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Its official, Matthew McConaughey is returning to the Super Bowl. We don’t know much else about the Uber Eats big game ad, but we do know McConaughey will be in it, based on two new teasers released today. Here, we see McConaughey, who previously starred in Super Bowl ads for Doritos (2021) and Salesforce (2022) recreating the iconic look of former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, along with Da Bears line from the classic SNL sketch. Ubers head of marketing for North America Georgie Jeffreys says the core objective for its big game work is to continue to drive relevance and brand affinity with Americans, particularly in the suburbs. When it comes to teasers, though, the goal is more about setting vibes and piquing curiosity. There’s no other time when people are ready and waiting to watch an ad, says Jeffreys. There’s also no other time when people are anticipating what you’re going to do as a brand. You have this opportunity to capitalize on it in a way that you might not with other campaigns at other times of the year. If you can get it right, then its kind of your fire starter. The brand began its run with McConaughey last September, when he floated the conspiracy theory that the function of all sports is to act as a catalyst for us to eat more food. He now revisits that theory with a big game teaser that posits an alternative meaning for this year’s Roman numerals. Jeffreys says that the response to that spot completely upended its Super Bowl plans (they typically start thinking about the big game in July), and they began a complete redo in October, working with agency Special US. Since then, both Charli XCX and Martha Stewart have joined the roster. Celebrity strategy When it comes to picking celebrities to work with, Jeffreys says they have to answer a few different questions: Do they appeal to the audience? Are they somewhat unexpected? Are they willing to be self-deprecating? But at its core, they actually have to amplify the creative idea, she says. They need to fit it, and by being a part of the creative idea, they need to make the idea bigger. It’s not the first time the brand has utilized an unlikely pairing of celebrity in its advertising, nor is this its first rodeo in resurrecting a beloved SNL sketch. Back in 2021, it was “Wayne’s World,” reuniting Mike Myers and Dana Carvey to resurrect their classic SNL characters alongside Cardi B. In late 2023, Robert De Niro and Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) starred in a delightful spot depicting them as an unlikely pair of BBFs. (Its 2023 Super Bowl spot starring Diddy definitely hasn’t aged well . . . does Uber Eats deliver baby oil?) For 2022, it was all about celebs looking silly to emphasize the app delivers more than food. So there was Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow biting into a Goop candle. Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg from HBOs Succession) guzzling dish detergent. Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus) trying to eat on paper towels. Last year, the spot revolved around celebs forgetting incredibly obvious facts about themselves. Like Jennifer Aniston forgetting she worked with David Schwimmer on Friends or Jelly Roll trying to scrub tattoos off his face. For that teaser, it was David and Victoria Beckham recreating the viral Be honest moment from their Netflix doc series. The brand courted controversy when part of the spot joked about forgetting about a peanut allergy, a scene it cut before it aired during the game. Big Game opportunity Controversy aside, the Uber Eats ad isnt backing away from the sense of humor and tone it’s established over the past few years. And despite the continued fragmentation of media and pop culture, the Super Bowl remains a unique opportunity. If we hadn’t been doing this before the last five years, it would have taken us a lot longer to really establish ourselves as a brand in mainstream culture, says Jeffreys. I think people now have a clearer understanding of our brand and tone because we’re consistently showing up with a very specific type of spot that is landing a specific type of humor. Even if the message changes, the core tenets of our brand are the same. So there is both a long- and short-term play there, which is why we keep coming back.
