What If Film History Was Vertical?; Inside Amazon Seller Lawsuits: Friday'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. Apple Brilliantly Imagines a Parallel Universe Where Hollywood Always Used Vertical Video In a new 9-minute short film, Apple invites you on a dreamlike journey into a world where Hollywood's history plays out with vertical framing. The video, created by agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab and directed by Damien Chazelle of La La Land fame, whirls through iconic forms and genres from film history with a consistent story of its own, following a stuntman and other recurring characters into a silent film, a Western, a Hitchcockian thriller and more. Watch: Pay attention to the clever ways it shows how the vertical format would have altered the framing of shots in different genres. False Names and Fake Addresses: Inside Amazon’s Seller Lawsuits Amazon has recently amped up its efforts to vet and hold counterfeits and dishonest third-party sellers on its platform accountable, including creating its own Counterfeit Crimes Unit and partnering with high-profile brands on seller lawsuits. Still, it's tough to hold Amazon sellers accountable, even when these brands get help from the company itself. For example, three counterfeit-focused suits in partnership with Vera Bradley resulted in injunctions against selling on Amazon, but the defendants in the case weren't clear—identified as John Does 1-10, whom lawyers had to track down—and it isn't clear how or if Amazon can stop one of these sellers from reappearing on the website under a different name. Adweek's Lisa Lacy explores: Dive into three key lawsuits and the head-scratching complications behind them. Also in Amazon news: Prime Video’s upcoming conspiracy thriller Utopia—which, yes, features a spreading global pandemic as a major plot point—will premiere as Covid-19 continues wreaking havoc around the world. Biden Campaign Bets Big on Digital Advertising, While Trump Campaign Hits More Social Media Snafus Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is spending $280 million in paid media reservations, including a campaign-record $60 million in digital media. The majority of this digital spend centers around connected TV, as consumers flee linear and the lack of sports prompt cord-cutting. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign's promotional efforts have run into more opposition from social platforms. Facebook and Twitter each took action Wednesday against Donald Trump for violating their misinformation policies, with both platforms removing a video in which the president inaccurately stated that children are “almost immune” to the coronavirus. New York Cult Favorite Levain Bakery Is Coming to Grocery Stores Levain Bakery in NYC produces cookies and other baked goods that attract queues of customers that wrap around the block and has inspired popular copycat attempts on recipe sites, Instagram, TikTok and even Reddit. Now the gooey glory of four of its flavors—chocolate chip walnut, two-chip chocolate chip, dark chocolate peanut butter chip and oatmeal raisin—will be available in select grocery stores this fall. The joy of cookies: To maintain the "sensory experience," the products will appear precooked in the frozen aisle. More of Today's Top News and Highlights People Are Feeling More Emboldened to Travel Due to Flexible Schedules ViacomCBS Plans International Streaming Service and Expanded CBS All Access Originals Bloomberg Media Adjusts Leadership Team to Prioritize Digital Growth Peloton Appoints Dara Treseder to Lead Global Marketing AKQA Promotes 3 ECDs to Global Chief Creative Officers MDC Partners Sees Sharp Organic Revenue Drop in Q2 as a Result of Covid-19 NBC Chief Paul Telegdy Leaving As Part of Major NBCU TV Overhaul ‘Everything Is on the Table’ as Hilton Loses $432 Million in Q2 This Rising Atlanta Agency Brings a Cool Factor to Global Brands Bagel Bites Says Despite Our Differences, We Can All Agree on Pizza Bagels Are clowns silly or scary? How would a dog wear pants? Is it pronounced JIF or GIF? The internet is fraught with disagreements, but, as these new ads from Bagel Bites and ad agency Johannes Leonardo say, at least we can all agree on Pizza Bagels. [kickout id="1"] More of the Latest Preroll PSA Ads Ask Viewers Not to Skip Over Homeless People Google Sees Big Potential in Audio for Marketers and Publishers Experiential Agency We’re Magnetic Is Closing Due to Covid-19 Impact Powerful, Emotional Storytelling Shows How CBD Helped This Creative’s Epileptic Child Amazon Orders A League Of Their Own TV Series From Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson Snapchat Expands Voter Registration and Education Features