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The Messy Battle to Be European Ambassador for Ranch Dressing; Snickers Rounds Up Reeses
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Stacy Stokes, Hidden Valley’s vice president of marketing, said ranch fans in the U.S. ‘hold it very close to their heart as this uniquely American flavor.’ Hidden Valley Ranch
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When Hidden Valley Ranch advertised to hire “ranchbassadors” to Europe, assigned to spread “The Flavor of America” abroad this summer, the videos came fast and furious.
One candidate drank a jumbo bottle of buttermilk ranch in six minutes, Natasha Khan reports for The Wall Street Journal. Another pair slathered themselves in ranch while dancing and shaking their bottles like Champagne. Another said she didn’t pack enough sunscreen for vacation but could improvise with “the one thing I always pack enough of.” She whipped out her ranch and smothered her face and neck.
I’ll be happy if I never see any of those clips, but Hidden Valley understandably is thrilled.
The idea for the job came out of discussions about how to mark America’s 250th birthday with ranch—beyond the plan to add the Stars and Stripes to bottles.
“Americans seem to hold it very close to their heart as this uniquely American flavor,” said Stacy Stokes, Hidden Valley’s vice president of marketing.
The company was set to announce the ranchbassadors Friday.
Speaking of the semiquincentennial: CNN will air a Fourth of July countdown and ball drop in Times Square starring New Year’s Eve hosts Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. [Variety]
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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Software’s Next Race: From AI Features to AI-First Products
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Agentic AI adoption and a shift to AI-first products are expected to intensify competition, transform operations, and force new approaches for software companies. Read More
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A new Snickers campaign aims to turn Reese’s name recognition back on itself. Snickers
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It was just a few months ago that Brad Reese, grandson of the Reese’s candy founder, joined MrBeast for an enthusiastic taste test of his rival Feastables peanut butter cups.
Now Reese’s and its parent company Hershey are getting needled by yet more Reeses. This time, however, they’re no relation.
A new ad campaign assembles people with the first name Reese for focus-group style sessions to try Snickers Peanut Butter products on camera.
People with Reese anywhere in their name (alternate spelling accepted) can also pledge their “love and endorsement” of Snickers Peanut Butter to enter a sweepstakes for a year’s worth of candy bars.
Elsewhere in candy land: Mars brand M&M’s will release “Love Island USA”-themed “Play Along” packs including game boards and candies printed with the show’s catchphrases. [Marketing Dive]
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“[It’s time to] start treating the ad-tech industry as a national security threat.”
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— Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) following reports by military officials that U.S. forces in war zones have been targeted using commercial location data
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The WSJ Leadership Institute's Megan Graham reports from the promotional circuit: Pacsun CEO Brieane Olson hosted a dinner Thursday night for the release of her book “Co-Created” at the European sculpture atrium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The book describes how the youth clothing brand moved toward a model that creates products with the input of its Gen Z consumer base instead of a top-down approach. Guests including journalists, influencers and partners received private tours of the museum’s costume art show. “I’ve never seen a book event like this,” joked Russell Wallach, global president of the media and sponsorship division at Live Nation. “Maybe I should go home and start writing.”
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$965 billion
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Valuation of Anthropic in its latest funding round, rocketing past ChatGPT-maker OpenAI as the companies race ahead on expected public listings this year.
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The community where marketing leaders drop the corporate speak and share what’s actually happening. The WSJ CMO Council unites leaders from the world’s most influential brands including Adobe, Audi, Google, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Taco Bell, P&G and Verizon.
Tap into the connections and WSJ intelligence that move careers forward and separate the prepared from the scrambling.
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Former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton was named executive producer at ‘60 Minutes’ as CBS parts ways with Tanya Simon. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
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CBS News made sweeping changes to “60 Minutes,” appointing former New York Times columnist Nick Bilton as its new executive producer and cutting ties with correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. [WSJ]
The Washington Star, a daily newspaper that stopped publishing in 1981, is back (on Substack, anyway). [NYT]
American Eagle said its core brand isn’t performing as well as management would like after the segment’s sales fell in the first quarter. [WSJ]
Costco Wholesale reported higher third-quarter sales as the retailer continues to draw inflation-weary consumers, including to its fuel pumps. [WSJ]
Rising gas prices could drive more retail spending toward Amazon. [Modern Retail]
Patagonia is facing backlash over its trademark dispute with an environmentalist drag performer who goes by Pattie Gonia. [Fashion United]
Gymshark announced an activewear collaboration with Bratz dolls. [Hypebae]
Brandeis University is trying something novel in higher education: telling potential applicants what they’ll actually pay if they attend. [NYT]
Observers are accusing Netflix’s “Enola Holmes 3” poster of using AI. [Creative Bloq]
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