Bloomberg and Trump in the Super Bowl; BK's Latest Clown Troll: Wednesdays' 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. Super Bowl 2020 Ad Tracker: All About the Big Game’s Commercials The two big additions to our Super Bowl tracker today were the positively presidential: First, the campaign of billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, confirmed that it had purchased a 60-second spot in the Big Game. The news was first reported by The New York Times. A Bloomberg campaign spokesperson said that they'd bought the spot to one-up Trump, who was rumored to have locked down a 30-second ad. But within hours, Politico broke the news that Trump's campaign had also purchased 60 seconds of airtime during the Super Bowl. And just like that, a politics-free game of good old American football is out of the question. In simpler news, Olay and SodaStream are also back in the game. This'll mark Olay's second year making an appearance, and SodaStream's first in six years. Read more: Keep checking back in on our Super Bowl ad tracker this month to get the latest! Burger King Gives Bronx Residents Free Whoppers for Tolerating the ‘Joker Stairs’ The latest in a series of stunts to troll clowns (and by proxy, McDonald's), Burger King launched a promotion yesterday offering free Whoppers to Bronx residents. As it turns out, costumed lovers of the new Joker film have been flocking to the staircase at Shakespeare and Jerome Avenues—which Joaquin Phoenix's character dances down during the movie—to snap photos. In solidarity with all those irritated by clowns and clown imitators, Burger King teamed up with Uber Eats to offer free Whoppers to anyone who lives in the Bronx. The promotion came from Burger King's agency partner, David, and was timed with the retail release of Joker on disc. Read more: In video and print promos, Burger King commiserates with folks in the Bronx: "We know clowns can be annoying." Airlines Are Offering Carbon Offsets to Combat ‘Flight Shame’ In the wake of Greta Thunberg's climate activism and Europe's flight-shame movement, airlines have found themselves in a bit of a marketing pickle. And for good reason: Airlines make up 2.4% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation. (That's up 32% in just five years.) By 2050, it's expected to triple. In an attempt to face those facts and keep an increasingly climate-concerned population from feeling too bad about vacations and business trips requiring flights, some airlines, like Delta, Norwegian and United, have begun to offer travelers an option to offset the carbon cost. Others, like EasyJet and JetBlue, have pledged to pay for the offset themselves. Read more: According to a travel industry analysis company, more than 59% of millennial and Gen-Z travelers in the U.S. and U.K. said “it was important to me to choose a travel business that prioritizes environmentally sustainable business practices.” Yum Brands Enters Fast-Casual Category With Purchase of The Habit Burger Grill The owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut getting into the fast-casual game with the acquisition of restaurant chain The Habit Burger Grill. Founded in 1969 in Santa Barbara, Calif., Yum's new acquisition competes with burger joints like Shake Shack, Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger. It was named Best Regional Fast Food in USA Today’s 2019 Best Readers’ Choice Awards, and has more than 270 restaurants in 13 states, including California, Arizona, Utah, New Jersey, Florida, Idaho, Virginia, Nevada, Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina, plus seven locations overseas. Read more: The buy marks Yum’s first acquisition of a stand-alone, fast-casual restaurant chain since 1997. Best of the Rest: Today's Top News and Insights Meet Adweek’s @SuperBowlBot, an AI That Writes Surreal Ad Pitches 72andSunny’s Nic Owen Steps Down, Continuing String of Leadership Departures at Agency Alcohol-Free Spirit Brands Like Seedlip Are the Key to Dry January Cocktails Reddit’s Jen Wong on Bringing Brands to the Platform Nielsen’s Advanced TV Push Continues With Addressable Platform Beta Test Xandr Unveils Pause Ads to Complement the Viewing Experience at CES 2020 Ad of the Day: Sexy Moments Get a Sweet Twist in Match’s Ads About Commitment In a new campaign by French agency Marcel, Match has somehow made a set of truly heartwarming ads to draw singles serious about commitment to its dating app. Each spot opens with a scene that looks like the evidence of something steamy going down—but turns into something really sweet, like a man rocking a baby to sleep rather than doing a sexy dance, as it may have seemed in the first few moments of the ad. In another, the rhythmic banging on a wall isn't a pair going at it, but hanging a framed photo of themselves together above the bed and then sharing an excited kiss. The last initially looks like clothes being flung across the room in preparation for something R-rated, but turns out she's just making space for her partner's clothes. It's so honestly touching that it's almost annoying. Marketers Share How They Mentor New Talent "In the past year, we completely overhauled our support system. We replaced review cycles with holistic development plans for each and every employee that focus on those very foundational pieces: their defined job description, future-facing objectives they need to master based on that description and their teams' feedback, and a career discussion. Most importantly, that plan asks the employee to come to the table with their own defined short and long-term goals. This structure takes mentoring to a whole different level by empowering employees to say: 'This is what I want to do, and this is the help I need from you, as my agency, to get there.'" —Mona Gonzalez, New York managing director, Pereira O'Dell "Havas Media has outlined one-on-one mentorship as well as group mentorship programs called SAGE, which stands for supporting others, accelerating your skills, growing personally and professionally and excelling in your career. SAGE drives rich learning and development for both mentors and mentees. Several mentees are paired with a leader, which means that they not only gain mentorship advice from the leader, they also learn from other mentees' experience and questions." —Lisa Rodriguez, chief talent officer, Havas Media "Currently there is not a formal mentoring structure at OH Partners for new or young employees, however, that doesn't mean they are unsupported. New and younger employees, in addition to reporting to a more senior manager, are informally paired with someone in the same department to learn the basics of their roles and responsibilities, including the usage of the company's ERP system. The new employee is assured from day one that there are no wrong, bad or stupid questions to ask, so employees are encouraged to speak out. Similarly, a culture of openness that is anchored in the company's core values to be good 'daytime roommates' ensures employees don't feel lost or vulnerable." —Brad Casper, CEO, OH Partners More of the Latest: The CW Renews 13 Shows Including Batwoman, Riverdale and The Flash Delta Unveils New OOH Parallel Reality Ads and Robotic Exoskeleton at CES 2020 Fox Orders Masked Singer Spinoff, The Masked Dancer, Produced by Ellen DeGeneres Impossible Foods Introduces Meatless Pork and Sausage Products at CES 2020 Why CCPA Won’t Be as Big of a Deal as GDPR

First Things First

Bloomberg and Trump in the Super Bowl; BK's Latest Clown Troll: Wednesdays' First Things First

Plus, airlines offer carbon offsets

Kathryn Lundstrom

Diana Pearl

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Kathryn Lundstrom

Diana Pearl