BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Warner Bros Names Gillian Zhao As Its First Country Manager For China
Zhao will have general oversight of all of Warner Bros’ businesses in China, including theatrical distribution, TV distribution, home entertainment, consumer products, games and emerging distribution technologies. She will work with in-place executives to optimize opportunities to grow WB operations in China. (DH)
A Study Suggests That Most Olympic TV Advertisers Are Also Using Digital
Brands that want to reach followers of the Olympics are going beyond just TV. As consumers increasingly live stream major TV events (and maybe even use second screens while doing so), advertisers are looking to digital and social channels to reach those users. (MD)
Justin Bieber Deletes His Instagram Account
Bieber shut down his account last night, apparently in response to the pop singer receiving a stream of hate-filled comments on his posts of pictures with Sofia Richie. The 22-year-old Canadian singer had 77.8 million followers on the Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing service before his page went dark, deleting more than 3,700 posts. (VAR)
TOP DEALS
Hip Hop and Golf? How Callaway Is Swinging for Millennials
Who says hip hop and golf don’t mix? Callaway thinks they can, which is why the golf equipment maker is coming out with a new documentary featuring rapper Scarface. The 10-minute film by Vice Sports — which will debut online in September — is an example of how Callaway is using content on unexpected channels to lure players to a game that is suffering from an image that it is not millennial friendly. (AA)
Thomas Jane Plays the ‘World’s Biggest A—hole’ in This Very Surprising Film
Black comedy might not seem like the obvious place to start when encouraging organ donation, but a new campaign from Donate Life from The Martin Agency takes this route and does it brilliantly. (CO)
See Bud Light’s Transgender Ad: ‘Beer Should Have Labels, Not People’
Bud Light’s socially progressive “Bud Light Party” campaign is tackling another hot-button issue: transgender rights. “Gender identity — it’s really a spectrum and we don’t need these labels,” Amy Schumer says in a new spot debuting today. Her campaign co-star Seth Rogen adds: “Beer should have labels, not people.” (AA)
Disney Launches Pro Wrestling Vertical to Offset Stalled Growth at ESPN
Like any wrestler, ESPN is staggering under its own weight, suffering from tough times as subscribers have been departing over the past three years. Partially due to the popularity of ESPN, sports coverage has become ubiquitous. Fans no longer need to turn to the so-called “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” to find their news. (BC)
Which Brands Are Winning On Social Media In Rio? Charts from Sprinklr Show Which Marketing Teams Are Earning Gold
Following the results on platforms during the first week of the games from August 2nd through August 8th, it was noticeable how much more frequently men mentioned brands than women. According to Sprinklr’s data, men accounted for 66.5 percent of all brand mentions on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ and other channels. (AW)
HOT PROJECTS
The Crow (Remake)
Relativity Media’s remake of Alex Proya’s cult classic film. Jason Momoa will star. Corin Hardy will direct. (SE)
Jack Ryan
Amazon gave a series order to this drama based on the Jack Ryan novel series, written by Tom Clancy. John Krasinski will star as the titular character. The series was conceived by Carlton Cuse (“Bates Motel”) and Graham Roland (“The Returned”) who will executive produce alongside Lindsey Springer of Carlton Cuse Productions (“The Returned”), Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form of Platinum Dunes (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES) and Mace Neufeld (JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT). Amazon Studios, Paramount Television, and Skydance Productions (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION) will produce the series. (SE)