This week's winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Jeni’s: The popular craft ice cream brand is back at it with another Dolly Parton collaboration after hopefully learning from its mistakes the last go-round. Jeni’s is once again selling the strawberry pretzel pie flavor it developed with Parton last year. In addition, customers can order Parton's new album with a custom track “Rose of my Heart” from the Columbus, Ohio-based frozen dessert brand. 

Last year, Jeni’s saw scores of dismayed fans when demand for the Parton concoction crashed its website before the launch. Jeni’s ended up re-releasing the flavor and opening up a pre-order system for customers to buy for a later date. The brand is already accepting pre-orders, with pints shipping in April.

Modelo: The Mexican import has surged past Michelob Ultra to become the second-largest U.S. beer sold at retail outlets like grocery stores. This is according to IRI data cited this week by trade magazine Beer Marketer’s Insights. It notes that even though Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Ultra grew in 2021 (by 5%), Modelo—which is owned by Constellation Brands—grew much faster (13.6%). Bud Light has long been the top-selling beer.

Wordle: The online word game seemed to reach a tipping point this week. It’s taking over social feeds, and yes, even brands are jumping in. 

Read more: Wordle is every brand's favorite Twitter trend right now

Losers

Novak Djokovic: The tennis star’s Australian Open status remains in limbo after officials canceled his visa for a second time. At issue is his resistance to COVID vaccinations. The controversy could cause complications for his sponsors, which include Lacoste.

Stan Richards: In yet another blow to the ad man, the agency he founded took his name off the shop—The Richards Group is now TRG. The move comes more than a year after Richards stepped down after it was revealed he made racist remarks during a client meeting. 

David & Goliath: The agency must defend its Jack in the Box account after the fast feeder put it in review this week. We await the fate of the round-headed Jack Box character, who has already survived one agency change.

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

1.9%: The decline in retail sales from November to December, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, despite a robust holiday shopping season.

Quote of the week

“It’s worthwhile. That’s where the eyeballs are right now—eyeballs are not in the mall, unfortunately.” —Gabriella Santaniello, founder of retail consulting firm A Line Partners, on Gap’s foray into NFTs.

On the move

Beachfront, a TV advertising platform, hired Katie Long as head of demand. She was formerly senior director of platform sales at Yahoo. Beachfront also hired Amit Nigam, formerly senior VP of product and partnerships at video marketing tech startup Eyeview, as VP of product.

Indiegogo hired its first chief marketing officer with ​​Kristen Sager. She was head of marketing at Wonderschool.

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