Interpublic Group will keep pay reductions for top executives for rest of the year, due to the COVID-19 downturn. Michael Roth, global chairman and chief executive of Interpublic, and other senior figures accepted salary reductions of up to 20% from the start of Q2 as the global economy and the ad market have slumped. Rivals including WPP and Publicis Groupe have ended such reductions. (Campaign)
More fake news confusion. A network of 1,300 partisan local news sites that hide their backing by Republican groups and corporate PR firms has been uncovered by The New York Times. The sites, with ordinary local news names such as Des Moines Sun and Anne Arbor Times, falsely declare in their "About" pages "that they to aim 'to provide objective, data-driven information without political bias,'" according to the paper.
The White House is controlling when Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks to media. On Sunday night’s episode of 60 minutes, Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook that he had to be “honest and say yes,” about the White House controlling when he speaks to news outlets. “I certainly have not been allowed to go on many, many, many shows that have asked for me,” Fauci said. He added that there has been a “restriction,” but noted that it “isn’t consistent.”
Yippee ki yay. Advance Auto Parts has brought together DieHard the battery and Die Hard the motion picture in a 2-minute film in which Hollywood legend Bruce Willis reprises his role of Detective John McClane. Jason McDonell, Advance Auto Parts EVP and CMO, said in a statement, “Our approach to this project was to go beyond products and price points and focus on finding a powerful message and platform to differentiate the brand. We’ll continue looking for those ‘Yippee Ki Yay’ moments that are memorable and celebratory at the same time.” The film is part of Advance’s integrated #DieHardIsBack marketing campaign that kicks off during October’s National Car Care Month.
A new place for tweets to show up. The MLB is printing some lucky fans’ tweets on balls used in batting practice. The effort is in honor of the World Series, the baseball organization tweeted Sunday afternoon.
In honor of the #WorldSeries, we're printing your Tweets on balls used in BP ??#FreeBaseball pic.twitter.com/w3so0ySptq
— MLB (@MLB) October 18, 2020
