Apple Music TV is the new (old) MTV, plus TMI about Jeffrey Toobin’s ZDI: Tuesday 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. ZDI TMI So, yes ... that thing that happened on Zoom. More specifically, that thing that was seen on Zoom. What can be said about it? We’re talking about this, of course, per Vice: The New Yorker has suspended reporter Jeffrey Toobin. Sources tell Vice it’s because he exposed himself during a Zoom call last week between members of The New Yorker and WNYC radio. On Monday afternoon, James Poniewozik of The New York Times tweeted our thoughts exactly: “Am exactly split between wanting to know more about the situation and wishing I knew far less.” It should be noted here that the initial headline on Vice’s report, “New Yorker Suspends Jeffrey Toobin for Zoom Dick Incident” (later changed to “New Yorker Suspends Jeffrey Toobin for Masturbating on Zoom Call”), prompted “Zoom Dick” to become a national trending topic on Twitter for much of Monday afternoon and evening. And now we feel duty-bound to share some highlights of the, uh, Twitter discourse surrounding the ZDI: “can’t believe Zoom Dick is trending two weeks before an election and it’s NOT a story about Anthony Weiner” —@chimeracoder “I have no musical talent but I’m still starting a band named ‘Zoom Dick Incident’ because how can I not?” —@johncardillo “Pretty sure I saw Zoom Dick Incident open for the Melvins back in the day” —@ParkerMolloy “Amazing that it took us this long to get a Zoom Dick scandal.” —@mattyglesias “Regarding Zoom Dick: there’s a lot to unpackage here.” —@cmclymer Flashback “He took it out.” —Elaine Benes on “Seinfeld” How about some eggplant from New York instead? “Avocados From Mexico plans to sit out the Super Bowl in 2021 after a six-year run in the Big Game with commercials featuring humor and celebrities,” Ad Age’s Jessica Wohl reports. The brand’s decision “marks the first confirmation from a prior Super Bowl advertiser that it doesn’t plan to buy ad time in the Super Bowl scheduled for Feb. 7, 2021. Changing channels “Channing Dungey was not on the job market for long,” writes The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter. “After leaving Netflix on Oct. 9, the executive has landed at Warner Bros., where she’ll take over as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group.” Dungey had been VP of original series at Netflix; at Warner Bros., she’ll be replacing Peter Roth, who announced on Friday that he’s stepping down when his current contract expires early next year. New: Marketing in the time of COVID-19 You can now get your hands on Ad Age’s new (free!) report for a deep data dive into what’s happened to marketers, media and brands during the coronavirus pandemic. Ad Age Datacenter produced this white paper based on data and analysis from Kantar. Get facts and stats on how the pandemic has affected ad spending, social media, consumer behavior, sports marketing, retailing and advertising creative. Download it here. AMTV (?) is the new (old) MTV Apple Music TV, an early-MTV-like streaming service, was born on Monday. In addition to music videos, the 24-hour livestream—available through the Apple Music and Apple TV apps—will offer “live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and guests,” per an Apple announcement. As Variety’s Jem Aswad reports, The service premiered Monday ... with a countdown of the top 100 all-time most-streamed songs in the U.S. on Apple Music. On Thursday (October 22), it will celebrate the upcoming release of Bruce Springsteen’s “Letter to You” album with an “all-day Bruce takeover” featuring music-video blocks of his most popular videos, an interview with Zane Lowe, anchor of Apple Music’s radio station, and a special livestream fan event. Speaking of Apple ... “Apple remains the world’s best brand for an eighth year in a row while a host of digital newcomers including Instagram, YouTube and Zoom have landed a spot in the top 100 for the first time ever, according to a new annual survey of global brands’ value from Omnicom-owned consultancy Interbrand,” Ad Age’s Ethan Jakob Craft reports. Just briefly Chili’s unites the nation: “Chili’s introduces an offer we can all agree on — $5 Presidente Margaritas through Election Day,” per an over-the-top Chili’s press release. Billie divides the nation: “Billie Eilish Posted The Nike Sneakers Version Of ‘The Dress,’” per Elle. That does it for today’s Wake-Up Call. 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. Find options at AdAge.com/sub.

Apple Music TV is the new (old) MTV, plus TMI about Jeffrey Toobin’s ZDI: Tuesday Wake-Up Call

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