Apple gears up for iPhone 12 event and Trump has a coronavirus coin: Wednesday Wake-Up Call

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. If you're reading this online or in a forwarded email, here's the link to sign up for our Wake-Up Call newsletters. Hi, Speed Apple is planning an event next week at which, it’s reported, it will launch the iPhone 12. The company teased the event, set to take place on Oct 13. (which also happens to be Amazon Prime Day) with a post that included the tagline “Hi, Speed,” fueling rumors that the event will be all about 5G. The next-generation phone launch could be the company’s biggest in years: as the Wall Street Journal reports, expectations are high for the next iPhone “because the 5G connectivity is expected to usher in big sales and fat profits, investors and analysts say.” The event could also be a welcome boost for Apple, which, along with Facebook, Google and Amazon, is being targeted by House Democrats with proposed antitrust reforms to curb the power of U.S. technology giants. Yesterday, the House antitrust subcommittee published a 449 page report that represents the most dramatic proposal to overhaul competition law in decades, and could lead to the breakup of tech companies if approved by Congress. Shares in all four companies fell after the announcement. Trump’s coronavirus coin As President Trump recuperates from coronavirus in the White House, his team is already on the case with merch. As Ad Age’s Ilyse Liffreing reports, on Tuesday the White House Gift Shop (not affiliated with the actual White House) began selling a commemorative coin as part of its “Historic moments in history” collection to honor Trump’s recovery. Although photos aren’t available yet, the online store, where the coin can be preordered for $100, describes it as a limited edition "Trump defeats Covid" coin featuring icons of Trump (most likely without mask) and members of his first team. While the coin won't ship till after the election, as Liffreing writes, it’s a good example of the role online merchandise is playing in this year’s campaigns for both Trump and Biden. Among the products on offer: “Babies for Trump” onesies, and Biden T-shirts that read “I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump.” Drive-thru Halloween While some might be excited about the new iPhone, for many other people October is (usually) all about getting ready for Halloween. But, with the pandemic, traditional trick-or-treating could be very, well, tricky this year. However, as Ad Age’s Adrianne Pasquarelli reports, retailers are diversifying their Halloween offerings to connect with consumers in new ways. Lowe’s, for example, will be offering drive-thru curbside trick-or-treating for two weekends in October at all of its stores. Target also plans to give out “boo bags starter kits” to customers who use its drive-up and order pickup services, while Home Depot is focusing on at-home activities, offering online projects like a fall kids craft and scarecrow flowerpot. From Eskimo to Edy’s Eskimo Pie is to rebrand itself as Edy’s Pie, after admitting in June that its name was “inappropriate.” As Ad Age’s Jessica Wohl reports, in the latest name change triggered by the racial justice movement, brand owner Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream is renaming the frozen treat after one of its founders, candy maker Joseph Edy. The new name comes with a packaging redesign, which shows the word Edy’s in its signature design, curving over the word pie in front of snow-covered mountains. However, the image of a child in a furry coat is absent from the new product, which will be in freezers early next year. Just briefly Facebook bans QAnon: Facebook has completely banned all forms of content related to conspiracy group QAnon, reports The Verge, with the exception of posts from individual profiles. It will remove any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content. R/GA’s new role: R/GA has promoted Jai Tedeschi to be its first VP, global executive director of culture and operations, writes Ad Age’s Lindsay Rittenhouse. Her elevation comes after Carl Desir, its former global executive director of equity, diversity and inclusion, resigned last month. Creativity of the Day: Annie Murphy from “Schitt’s Creek,” fresh off her Emmy win, is starring in a campaign for HelloFresh Canada that takes the form of an overwrought soap opera. The work from TAXI Toronto puts a fun spin on the typical kitchen demonstration pitches by leaning heavily into soap tropes; take a look over at Creativity. A juicy story: Ocean Spray has a new marketing star: 420doggface208. That’s the social media moniker for Nathan Adopaca, who captured the internet’s attention last week with a TikTok video in which he drank the juice while longboarding and lip synching to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”The Idaho resident’s care-free ride inspired Mick Fleetwood to recreate it in his own TikTok. And now the brand has sent Adopaca a new cranberry red-colored Nissan pickup truck stocked with juice and captured it on video—in an attempt to keep the unexpected attention on the Ocean Spray coming. That does it for today’s Wake-Up Call, thanks for reading and we hope you are all staying safe and well. For more industry news and insight, follow us on Twitter:@adage. From CMO Strategy to the Ad Age Datacenter Weekly, we’ve got newsletters galore. See them all here. Subscribers make the difference. Individual, group and corporate subscriptions are available—including access to our Ad Age Datacenter. 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Apple gears up for iPhone 12 event and Trump has a coronavirus coin: Wednesday Wake-Up Call

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