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Tariffs Aren’t How Hollywood Wanted to Bring Back Movie-Making; Mattel Plans Price Increases on American Toys; U.S. Urges Breakup of Google Ad Businesses
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Good morning. Today, Jon Voight suggests that President Trump’s plans for Hollywood won’t stop at tariffs; Mattel responds to the “two dolls” analysis; and Google and the Justice Department offer dueling solutions to last month’s antitrust ruling.
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President Trump named Jon Voight a ‘special ambassador’ to Hollywood in January. PHOTO: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
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Hollywood has been pleading with politicians for years to help stem the exodus of film and TV production to other countries, but President Trump’s call for 100% tariffs on imported movies isn’t what studio execs had in mind, Ben Fritz, Brian Schwartz and Erich Schwartzel report.
Many in Hollywood would like to see the federal government offer tax incentives that make the U.S. more competitive with other countries.
Executives expressed confusion over how tariffs could be applied to intellectual property with no specific monetary value, however, and said they feared retaliatory tariffs could damage their business overseas. Put another way: “Not like this!”
To be continued: The actor Jon Voight, who met with Trump last weekend to argue against overseas production, said in an interview that the tariff announcement was “the beginning, perhaps, of changes that will be effective” and indicated there might be more to Trump’s plan.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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The CMO’s Value in the Boardroom
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Kristin Deutmeyer, a managing partner at executive leadership advisory firm Heidrick & Struggles, discusses the qualities that make CMOs an asset on boards of directors. Read More
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Matte, the No. 1 U.S. toy company by sales, owns brands including Barbie, Hot Wheels and American Girl. PHOTO: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS
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Mattel’s CEO said the company was moving more of its production out of China, lobbying the Trump administration to exempt toys from tariffs and making plans to raise prices on American toys, Connor Hart reports.
Trump last week put the toy industry in the spotlight, suggesting that children could make do with fewer dolls. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” the president said. The comments were lampooned on “Saturday Night Live.”
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Kreiz said toys were an essential part of children’s lives and that the company was committed to providing an uninterrupted supply of quality products at a range of prices.
Lost in the supermarket? Tyson Foods cautioned that tariffs and economic uncertainty are cutting into Americans’ appetite for steaks and high-price beef cuts. [WSJ]
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Google proposed remedies to restore competition that don’t require a breakup of its ad business. The Justice Department wants more. PHOTO: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS
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Google should sell two of its ad businesses to address antitrust issues, the Justice Department said in a court filing following a judge’s ruling last month that the tech giant had created a monopoly in advertising, Kimberley Kao and Fabiana Negrin Ochoa report.
The DOJ proposed that Google sell AdX, a marketplace where advertisers and publishers can sell and buy ad inventory, and its DFP ad platform for publishers.
Google countered that divestiture isn’t warranted and wouldn’t be technically feasible in any case, because the AdX and DFP code won’t work outside the company. Selling would require developing new versions, it said.
The company instead proposed remedies including making AdX real-time bids for open-web display ads available to all rival publisher ad servers.
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ILLUSTRATION: VICTORIA ROSSELLI/WSJ; GETTY IMAGES
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Brides are settling for Costco flowers and American wine as tariffs rain on wedding season. [WSJ]
Tanger outlet malls will kick off their back-to-school marketing two months earlier than usual to start before promised “reciprocal” tariffs take effect. [Modern Retail]
Spoiler alert: Marvel revealed the meaning of the asterisk in “Thunderbolts*”—and it’s some potentially powerful marketing. [THR]
Google formed a film and TV effort called 100 Zeros, designed to promote its tech in Hollywood and use Hollywood to polish its image. [BI]
Lyft introduced a version for older users called Lyft Silver that includes a simplified interface, a larger font and live phone support. [Fast Company]
WPP plans to rebrand its GroupM media network as WPP Media. [Ad Age]
Nike’s president of consumer, product and brand is retiring, and the sportswear company plans to break up her role into three separate positions. [WSJ]
Bounty paper towels introduced a three-ply version, bringing to life a 1998 headline from the Onion. [Ad Age / The Onion]
5-Hour Energy and Taco John’s energizing hot sauce is the latest edible cross-promotion to pose the question: Will food collaborations ever be appetizing again? [Eater]
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