What’s In This Issue?
College Courses On Adulting Are Taking Off
Last week in Philadelphia I stopped into a coffee shop featuring the ad below for several courses on #adulting topics such as "How To Eat Your Avo Toast & Afford A House Too." You're probably already thinking of the joke here, but the truth is there are many young people who need help with the basics of being out on their own - managing their finances and dealing with life. A UC Berkeley class on adulting is so popular, for example, it recently turned 200 students away. All of which points to a sad conclusion: we aren't doing nearly enough to help our kids get ready for life in the real world.
World Nutella Day Is Coming, And It's History Is Unusual
There is no shortage of brands declaring a holiday for themselves. When I was working with a PR agency, this was a common tactic - declare a holiday for ourselves. World Nutella Day, coming February 5th, is a bit different. The holiday was first created nearly twenty years ago by a group of passionate bloggers who loved the product. The brand eventually took over the holiday, but its authentic start and focus on real ambassadors is a great example of how to take a somewhat cliche PR stunt idea and do it right.
Tinder Announces Safety Features All Social Media Should Have
Tinder made an announcement this week about several smart safety features that other sites should watch and consider. One of them, photo verification, allows the site to validate that someone is using a real image on their profile that actually looks like themself. Another is a "panic button" that allows users to upload details of who they are meeting in real life and then trigger emergency services during the date if needed. These types of efforts to help people be safer when taking online interactions into the real world are increasingly important as virtual personas and online fake profile tools make it easier to pretend to be someone you're not. Hopefully more social media sites will follow Tinder's lead.
Preview of Super Bowl Advertising: How To Watch 20+ Ads Early ...
As a marketing guy, I can't wait to watch the ads during the Super Bowl - but it's not always easy to focus on them with all the people around and not everyone manages to shut up when you tell them to. Instead of getting frustrated, you can cheat a bit and watch some of the ads before the big game. Adweek has a list of over twenty spots that have been released early. You'll need to create a profile on the site to watch them, but it's worth it to have some uninterrupted ad watching time. My favorites so far are the spots from Google, Microsoft, Hyundai and Cheetos.
