TikTok Returns To App Stores

Apple and Google restored TikTok to their app stores late Thursday after reportedly receiving assurances that the federal government wouldn’t attempt to enforce a law banning the app.

Netflix Looks – And Listens – To Podcast Possibilities

With its total addressable market in the TV/streaming video space near saturation in certain markets, Netflix is looking at around 500 million podcast listeners globally as a potential new revenue
stream.

This PSA’s Puppet Exposes the Manosphere’s Growing Influence

A young, isolated boy finds someone who pumps him up and encourages him to assert himself, to the point of starting fights at school and harassing female classmates. The impressionable grade-schooler is at the center of a PSA from advocacy group White Ribbon, which has introduced a fictional, bile-spewing puppet as co-star and instigator. The…

The Californians Reunite in Volkswagen Ad Ahead of SNL50

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live this weekend, Volkswagen and NBCUniversal have debuted a new co-branded spot, which is a reimagining of its popular sketch The Californians. Former SNL cast members Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Kristen Wiig reprise their roles as Stuart, Devin, and Karina–complete with their exaggerated SoCal accents–to recreate…

Happy Birthday to You(Tube)

As is the case with many startup success stories, YouTube’s original value proposition didn’t turn out to be its true superpower. Befitting its launch on February 14, 2005, the company actually began as an online dating service–“Tune in, Hook up”–before its founders uncovered its broader potential as a video platform. Twenty years on, that potential…

What Marketers Can Learn From Kendrick Lamar’s Monumental Year

2024 was undoubtedly Kendrick Lamar’s year–both musically and culturally. The rapper didn’t just dominate the charts; he took the entire entertainment landscape by storm. From his highly publicized rap spat with Drake to a surprise album drop, viral moments, and a Grammy sweep, Lamar’s last 12 months have been a master class in marketing and…

WhatsApp Debuts New ‘Viewing Gallery’ Chat in Partnership with Offball

WhatsApp will debut an experimental new feature on Friday, an exclusive group chat launched in partnership with the sports publisher OffBall. The trial product, called The Chat, will build off a preexisting WhatsApp feature called Communities, in which users participate in large group chats based on shared interests. In Chats, a small group of high-profile…

Elon Musk’s Toxicity Could Spell Disaster for Tesla

Staggering sales drops, swastika-daubed EVs, companies culling fleet models, and fan-forum owners selling their cars—Elon Musk’s alt-right antics are seriously impacting his electric car business.