Your Monday Wake-Up Call: Advertisers Ditch Hannity's Show. Plus, Amazon's New Ad Tactic

Welcome to Ad Age's Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital-related news. What people are talking about today: At least five brands, including Keurig, reportedly pulled their ads from Sean Hannity's show on Fox News. Their move came after Hannity was criticized about the way he covered the news that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore once sought sexual relationships with teenage girls, including a 14-year-old. (Hannity suggested that Moore should have the benefit of the doubt and said that "none of us know the truth of what happened" between Moore and his accusers decades ago.) Along with Keurig, other brands that pulled ads are Realtor.com, 23 and Me, Eloquii and Nature's Bounty, CNBC reports, adding that none specifically mentioned Hannity's Moore coverage as a reason. Supporters of Hannity launched the Twitter hashtag #BoycottKeurig. And a few posted videos of themselves smashing Keurig coffee makers. Like this. I pulled an "Office Space" with my Keurig... Would be a shame if everyone else joined me in the Keurig Smash Challenge #BoycottKeurig #IStandWithHannity #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/yEADeRC006 A new ad play from Amazon The rise of Netflix and other ad-free video offerings means there are fewer places for brands to put advertising. But Amazon seems ready to make an interesting move: It's at work on a "free, ad-supported complement to its Prime streaming video service," Ad Age's Garett Sloane reports, citing people familiar with the company's plans. What would Amazon have to gain, besides ad dollars? For one, Sloane writes, "a free version could be the promotion that Amazon needs to hook more Prime subscribers," who pay $99 annually to get free package delivery and access to free video content, including original shows like "Transparent." Plus, it would give consumers something they generally want more of: choice. Moolah Ad Age's Lindsay Stein tackles big questions about creative agencies and how they should get paid in her story, "How Much Are Agencies' Ideas Worth?" What are the best, and fairest, compensation models? Agency execs living in today's era of client budget-cutting may feel a tinge of envy when they read this nugget from her story: A half-century ago, agencies were paid a commission every time an ad aired on TV. "You made money while you slept," says BBDO Chairman and Chief Creative Officer David Lubars, even though this was way before his time. "It was unfair for decades on the clients' behalf. And now it's unfair on the agency side." Also: Ad Age's Next conference is happening Wednesday and Thursday in New York – we're gathering top figures from marketing, tech and advertising to talk about trends in 2018 and beyond. Check out the lineup here. Just briefly:Pets and paternity leave: The Ad Age Best Places to Work list is out, and Denver-based ad tech company Choozle is at No. 1. As Ad Age's George Slefo writes, "Workers get paternity leave (in addition to maternity, of course), weekly team lunches, birthday treats and quarterly happy hours. Pets roam the office." Read the full list here. RIP: Gossip columnist Liz Smith has died at age 94, The New York Times reports, adding that she offered "a kinder, gentler view of movie stars and moguls, politicians and society figures." Her influence was such that she sometimes earned more than $1 million a year, The TImes says. Yet again: Warner Bros. TV Group is investigating allegations of sexual harassment against Andrew Kreisberg, executive producer on the CW shows "Arrow," "Supergirl," "The Flash" and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," Variety reports. Kreisberg denies the accusations. Changing of the guard: Vanity Fair is set to announce a new editor for the post-Graydon Carter era, The New York Times reports. It's expected to be Radhika Jones, the editorial director of the books department at The New York Times. Snapchat: ESPN's "SportsCenter" is debuting on Snapchat today, as Ad Age's Jeanine Poggi writes. Booze news: Alcohol brands are making a bigger push with e-commerce lately, as Ad Age's E.J. Schultz writes. On Moët Hennessy's platform, you can even order a fancy tasting party, complete with mixologist. Saving retail: Walmart is trying to lure customers to its stores by offering lower prices there than on its e-commerce site, The Wall Street Journal reports. Number of the day: $25.3 billion. That's how much money consumers spent in 24 hours during Alibaba Group's annual shopping event, Singles Day, on Saturday. That's 39% more than last year. Another number: 90%. Alibaba says 90% of Singles Day sales came from mobile devices. Creativity pick of the day: UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's is trying something unexpected for Christmas. It's got a mostly black-and-white spot featuring customers and employees doing karaoke – to sing along, you follow the lyrics with a bouncing Brussels sprout instead of a bouncing ball. Watch it here, and read what Ad Age's Alexandra Jardine has to say about the spot from Wieden + Kennedy London.

Your Monday Wake-Up Call: Advertisers Ditch Hannity's Show. Plus, Amazon's New Ad Tactic

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