Disney Parks' Plant-Based Burgers; Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones Reunite: Thursday's First Things First

Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s new daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here. Impossible Foods Crowned Disney’s ‘Preferred Plant-Based Burger’ Disney is the latest brand to make an Impossible decision—the decision to partner with Impossible Foods, that is. The Impossible Burger as well as other Impossible products will be available in several dishes across Disney’s theme parks in Florida and California, as well as its cruise line. After the food tech startup’s hormone- and animal-free flagship product’s relationship with Burger King ended up a hit, Impossible has managed to nab partnerships with such brands as White Castle, Little Caesar's and Taco Dumbo. Meanwhile, competitor Beyond's plant-based meat products have appeared on menus at restaurant chains including Dunkin', Bareburger, KFC and McDonald's. Read more: The Disney partnership is a big win for Impossible, with the burgers debuting during Food & Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure. More from the plant-based meat movement: Watch: Does It Really Taste Just Like Meat? The Definitive Plant-Based Meat Taste Test 6 Standout Marketing Campaigns from the Sizzling Fake Meat Movement ‘Big Beef’ and Impossible Foods Square Off in Competing Ads Denny’s Expands Beyond Meat Burger to Restaurants Nationwide Demand for Hand Sanitizer and Disinfecting Wipes Goes Viral Amid Coronavirus Scare As news of the coronavirus continues to dominate headlines, impacting markets and conferences alike, new numbers show consumer demand for hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes has surged. In terms of sheer dollar amount, U.S. online sales of liquid hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes increased 202% from Jan. 2019 to Jan. 2020. Last month, consumers spent more money purchasing the two aforementioned products online than any month in at least the past two years. Read more: Search data reveals more about public interest in the products, both in the U.S .and worldwide. Related: Amazon sellers face product shortages as factory closures and slowdowns in China continue. YouTube Shows Reality of Child Incarceration With VR YouTube is using virtual and augmented reality to advocate for prison reform. The Google-owned video-sharing platform partnered with Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY)—a nonprofit that works to end extreme sentencing for youth in America—to launch Project Witness, which uses technology to show the realities of child incarceration. The seven-minute film uses 360-degree VR technology to place viewers inside a prison environment, with settings including a transport vehicle and solitary confinement cell. Read more: YouTube’s immersive experiences team worked with CFSY to conceptualize a virtual reality film, which spotlights the lived stories of six people who served sentences as minors. Related: Google isn't just stepping up its YouTube projects—it also announced plans to invest $10 billion in new data centers and offices across 11 states in 2020. Trump Re-Election Campaign Sues The New York Times Over Op-Ed The re-election campaign for President Donald Trump is suing The New York Times over an opinion piece that ran in March last year, titled The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo. The piece, written by Max Frankel, previously executive editor of the Times from 1986 to 1994, focused on the reported dealings between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia. The complaint, filed in New York, claimed the op-ed made “false and defamatory statements.” Read more: Over the course of his term in office Trump has often conflated opinion writing with fact-based reporting, labeling every criticism of him and his administration as “fake news.” Best of the Rest: Today’s Top News and Insights Q&A: New Dentsu Media Products and Services CEO Michael Epstein JCPenney’s Top Marketer Resigns After Only 9 Months Why Mother Is Investing in a Head of Learning and Development The Challenges Facing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leaders ABC News Suspends David Wright After Making Controversial Comments Captured on Hidden Camera Ad of the Day: Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones Reunite to Remake Fairy Tales for Pure Leaf Tea In these reimagined fairy tales, the princess refuses to hop onto a towering stack of mattresses to prove her royal lineage, Rapunzel gives herself a pixie makeover and Gretel logs a 40,000-step day by avoiding a creepy candy shack. The reworked stories, told by actress-comedian Amy Poehler in a digital content series from PepsiCo’s Pure Leaf, show what would’ve happened if these fictional characters had dug in their heels in various classic scenarios. [kickout id="1"] Agencies Share Sustainable Practices from Their Workplaces "We offer opportunities for employees to be more sustainable such as providing a CitiBike incentive, holding an organic farmers market every week (and donating any food that isn’t purchased at the market to City Harvest). We’re moving away from single-use plastics by supplying employees with mugs and water bottles, while phasing out plastic cups and straws." —Colin Kinsella, CEO, Havas Media NA "We offer eco-friendly, disposable kitchen items that supplement our reusable plates, bowls, mugs, glasses and utensils. All disposable kitchen items are biodegradable and made from sustainable materials, but we encourage our T3ers to "reuse" whenever possible. The T3ers with their own reusable water bottles and coffee cups get high praise from the Office Management Team. We'd love to see our kitchens without disposable items in the near future." —Kasey Mitchell and Kylie Kowalski, office managers, T3 More of the Latest: It’s Going to Be a Crazy Year, but NRF Says Retail Sales Will Grow Anyway Bark, the DTC Dog Brand, Expands Into Health and Wellness Facebook Bans Ads Promoting Cures for or Prevention of Coronavirus Twitter Users Reacted to Michael Bloomberg’s Claim That He Won the Last Debate

First Things First

Disney Parks' Plant-Based Burgers; Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones Reunite: Thursday's First Things First

Plus, the Trump Campaign sues The New York Times

Impossible Foods Crowned Disney’s ‘Preferred Plant-Based Burger’

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Impossible Foods Crowned Disney’s ‘Preferred Plant-Based Burger’

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Jess Zafarris