled rapper Sheck Wes from its new campaign at the last second after allegations of domestic abuse by singer, actress and model Justine Skye. He denies the allegations. [USA Today]
Young beer drinkers wanted: The maker of Coors Light and Miller Lite will “invest more than ever on digital and social channels to engage and recruit 21- to 34-year-old drinkers,” its CEO said, as declining drinking rates hit North American sales. [WSJ]
Direct-to-consumer marketers that grew up by advertising in social media are finding challenges as they look to spend more on TV. [Digiday]
Omnicom Group reported organic revenue growth in the fourth quarter across most regions and disciplines, a sign that the ad giant is weathering disruption from changing client needs and technology. [WSJ]
SmileDirectClub, a marketer of transparent braces that advertised during Sunday’s Grammys broadcast, named Bruce Henderson its first chief creative officer. He had been global chief creative officer at IPG experiential agency Jack Morton. [AgencySpy]
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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, @larakiara, @alexbruell.
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