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‘Call Her Daddy’ Podcaster Alex Cooper Opens an Unwell Ad Agency; OpenAI Reverses Stance on Copyright Works in Sora; Apple Drops ICE-Tracking Apps
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Welcome back. Today, the latest celebrity-founded ad agency arrives on the scene; Sam Altman floats sharing revenue with copyright holders who let Sora generate their characters; and Apple cites safety risks as it pulls ICE trackers from the App Store.
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Alex Cooper has a hit podcast, a media network, a $100 million deal with Sirius, a line of hydration drinks and now an ad agency, too. Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
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Alex Cooper, the podcaster who rose to fame hosting the tell-all interview show “Call Her Daddy,” has opened an advertising agency, Katie Deighton reports for CMO Today.
Unwell Creative Agency, a new unit of Cooper’s media company Unwell, positions itself as a conduit for brands to reach Gen Z women through live events, original productions and the parent company’s podcast network. Its debut ad for Google’s Pixel phone and T-Mobile stars “SNL” alum Aidy Bryant, “White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore—and Cooper herself.
Other celebrities’ ad agencies, notably including Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, have proven popular with advertisers desperate to get a piece of consumers’ increasingly divided attention.
But Cooper doesn’t plan to appear in every campaign the agency creates.
“There’s going to be a moment where a brand comes and I work with my team and we say, ‘Hey, let’s go get this actress or this creator to be the face of it, because it makes more sense,’” Cooper said. “I will be involved as much as I’m needed, but Unwell doesn’t always need to be about me.”
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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Mars Wrigley CMO: Curiosity, Creativity Fuel Innovation
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Gabrielle Wesley, CMO of Mars Wrigley North America, emphasizes the importance of curiosity, whether in developing talent, fostering innovation, or learning from failure. Read More
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OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said some copyright owners view AI videos using their characters as a new kind of ‘interactive fan fiction.’ Photo: Andrew Leyden/Zuma Press
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OpenAI is giving copyright holders more control over how their characters show up, if at all, in the latest version of its video-generation app Sora, Jeff Bercovici writes.
The AI behemoth had told talent agencies and studios they would need to opt out to stop their copyrights from showing up in the new Sora app’s output. That differed from its approach to the likeness of a recognizable public figure, which required that person to agree beforehand.
CEO Sam Altman said in a blog post that the new policy on copyrighted characters will be “similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls.”
Altman also said OpenAI would have to “somehow make money” from Sora to offset the costs when users create videos, and would try sharing some of that revenue with rightsholders who let users make videos with their characters.
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$33 million
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Domestic ticket sales over the weekend for Taylor Swift’s “Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” a movie-slash-album release party video, enough to come in No. 1 at the box office.
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ICEBlock describes itself as a ‘completely anonymous crowdsourced platform’ that lets users report ICE activity ‘with just two taps on their phone.’ Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Apple’s App Store has stopped distributing ICEBlock and other apps that let users track Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after pressure from the Justice Department, Gareth Vipers and Rolfe Winkler report.
“Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store,” a spokesman for Apple said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department demanded that Apple drop the app. “ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed,” Bondi said.
Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer, said ICEBlock was engaged in protected speech and compared it to apps, including Apple’s own maps app, that crowdsource speed traps.
“Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” he said.
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In the second episode of “Leaders,” a new podcast hosted by Alan Murray from The Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç reveals how he reinvented a storied 120-year-old brand in one of the most dramatic corporate turnarounds in recent years.
Listen ┃ Watch
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The point-and-shoot digital camera is one of the most prized rediscovered technologies. Photo: Mark Hunter/thecobrasnake.com
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Teens and twenty-somethings are resurrecting CDs, flip phones and digital cameras. [WSJ]
Mike’s Hot Honey is harnessing brand collaborations, influencer marketing and its “swicy” flavor to fuel a major expansion. [Ad Age]
Cadbury wants to make dark chocolate less serious and more accessible. [FT]
The craft beer boom has turned into a shakeout. [NYT]
Men’s grooming company Manscaped is considering pitches from creative agencies for a potential Super Bowl ad. [Adweek]
President Trump used Truth Social to call on Google to restore Univision to YouTube TV. [Semafor]
“Remember, daddy’s watching,” warned the “Saturday Night Live” version of President Trump as the show began its new season. [WSJ]
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