Apple has a (snow)ball with its new ad; did Peleton’s holiday ad cause a stock tumble?

by David Brown

Hollywood director shoots an epic snowball fight with an iPhone

Apple this week introduced the latest ad in its ongoing “Shot on iPhone” campaign, an epic snowball fight that highlights the video capabilities of its iPhone 11 Pro’s three-lens camera.

Shot by acclaimed action director David Leitch—whose resume includes Deadpool 2 and Atomic Blonde—the “Snowbrawl” spot focuses on an epic snowball fight between two groups of youngsters, all captured in glorious 4K video. Apple also created a making-of video that explains how Leitch and his crew achieved some of the spot’s visuals.

Mobile manufacturers are increasingly turning to professionals to demonstrate the capabilities of their handsets’ cameras. Earlier this year, Samsung announced a new partnership with DirectorX, Twitter and so.da called #PowerUp, with young directors from his production company Popp Rok shooting a series of music videos using the company’s new Galaxy Note 10+.

Did backlash against its holiday ad cause Peleton stock to fall? 

An ad for Peleton that went viral for all the wrong reasons is being blamed, in part, for a drop in the high-end equipment manufacturer’s stock price Tuesday. The ad was posted to YouTube two weeks ago, but became the subject of ridicule in recent days. The spot shows a husband giving his wife a Peleton for Christmas, followed by the wife documenting how much she embraces the Peleton program over a year.

People started out criticizing the message about a man suggesting his wife needs to exercise more as a Christmas present, but the pile-on became a classic social media free-for-all—with people trying to outdo each other with snappy tweets about the ad. The stock fell by about 10% on Tuesday (and continued falling Wednesday), which some analysts attributed to the negative reaction, though the stock had enjoyed a sharp run-up through November. The ad, as well as a popular parody video, can be seen below.

Unilever names Conny Braams chief marketer

Conny Braams has been named chief digital and marketing officer for Unilever, the second biggest marketer in the world behind P&G. She replaces Keith Weed, although the role has been expanded—which is being interpreted as a sign that digital will become more important for the company. Braams, currently EVP, Unilever Middle Europe, will assume the new role on Jan. 1.

“Conny Braams is one of our most successful and talented leaders, as well as a highly effective driver of change,” said Unilever CEO Alan Jope. “As our new chief digital and marketing officer, her experience will be critical to the transformation of Unilever into a future-fit, fully digitized organization at the leading edge of consumer marketing.”

Under Weed, Unilever adopted a comprehensive strategy to pursue brand purpose and sustainable practices across its portfolio, and was a vocal industry voice about the need to clean up digital advertising.

Deliveroo to introduce a bacon sandwich dispenser in London

U.K. food delivery firm Deliveroo has created a bacon sandwich dispenser in London that has been dubbed the “Rash Point” (as in bacon rasher). The machine will work like an ATM, except it will dispense free bacon sandwiches.

The Rash Point will be in place from Dec. 11-13, and is timed to coincide with the second Friday in December—reportedly the most hungover day of the year in Britain. According to Deliveroo, breakfast orders on that day are 72% higher than usual as people look to recover from the previous night’s office party.

“Free bacon rolls on the most hungover day of the year is probably the best thing we have ever done, to be honest,” says Deliveroo’s head of PR, Joe Groves. “Hangovers are brutal, especially at Christmas and hopefully, instead of getting the fear at a cash point after a big spending spree, we can deliver a bit more joy.”

 

David Brown