A New Star Wars vs. Star Trek Standoff; 2020’s Emmy-Winning Ad: Tuesday's First Things First

Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s 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. Patrick Stewart and Mark Hamill Are Rivals in Uber Eats’ Charmingly Confrontational Ads Long have fans been at war over the superiority of either Star Wars or Star Trek, and in a new series of Uber Eats ads, that battle reignites. Star Wars’ Mark Hamill and Star Trek’s Sir Patrick Stewart face one another in a series of epic (but also charmingly humorous) standoffs over intense games like air hockey and Connect Four. Watch: No tomatoes, or extra to-mah-toes? Sandy Hook Promise’s ‘Back-to-School Essentials’ Wins Emmy for Outstanding Commercial The striking and harrowing PSA “Back-to-School Essentials” from Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO New York earned the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial this year. [Watch the ad here.] The ad contrasts back-to-school messaging against school shootings by depicting safety measures as essential and terrifying elements of students’ prep. Emmy nominations: Find out which other ads were in the running for the top prize. Related: The 2020 Emmys went just as Jimmy Kimmel foretold: The show lost 25% of its audience from last year in the coveted adults 18-49 demo, falling to a record-low rating. Twitter Turns Tweets About Wearing Masks Into Its Newest Outdoor Ads Twitter has once again leveraged the voices of the users on its platform to promote the use of masks amid the pandemic. A new outdoor campaign features humorous and positive tweets about mask-wearing on billboards, murals, landmarks and sidewalks across the country. It’s also added the mask emoji to DM reactions and to the #WearAMask hashtag to boost awareness. Walking the walk: Twitter will also give away free masks, all in an effort to fight “caution fatigue.” Voice | Dealing With Grief in the Time of Coronavirus The past few months have been a challenging period for nearly everyone, but none more so than those who have experienced loss during this time. Kat Gordon, founder of The 3 Percent Movement, suddenly lost her long-time creative partner, Marguerite Lutton, in August. In a Voice piece, she shared her experience and thoughts for others who have lost close friends and family recently. “When you lose someone who was your collaborator on countless past projects, you also lose the possibility to collaborate with them on a single future project.” How to cope: Gordon offers three tips for creatives inspired by Lutton’s legacy. WeChat Downloads Soared This Weekend Ahead of Potential Ban Amid the threat of a ban for both apps, WeChat saw 110,000 U.S. installs on Friday and Saturday, 1,058% week-over-week increase. TikTok raked in 700,000 U.S. installs, though that number was down 11% from the same time last week. The biggest spike for TikTok—which reached an agreement with partners Oracle and Walmart that prevented Trump from enacting his threatened ban of downloads after Sunday—was back in March, following the initial Covid-19 shutdown. Still, Trump’s threats to ban the app were the talk of Tok this weekend. More of Today’s Top News & Highlights Invisible Aligner Brand’s Cab Campaign Is a Geo-Targeted Love Letter to NYRoyal Caribbean and Norwegian Release Covid-19 Safety Guidelines for CruisesAs Apparel Retailers Struggle, Walmart Grabs for More Market Share With New Private Label BrandCentury 21’s Bankruptcy Shows the Limits of Off-Price, New York-Exclusive CategoriesPrudential Hires a New CMO, Adds New Chief Market Development Officer RoleIBM Is Teaming Up With Nielsen for New Post-Cookie Ad Targeting OptionsWeChat Downloads Soared This Weekend Ahead of Potential Ban How BBDO Is Using TikTok to Spread Information About Child Sex Trafficking BBDO Atlanta has created nearly 50 TikTok videos for Street Grace. A TikTok account called “Help Locker” is educating Gen Z about how to stay safe and recognize the dangers and signs of child trafficking and exploitation attempts. The account, launched by BBDO Atlanta senior art director Lauren Culbertson and senior copywriter Emily Miller, is the latest collaboration between the agency and nonprofit Street Grace.