Marketing winners and losers of the week

This week's marketing winners, losers and newsmakers. Winners Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: After the Los Angeles Dodgers’ move to disinvite the nonprofit to its annual Pride Night celebration received backlash, including from some of the MLB team’s own players, the Dodgers backtracked and reissued the invitation this week. The Sisters, an organization that promotes human rights and calls out sexual intolerance, was able to convince the team to reverse course following “thoughtful feedback,” “honest conversations,” and “generous discussions,” the Dodgers said on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/626cPP4Ith— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023 AM radio: Score one for the radio lobby. Ford reversed course on plans to discontinue AM radio from future models in the face of pressure from a bipartisan group of lawmakers that have been pressing for AM survival amid reports that automakers are not including it in EVs. The group —including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts)—introduced a bill to bar such moves, saying AM radio provides a federal system for delivering public safety information, according to Reuters. Abercrombie & Fitch: The teen retailer gave investors a pleasant surprise this week when it reported a $16.6 million profit for its most recent quarter—a near dollar-for-dollar reversal of the $16.5 million loss it suffered in the year-earlier period. Sales were up 3% from a year earlier to $836 million for the quarter. Happy investors sent shares up 30% in early week trading. Ad Age Marketer’s Brief podcast Listen here or subscribe via Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music or Audible Click here Losers Bioré: The skincare brand was exceptionally tone-deaf in its recent Mental Health Awareness Month partnership with influencer Cecilee Max-Brown. An ad on TikTok used Max-Brown’s experience as a survivor of a school shooting to sell pore strips. After many consumers complained, Bioré and Max-Brown apologized. Yet Creative Director Lu Chekowsky said the controversy speaks to larger issues for advertising “in our modern, dangerous world.” More from Chekowsky: 4 questions our industry should be asking Target: The retailer managed to alienate most consumers this week when it caved to anti-LGBTQ+ pressure and removed some of its Pride month merchandise from the sales floor. After conservatives destroyed store merchandise and filmed such actions on social media, Target, which has been selling Pride products for a decade, cited employee safety as a concern, prompting many to wonder why Target did not increase security measures or engage law enforcement. Do NOT tell me @Target cannot afford to beef up security at these stores where Neanderthal homophobes and transphobes aren't shopping anyhow.#target#supporttranskids https://t.co/59WezLDOkX— (((fluorescentgoonshrieking))) (@AlizaWrites) May 24, 2023 Metaverse titles: Chief Metaverse Officer, we hardly knew ya. The title, which gained traction last year, has faded as the Web3 frenzy recedes, Ad Age reported this week. “There’s still an opportunity,” said Matt Moorut, director analyst for Gartner’s marketing practice, “but not as many senior leaders see it as one worth pursuing with a senior role in place to lead the charge.” Read more: How brands are rethinking the Web3 role Ad Age Breakout Brand Leaders New award honors the people behind emerging brands Enter here Tweet of the week As someone used to wearing 4 inch heels, let’s be crystal clear: I don’t teeter.Twitter 2.0 #TogetherWeRise https://t.co/BOf0wEzBJQ— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) May 24, 2023 Number of the week 26%: The drop in 2023 U.S. earnings before interest and taxes for Anheuser-Busch InBev forecasted by JP Morgan analyst Jared Dinges, as reported by Beer Marketer’s Insights, which notes the blow would amount to a $1.3 billion hit to the brewer’s $4.9 billion in U.S. EBIT last year. The forecast lends more evidence of how AB InBev’s mishandling of the Dylan Mulvaney backlash is hurting its bottom line. Quote of the week “He has the sense of humor of a seventh-grade boy or a horny dentist.”—Nikki Glaser, stand-up comedian and host of “FBoy Island,” on Elon Musk, in an L.A. Times story surveying stand-up comedians and comedy writers on the Twitter owner’s attempts at humor. On the move Crosby Marketing Communications has hired Sven Reigle as VP of data science and performance marketing, a newly created position. He had been real estate and workplace experience marketing manager at Google. Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here

Marketing winners and losers of the week

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