Racism, intent and the diversity in TV adverts | Letters
Readers respond to the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin’s remarks about ‘adverts full of black people, full of Asian people’ The “now you see it, now you don’t”, “was it or wasn’t it” racism of recent days is nothing new, but it is profoundly dispiriting and corrosive (Nigel Farage defends MP’s complaint about TV adverts [...]
Christmas ad spend set to rise by £814m says WARC/AA report
The big Christmas ad launches are just around the corner and marketers will be spending 7.3% more than last year in the hope of boosting consumer mood. It sounds like a healthy rise but it’s less than the year as a whole, which is predicted to be up by 8.2% according to a new report [...]
How to Think Like a Startup to Stay Scrappy and Resourceful
SMBs compete best on speed, agility, and transparency. Aspen Egan grew up at Blip—and Blip has grown up right alongside her. In the last 6 years, Aspen has gone from HR intern to Senior Manager of Business and People Operations. In that time, she’s helped see the company through huge periods of growth. She’s overseen [...]
Introducing AI, Tech & Money
We’re revamping our popular Tech & Money newsletter into AI, Tech & Money to reflect the big innovation that’s redefining at breakneck speed how people consume information, products, and entertainment.
Walmart’s CTV OS is Set to “Dominate” North American Market, Suggests Omdia Data
Walmart's $2.3 billion acquisition of TV manufacturer VIZIO last year was a big signal of the retailer's TV advertising ambitions. Walmart is already one of the biggest players in the US retail media space, but the VIZIO deal, which gives it ownership of VIZIO's owned-and-operated smart TV operating system CastOS, strengthens Walmart's access to valuable [...]
For Meta Marketers, Automation Isn’t Always The Advantage (But It’s Complicated)
Meta wants marketers to trust the machine. Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC), Meta’s automated ad product, promises to take care of everything – budgeting, creative, targeting, optimization. Just hand over the keys. But here’s a plot twist: Automation doesn’t always work better than manual campaign management. Last year, ad measurement startup Haus kicked off a large-scale study [...]
Looking ahead to 2026: California Enacts New Companion Chatbot Law
On October 13, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the nation’s first statute aimed at regulating “companion chatbots,” which are AI systems that simulate human-like relationships with their users. The new law, which has been added to California’s Business & Professions Code, sets out disclosure, safety, and reporting requirements. Users who suffer harm [...]
Amazon thinks we need a recent past reminder at Christmas
Advertisers and agencies tie themselves in all kinds of knots each Christmas – this year, it seems, both Asda and McDonald’s will be basing their Christmas hopes on The Grinch – but sometimes it’s best to keep it simple. A couple of years back this one scored mightily for Amazon and it’s set to return [...]
Awakening ‘a little bit Piyush Pandey’ in all of us
Over the last few days tributes have been pouring for Piyush Pandey. His passing away is a great loss for the world of brands and advertising. His work & legacy touched millions of lives as witnessed by the heartfelt expressions from not just advertising & marketing folks but common people too. While reading the various [...]