This week's winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Frango beer: There is no shortage of beer gimmicks these days, with flavors getting wackier by the week. But we’ll give props to a new mint-flavored beer coming out of Chicago, just in time for the holidays. The brew, called Minted, comes from Illinois brewer Hop Butcher for the World and takes its flavor from mint oil drawn from Frango chocolate mints, which are a Chicago staple. It’s marketed as a Holiday Imperial Stout—and it packs a punch at 10.5% alcohol by volume. As the Chicago Tribune’s Josh Noel put it, “short of a beer made with Lou Malnati’s pizza, Al’s #1 Italian Beef or a tamale from The Tamale Guy, the most Chicago beer imaginable would arguably taste like a Frango mint.” Mission accomplished.

Budweiser: The beer reaped the benefits of the NFT popularity craze when its first collection of non-fungible tokens sold out in under an hour. The “Heritage Collection” of nearly 2,000 one-of-a-kind artsy beer cans retailed for hundreds of dollars each. The King of Beers netted some $984,000 for the endeavor.

Paige Bueckers: Gatorade tapped the 20-year-old women’s basketball star at University of Connecticut as its first-ever college athlete to an endorsement deal. The multi-year pact is allowed as result of new regulations passed this year that allow college stars to profit off their name, image and likeness. Plenty of athletes have inked deals by now, but this one is notable because of Gatorade’s iconic history in sports marketing.

Losers

Ad industry: The number of women in advertising is on the wane, according to a recent report from She Runs It. Females make up just 46.4% of workers in advertising, media and tech, down almost 10% from last year. The report also found that the decline of women in those industries was disproportionate compared to other categories.

Office holiday parties: It might be harder for corporate leaders at agencies and marketers to convince staff to convene for end-of-year celebrations as the Omicron variant spreads.

Retail hiring: In the November jobs report, the retail industry cited a net loss of 20,400 positions in the month, which is traditionally a time when stores post labor gains due to seasonal holiday hiring. The clothing sector led the decline with a loss of 17,700 positions in November.

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

3%: Decline in average spend, to $301.27, from last year for the five-day shopping weekend beginning on Thanksgiving and running through Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation. In recent years, Black Friday has lost relevance as consumers begin to shop earlier than ever, this year in particular due to supply chain challenges.

Quote of the week

“​​It’s more about the celebration than answering a problem--it’s more about meeting the needs.”—Tracee Ellis Ross, actress and entrepreneur, on founding beauty brand Pattern for those with naturally textured hair, speaking at the  Ad Age Next: CMO conference this week. She added, “There’s no problem--it’s just that we need the support.”

On the move

Serta Simmons Bedding promoted Jen Daly to chief marketing officer—she had been CMO of Tuft & Needle, the direct-to-consumer mattress brand in the Serta portfolio. Daly’s rise comes as Chief Commercial Officer Melanie Huet expands her responsibilities to include both d-to-c and commercial brandl initiatives.

Sensical, a streaming service aimed at kids, hired Sharon Kroll Cohen to lead marketing. She was previously executive VP for Nickelodeon Experiences.

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