Day Three of Advertising Week, plus the Clio Awards winners: Thursday 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 daily newsletter. You can also get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Last night at the Clios Burger King’s “Whopper Detour”—a campaign that trolled McDonald’s by luring away its customers—was the big winner at Wednesday’s Clio Awards in New York City, taking Grand Clios in two categories and helping BK win the Advertiser of the Year honor. The campaign from FCB New York, which used geotargeting and persuaded McDonald's customers to head to BK for a 1-cent Whopper instead, was already a big winner in June at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The New York Times and Droga5 also won two Grand Clios as the awards ceremony celebrated its 60th anniversary; read I-Hsien Sherwood’s full coverage of the winners. Oh, and check out this photo of Hotels.com’s mascot Captain Obvious hanging out with Old Spice pitchman Isaiah Mustafa on the red carpet. It's the last day of Advertising Week New York (phew) The advertising mega-conference, with an estimated 98,000 attendees and nearly 300 events, can get overwhelming—and confusing. Some people struggled to find events. Ad Age's Lindsay Rittenhouse overheard a woman asking a staff member if she was in the right line, and the staffer responded, "Ask the people in line. They'll know better." Anyway, here are some highlights from Day Three: A prediction: Martin Sorrell built the world’s largest advertising holding company, WPP, and headed it up until not so long ago. Now the S4 Capital Executive Chairman predicts that “holding companies will eventually be ‘broken up’ and consolidated,” Rittenhouse reports. A change of heart: Though Sorrell famously proclaimed tech giants like Google and Amazon the “frenemies” of the ad industry, he has changed his mind and says they aren’t a competitive threat. Snapchat vs. Jon Snow: Snapchat Chief Business Officer Jeremi Gorman claims the app’s hit reality series "Endless Summer" is getting "Game of Thrones"-type audience numbers, Ad Age’s Garett Sloane writes. Read more of Ad Age’s coverage of Advertising Week, including news about Reddit, voice speakers and a new cross-media standard, No more Juul ads Juul Labs, the maker of e-cigarettes and nicotine pods, is getting a new CEO amid concerns about youth vaping, regulatory scrutiny and a mysterious wave of vaping-related illnesses. Juul, trying to control its crisis, also says it will “suspend all broadcast, print and digital advertising in the U.S.," Bloomberg News reports. (The Food and Drug Administration has already upbraided Juul for illegally marketing its products as less dangerous than ordinary cigarettes). The American Heart Association was not impressed with Juul's move. "No one should mistake the company’s suspension of its marketing efforts as anything other than a naked attempt to ease public pressure and curry favor with elected officials," American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a statement. More on the tobacco industry: Merger talks have been called off between Altria Group, which owns a stake in Juul, and another major tobacco company, Philip Morris International. Just briefly: Talking eyeglasses: Amazon is adding its voice assistant to new products including eyeglasses, wireless earbuds and a ring to wear on your finger. It’s a “new line of wearables that will push Alexa into every corner of your life,” The Washington Post writes. Gender-inclusive: Mattel, maker of Barbie, “is diversifying its doll lineup once again, this time with a gender-inclusive product,” Ad Age’s Adrianne Pasquarelli reports. Kids themselves customize the doll’s appearance, adding long or short hair and clothing. Sold: “Jimmy John’s Sandwiches is being sold to Inspire Brands, adding a sandwich shop to the company that already owns Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-In,” Ad Age’s Jessica Wohl reports. More scrutiny for Facebook: Bloomberg News reports that the U.S. Justice Department “intends to investigate Facebook Inc. after prodding from U.S. Attorney General William Barr … though the Federal Trade Commission already has an inquiry underway.” The report cites an unnamed person familiar with the matter. The FTC vs. Match.com: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission accused Match.com of advertising that tricked consumers into paying for subscriptions, Bloomberg News reports. Podcast of the day: Six months after taking over as MDC Partners chairman and chief executive, longtime political consultant Mark Penn talks with Ad Age’s Brian Braiker about what he’s seen so far, what’s next and why an election campaign is like the advertising business. Subscribe to the “Ad Lib” podcast on iTunes or Spotify. Ad of the day: You might not think a travel brand would want to associate itself with poop. And yet Hotels.com is running joint ads with Poo-Pourri, the toilet spray brand. The digital ads, from Crispin Porter Bogusky, address a delicate situation faced by new couples traveling together for the first time: how to use the loo without total embarrassment. Read more in the Ad Age Marketer’s Brief. Got an anonymous tip for Ad Age? Here’s how to contact us.

Day Three of Advertising Week, plus the Clio Awards winners: Thursday Wake-Up Call

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