Category:
E-Commerce
A lawsuit seeking to strike down North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors will go to trial Monday, more than a year after families of transgender children and a doctor filed the suit that argued the law violates the state’s constitution.North Dakota is one of more than two dozen states that have banned gender-affirming care. Like North Dakota, many of those states have faced court challenges to the laws.“Our argument is that all North Dakotans have a right to access healthcare that helps improve their lives and well-being, and our clients are no different,” said lead counsel Brittany Stewart, senior staff attorney at Gender Justice, a nonprofit advocating gender equity.Court rulings have significantly reduced the scope of the North Dakota case, filed in late 2023. Earlier this month, a state district judge dismissed from the case some of the claims as well as the children and families who were plaintiffs, leaving only a pediatric endocrinologist as a plaintiff.The trial in Bismarck, the state capital, is expected to last eight days. It’s unclear when the judge will rule.Then-Gov. Doug Burgum signed the bill into law in April 2023 after it overwhelmingly passed the Republican-led Legislature. It makes it a misdemeanor for a healthcare provider to prescribe or give hormone treatments or puberty blockers to a transgender child, and a felony to perform gender-affirming surgery on a minor.Lawmakers who supported the bill that became law said it would protect children from what they said are irreversible treatments and operations.“We were creating an atmosphere where if you felt you had that situation, that you were of that mentality, that we would go ahead and cut off body parts and affirm where you’re at without trying to guide you through it,” said Republican Rep. Bill Tveit, who introduced the bill. “Maybe it was a wrong thought at that age, and if you want to make that decision when you’re of age . . . that’s your prerogative once you’re an adult.”He said he hopes the trial’s outcome affirms the law. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley declined to comment on the case.Opponents said the legislation would have harmful effects on transgender kids, and noted that gender-affirming surgeries are not performed on minors in North Dakota.A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey last year found that transgender and gender-questioning teens reported higher rates of bullying at school than their peers and that about 1 in 4 transgender teens said they had attempted suicide in the past year.Stewart said, “When you ban the only medically supported care for a specific condition and only for young people who are under 18, you’re not protecting those kids. You’re actively harming those children.”The law contains an exemption for children who were already receiving treatments before the ban’s effective date. But attorneys for the plaintiffs said providers held off due to perceived vagueness in the law. That led the families to travel and miss work and school to seek care for their kidsincluding an eight-hour round trip drive for one family to attend a 30-minute appointment, Stewart said.The judge later said the law does not apply to any minors who were receiving gender-affirming care before North Dakota’s ban took effect, including the three plaintiff children. The judge said they “can receive any gender-affirming care they could have received” previously. But their access remains unchanged because that ruling was not enough of a final decision to satisfy attorneys for healthcare organizations, Stewart said.At least two pediatric endocrinologists in North Dakota were providing gender-affirming care before the ban, Stewart said.“As far as the number of patients, I can’t really say, but honestly whether it’s a lot or a few is really irrelevant to whether this is constitutional,” she said.President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order declaring only two sexes, male and female, are recognized by the federal government. State laws on sports participation, bathroom use, gender-affirming care, and other issues are not directly affected.Every major U.S. medical group, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, has opposed such bans and said that gender-affirming treatments can be medically necessary and are supported by evidence. Research has further shown that transgender youths and adults can be prone to suicidal behavior when forced to live as the sex they were assigned at birth.At least 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits. Federal judges have struck down the bans in Arkansas and Florida as unconstitutional, though a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. A judge’s order is in place temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban in Montana.The states that have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Jack Dura, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Automaker Kia America is recalling more than 80,000 vehicles due to floor wiring beneath the front passenger seat that can become damaged and prevent airbags and seat belts from deploying properly.Damaged wiring can also cause an unintended side curtain air bag deployment, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The recall covers 80,255 2023-2025 Niro EV, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and Hybrid vehicles.To remedy the situation, dealers will inspect, replace, and reroute the floor wiring assembly, as necessary, for free. In addition, dealers will install wiring covers. Owners will be notified by letters mailed in March.The recall follows one in November, when Hyundai and Kia recalled over 208,000 electric vehicles to fix a transistor in a charging control unit that could be damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery. That in turn could cause loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.
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E-Commerce
Herms illuminated a gloomy Paris afternoon with its fall men’s collection Saturday, as Véronique Nichanian turned to the racetrack for inspiration. Jockeys’ vibrant racing silks became her muse, a dynamic counterpoint to the French maison’s storied equestrian roots. “I wanted this collection to be strong and energetic,” Nichanian explained, her palette pivoting from deep browns and dark teals to flashes of tomato red and lemon yellow.The collection radiated warmth, both in spirit and texture. Fuzzy mohair coats, velvet varsity jackets, and plush sheepskin outerwear wrapped models in an embrace that seemed designed to counter winter’s chill. Layering was less pronounced this season, a deliberate move to retain sleek, streamlined silhouettes. Even gray pinstripe suitspared back to essentialseschewed bulk, echoing Nichanian’s vision of men unencumbered as they race through life.Sweaters emerged as the collection’s unsung heroes. Their bold chevrons and geometric patterns were lifted directly from the vibrant stripes of racing silks, a playful nod to Palais d’Iéna’s soaring, angular architecture. A standout turtleneck, with its patchwork of triangles, rectangles, and squares in canary yellow, seemed to channel a nostalgic love for trigonometry. Elsewhere, a jacket with a shawl collar mirrored the same graphical bravado, rendered in cool tones of blue, black, and white.Though grounded in classic tailoring, the collection celebrated irreverence. Nichanian’s juxtaposition of tradition and innovation captured Herms‘ ethos with a quiet confidence. Here, functionality was imbued with a touch of whimsy, proving once again that the maison’s refinement can still surprise and delight. In a season steeped in nostalgia and geometry, Herms delivered a collection that was, quite literally, off to the races. Thomas Adamson, AP Fashion Writer
