Morning Bulletin: Finger lickin’ sun screen, contactless payment boom & Spotify video
This morning’s news net dredges up some gems amongst the rough of the internet, led by the release of a KFC branded infomercial promoting a fried chicken scented sun screen. We also cast an eye over a boom in contactless payments, at the expense of smartphones and Spotify’s latest efforts to muscle in on video content.
Business Insider devotes coverage to an app which claims to help explain why people ignore your emails. Boomerang’s Respondable feature proffers up insights in real time as an email is being typed to explain how likely it is that the recipient will deign to respond.
A major video push is underway at Spotify according to Ad Exchanger, which states that the aural platform is seeking ways to excite our eyeballs as well as our eardrums by investing heavily in animation and comedy.
Retail Week observes that the rise of contactless payments has caused smartphone transactions to ‘stutter’ as the vast majority of consumers stick with familiar debit and credit cards, the majority of whom have never used their smartphone to make an in-store purchase.
A new Facebook app targeted at teens has stoked privacy concerns at Ad Age, amidst fears that Lifestage defaults to making all content public with no option to restrict viewability.
Snapchat finds itself in the viewfinder of Campaign which reports that Burberry has become the first Snapchat Lens sponsor to promote the launch of its latest fragrance, My Burberry Black.
AdWeek’s ad of the day is a zany KFC promo from Edelmann Dallas featuring its Colonel mascot pushing ‘chicken-scented sunscreen’ to keep sun worshippers golden and crispy this summer. The limited edition cream will actually be available to buy online for a limited time, just avoid the temptation to eat it.
Reuters brings some bad news for US swimmer Ryan Lochte has now lost all of his major sponsors in the wake of the Olympian falsely claiming to have been the victim of an armed robbery in Rio. Speedo and Ralph Lauren have now ditched the shamed gold medallist, following on from Japanese mattress maker Airweave and Hair removal company Syneron Candela.
The Times reports that drugs giant Pfizer has won a bidding war to acquire cancer treatment Medivation after outbidding the competition with a healthy $14bn offer.
The Guardian also reports the case of a Mail on Sunday decision to remove a photo of one of its reporters posing with a gun in Iraq, amidst fears that posing with a gun seized from Islamic State fighters could pose a risk to other journalists in the region.