Good morning. Today, a new campaign from WeWork’s post-bankruptcy CMO tries to shed old vibes; damage control isn’t enough any more in crisis communications; and the maker of brands including Tide, Charmin and Pantene says it is seeing signs of slower spending across its product categories.

WeWork’s new ad campaign delivers shot after shot of city skylines, gleaming glass buildings and meeting rooms filled with besuited, efficient-looking workers, Katie Deighton reports for CMO Today. There isn’t a beer tap in sight.

In short, it looks like an ad for an office-space provider, not the work-to-party, self-styled tech firm that inspired a show called “WeCrashed.”

And that’s the point.

“This campaign creates a new visual and linguistic approach that is sophisticated and mature and reflects a company that’s grown up,” said Petula Lucey, a former Cushman & Wakefield executive who became WeWork’s chief marketing and communications officer in November.

WeWork is no longer so alone in the category it made famous, with brands like Industrious, LiquidSpace and IWG’s Regus and Spaces gaining ground.

Instead of the old heady vibes, WeWork plans to win tenants by driving home its years of experience, still-sizable global footprint and ability to serve businesses of many sizes, Lucey said.

Astronomer’s humorous video starring Gwyneth Paltrow spotlights the new rules of crisis communications, Suzanne Vranica reports.

Social media lets PR disasters go global in minutes, so companies are acting more quickly and trying to make their responses just as viral as the crises.

Astronomer was reeling after its married CEO was caught on camera holding another company executive at a Coldplay concert, a few seconds of footage that immediately saturated the web.

Paltrow, the ex-wife of Coldplay singer Chris Martin, shifts the focus to Astronomer’s business. “We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation,” she says.

The video was made by Maximum Effort, the Ryan Reynolds marketing firm that previously turned a PR crisis into a win after the “Sex and the City” reboot killed Mr. Big with a post-Peloton heart attack.

The agency and the fitness company crafted an ad within 24 hours showing Chris Noth, who played Mr. Big, lounging by a fire with Jess King, a Peloton instructor who plays Allegra in the series. “To new beginnings,” Noth toasts.

Procter & Gamble, long one of the country’s biggest ad spenders and a bellwether for the consumer economy, says American shoppers are slowing down, Natasha Khan reports.

Consumers are using up their pantry inventory, delaying purchases and shopping at stores less frequently to avoid the temptation to buy things they don’t immediately need, P&G CFO Andre Schulten said as the company reported quarterly earnings.

Lower-income consumers are actively looking for price promotions and smaller pack sizes to manage their costs from paycheck to paycheck, but high-income consumers are scouring for deals, too.

“Both consumer segments are looking for value, but looking for value with their respective constraints,” said Schulten.

The maker of Tide detergent, Charmin toilet paper and Pantene shampoo said net sales rose 2% in the latest quarter to $20.9 billion. The company said it expects fiscal 2026 sales growth of between 1% and 5%, reiterating that tariffs could add $1 billion to its annual costs.

Warner Bros. Discovery said the new company being formed to house streaming, studios and HBO will be called Warner Bros., while the company that will own Discovery+ and most of the cable networks will be Discover Global. [WSJ] 

MrBeast is channeling those 1980s cartoons created to sell Transformers and G.I. Joe figures with an animated YouTube series designed to sell his MrBeast Lab toys. [Tubefilter]

The EU said there’s a high risk consumers can find unsafe baby toys, small electronics and other products for sale on Temu. [WSJ] 

Kohl’s tapped Koddi as the new ad-tech provider for its retail media network, replacing Microsoft’s PromoteIQ. [Adweek]

A marketing executive who left AB InBev in the wake of the 2023 boycott has rolled out the first product from his new incubator, an energy drink called PHX. [Ad Age] 

PopUp Bagels, a startup that sells bagels hot for tearing and dipping into cream cheese, plans to expand from the 13 stores it operates now to 300. [Fast Company]

Francis Ford Coppola is trying to resuscitate his self-financed, $120 million flop “Megalopolis” with a multi-city roadshow. [Deadline] 

Correction: Generous Brands, which has agreed to acquire Health-Ade kombucha, distributes Sambazon juices and smoothies. An item here Friday erroneously said the buyer’s portfolio also includes Sambazon açaí bowls.