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E-Commerce
As wildfires tore through neighborhoods across the Los Angeles area this month, the city’s large architecture and design community found itself in an uncomfortable state of anticipation. With thousands of homes destroyed, architects in L.A. know that they’ll soon be called upon to help some people rebuild. That’s how more than 350 L.A. area designers have found themselves members of Rebuild LA Architecture, a workspace in the online communication platform Slack where architects, interior designers, and contractors are sharing resources and information about what it takes to design and build in the aftermath of fire. For a field often defined by competition, these designers are collectively wrapping their heads around the recovery to come. The Slack workspace was created by Aaron Leshtz, an L.A. native and cofounder of the architecture firm AAHA Studio. In the days after the fires broke out, Leshtz’s friend and fellow architect, Rachel Shillander, had posted on her Instagram account asking if any L.A. area architects and designers wanted to talk through the implications of the Eaton and Palisades fires and how the design community could play a role in the recovery. A Zoom call was set up, and hundreds of people logged in. With this particular disaster and being in such a concentrated city of designers and architects like Los Angeles, I think we all realized, oh, we’re in a very unique position to be able to help, Leshtz says. [Screenshot: Rebuild LA Architecture] In an effort to help formalize the conversation, Leshtz posted a link to the Zoom’s chat inviting people to join a free Slack workspace and share thoughts and resources. They swarmed in. Within three or four days it was almost 300 people, Leshtz says. So now I’m in charge of a very large Slack group. The workspace is part resource library, part ad hoc task force. There are about a dozen separate channels focusing on various sides of the architecture profession in the context of wildfire recovery. One channel is aimed at helping architects understand how to work within the strictures of the city of L.A.’s Department of Building and Safety. Another sheds light on the process of handling claims with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Another is a smattering of information and personal experience on dealing with fire insurance claims. One particularly active channel has formed around the idea of creating what’s being dubbed the Rebuild LA Handbook, compiling information homeowners can use as they venture into rebuilding their lost homes. It’s all serving as a kind of crash course in how to be a designer for fire recovery. Some of the designers in the Slack have plenty of experience, designing in the aftermath of major wildfires across California. But for others, especially those working in smaller firms with fewer buildings under their belt, the massive scale of this year’s wildfires is opening up an unexpected new line of business. Leshtz, whose firm is made up of eight people, says he’s already received more than 20 inquiries for potential rebuilding projects in Pacific Palisades. There’s going to be more work than anybody can handle, he says. And there’s a sense that it’s not a zero-sum game. We can share resources. We can do things better collectively and still run businesses and still be profitable. The L.A. architecture Slack group is not the only fire recovery effort underway among the city’s design community. In the days after the fires broke out, another grassroots recovery effort was launched in the form of a crowdsourced list of architects, engineers, and contractors willing and able to help in the recovery and rebuilding. Though much of the Pacific Palisades is on the wealthier end of the income spectrum, the communities affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena are much more in the middle class. For architects, who are often taking commissions from wealthy homeowners or engaging in resource-intensive design competitions to secure new projects, it’s been a moment of opening up to a less lucrative but arguably more important type of client, and being more open with people who may otherwise be competitors. We all realize that we need to be moving and rowing in the same direction, and the best way to do that is to have the same information, says Leshtz. Greg Bleier, founder of the interior architecture firm Studio UNLTD, has become an active member of the Rebuild LA Architecture workspace. For me, the biggest resource are the connections, the people. Our practice doesn’t focus on home building, so I don’t know if the ultimate resources may impact us directly, but it has been a tool to learn about processes such as permitting after a wildfire, FEMA responsibilities, and insurance expectations, he says. Collating and collecting data and information in one place like this with people who are effectively strangers is a pretty powerful thing. Leshtz says the L.A. architecture Slack workspace has about 50 active members, with some members only posting sporadically with relevant information. Most of the 350-plus members, he assumes, are there to gather as much information as they can. How long that lasts is uncertain, but Leshtz says the Slack workspace will exist as long as it’s needed. (Through a friend of a friend, Leshtz got in touch with someone in Slack’s management who extended the workspace’s free access through the summer at least.) Will this exist in six months? Will anybody be on it? I don’t know. It might be a ghost town, Leshtz says. But if it’s useful for people in these first couple of months to understand the best next steps to rebuilding in the city then I’ll be thrilled. Leshtz says he’s hoping to refine the workspace, and try to find ways of making it more useful to people who’ll need information quickly. I didn’t expect to be the father of a 350-person Slack group, but I’m trying to at least move the ting in the right direction, he says. Because this is going to be a long haul.
Category:
E-Commerce
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