Key events
Adrian Horton
Kennedy?
Well that was weird – a presidential campaign ad for anti-vaxxer “independent” Robert F Kennedy Jr. The ad, paid for by “American Values 2024”, is half-disguised as vintage historical footage and very much relies on his name. A true “what the hell?” commercial and the only political ad so far (other than the Jesus ad, of course).
Adrian Horton
Quinta Brunson says it’s tax time
Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson lures viewers to think about their taxes with a $1m sweepstakes and a bit about how an award-winning writer/director/actor could get her tax breaks.
Benjamin Lee
Two faces in frame
A smart, and sweet, ad here to show how the newest Google Pixel phone can help blind people or those with low vision take selfies and photos. Directed by blind film-maker Adam Morse, it’s already scoring over 25m views on YouTube.
Benjamin Lee
Shogun
New Extended TRAILER. Experience a time of war, treachery, and passion when legendary samurai fall and great empires rise.
FX’s Shōgun premieres February 27 on Disney+ Canada. #ShogunFX pic.twitter.com/Wiq0pOUPKc
— Disney+ Canada 🇨🇦 (@DisneyPlusCA) February 11, 2024
It was actually FX chief Josh Landgraf who spoke this past week about the peak TV era being over (which might not be a bad thing given how many, many, many shows don’t need to exist) but this latest look at the network’s latest suggests that there are new places still left to go. Based on the James Clavell novel that was previously a miniseries back in the 80s, Shogun promises to bring a big screen sheen to the world of small screen historical drama.
Adrian Horton
Ben Affleck, Matt Damon & J Lo for Dunkin’
Once upon a time, Ben Affleck was photographed many, many times with his beloved Dunkin’ Donuts giant coffee. Then he worked at a Dunkin’ drive thru. Now he has agreed to lead the DunKings, swagged out in pink and orange along with Tom Brady and a very reluctant Matt Damon, to crash J Lo’s recording studio session. It is … a lot. I question this choice.
Adrian Horton
Twitter is lighting up with speculation that Justin Bieber will join Usher on stage for the half-time show for a rendition of their classic (to young millennials) track Somebody to Love.
I would put the odds on Bieber making an appearance at a strong maybe, given that Usher has already said he’d be joined by Alicia Keys and hinted that Lil Jon and Ludacris would join, plus Bieber has avoided most performances in recent years. But he is at the game, so who knows!
Benjamin Lee
We have five months of this:
Benjamin Lee
Taylor watching the game update (with video):
Adrian Horton
Scorsese and aliens for Squarespace
Squarespace recruited Martin Scorsese to direct an ad in which aliens’ first contact with Earth is thwarted by people’s chronic phone distraction. But a website makes it real to New Yorkers – and makes Marty late, owing to traffic.
Benjamin Lee
More bad Elmo PR:
