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Is It Still Disney Magic If It’s AI?; American Consumers Are Getting Thrifty Again; Delta Gets Dragged for Using AI to Set Airfares
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Welcome back. Today, a plan to use AI in the making of “Tron: Ares” falls apart, U.S. shoppers resume (or intensify) their hunts for good deals and American Airlines takes a shot at Delta’s AI-assisted prices.
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Disney and other movie studios are scrambling to figure out how to use AI in filmmaking and how to protect themselves from it. Photo illustration: Alexandra Citrin-Safadi/WSJ; Getty
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Disney considered a plan to use AI in its upcoming movie “Tron: Ares” as a buzzy marketing strategy, then scrapped the idea largely over concerns about negative publicity, Jessica Toonkel and Erich Schwartzel report in their deep dive on the company’s AI ambitions.
Because the latest sequel to 1980’s “Tron” is about an AI-generated soldier entering the real world, executives pitched the idea of actually incorporating AI into one of the characters.
A writer would provide context on the animated character to a generative AI program. Then the gen AI, voiced by an actor, would respond to questions in character while cameras rolled.
But with negotiations with unions representing writers and actors over contracts happening at the same time, Disney dismissed the idea, and executives internally were told that the company couldn’t risk the bad PR.
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Content from our sponsor: Deloitte
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How America’s ‘AI Action Plan’ May Help Shape AI Governance Globally
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The White House’s AI action plan and three accompanying executive orders carry implications for business investment, workforce development, compliance programs, and global collaboration initiatives Read More
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Generic brands and bulk buying are on the rise and fewer fancy burritos are being sold as worries about inflation, careers and personal finance converge. Illustration: Daisy Korpics/WSJ; iStock
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It’s getting harder for shoppers to put on a brave face, Katherine Hamilton and Natasha Khan write.
Consumer spending stagnated in the first half of this year, according to federal data issued last week, and the CEOs of companies including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kroger and Procter & Gamble are telling investors that their customers are more strapped—or at least appear to feel that way.
“There’s a lot of consumer anxiety,” said Dirk Van de Put, chief executive of Mondelez International, which makes Oreos, Ritz crackers and Cadbury chocolate. Global sales of snacks rose last quarter, but U.S. sales fell a lot.
The company behind Invisalign said patients are even putting off orthodontic treatment and choosing metal braces over clear ones.
More economic stress: Costs from tariffs are giving brands one more reason to replace customer service with AI chatbots. [Modern Retail]
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“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans….Great jeans look good on everyone.”
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— American Eagle in defense of its big ad campaign after days of accusations that its pun on “great genes” evoked eugenics and that its execution primarily appealed to the male gaze. Defenders called those criticisms cancel culture at work.
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Delta says humans fine-tune the recommendations made by its new AI tool. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg News
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Delta Air Lines is trying to calm a firestorm of objections from lawmakers and consumer advocates who fear airlines could use AI to jack up fares on individual travelers, Alison Sider writes.
The airline hopes the AI “super analyst” it’s been testing with Fetcherr, whose technology helps predict demand for a flight and respond when it shifts, will help set up to 20% of its domestic fares by year-end.
“We like it a lot,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein said.
Others aren’t won over yet.
“Prices could be dictated not by supply and demand, but by individual need,” Sens. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) and Mark Warner (D., Va.) wrote Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
Another pair of lawmakers introduced a bill that would bar companies from using AI to set prices based on personal data, citing Delta as an example.
And American Airlines’ CEO Robert Isom has AI pricing tactics to a “bait and switch” that tricks customers. Delta said that isn’t what it is doing.
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“I sometimes wonder if without his own cancellation he’d be so good.”
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— Influencer Caroline Calloway on publicist Mitchell Jackson, who was fired from Vice at age 25 and started over. Clients in addition to Calloway include podcasters and YouTubers such as Candace Owens, Brett Cooper and Adam Friedland.
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The Savannah Bananas are packing stadiums with cheap tickets and social media virality. Photo: Walter G. Arce Sr./Zuma Press
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How the Savannah Bananas are reinventing baseball, one crazy sellout at a time. [WSJ]
The NFL agreed to a long-brewing megadeal giving it a 10% stake in ESPN while the network absorbs the league’s RedZone coverage, NFL Network and game rights. The deal will require government approval. [The Athletic]
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting said Friday it would start to wind down its operations after the elimination of its federal funding last month. [WSJ]
Anthropologie is turning its Maeve line into a standalone brand with its own physical and digital stores, social media handles and marketing campaign. [Glossy]
Brands are getting sticker shock from influencers’ rising rates. [Digiday]
Check out the best ads of 2025 so far. [Ad Age]
Miami Ad School is closing its Atlanta campus, not long after it shut down its Toronto extension, leaving Miami and New York as its remaining locations. [Adweek]
More women are wearing full-body swimsuits with high ultraviolet protection to shield their skin from sun damage. [WSJ]
Haribo only makes gummies. Why this single-product strategy works. [WSJ Video]
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