Stuffed #201
Taylor Swift just shook up the political world this week by breaking her silence on the 2024 US Presidential race. The pop superstar officially endorsed Kamala Harris for president, sharing her decision on X with a powerful message: "I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them." Swift also praised Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, highlighting his long-standing support for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and women's reproductive rights. Swift’s post came after an AI-generated image falsely claiming she backed Trump appeared on his website, which Swifties quickly slammed as misinformation. This may have inspired the singer to speak out, setting the record straight for her 283 million Instagram followers. In true Swift fashion, her endorsement racked up a staggering 4.5 million likes in just three hours. While her influence could sway voter registration, Swift emphasised that her fans should make their own choices, encouraging them to do their own research before election day.
Britain’s Paralympians are turning their post-Paris victory into a powerful push for change. After a remarkable performance at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where the UK finished second in the medal table with 124 medals, including 49 golds, the athletes are now urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to guarantee equal access to school sports for disabled children. The British Paralympic team penned an open letter to the UK Government, highlighting that only one in four disabled children regularly take part in school sports. The letter called for teachers to receive the necessary training, tools, and understanding to provide “truly inclusive physical education.” This came after last week's launch of the Equal Play campaign, which urges the government to ensure that “every child has the same access to PE at school, rather than being left sidelined.” In response to Team GB’s call for action, a Government spokesperson said: “We have launched a review of the school curriculum which will consider how best to open up access to subjects such as PE and sport to more young people so we can nurture the Paralympians on the future.
This week, CALM launched its impactful "Missed Birthdays" campaign in partnership with adam&eveDDB and ITV. With suicide now the leading cause of death for people under 34, the campaign honours the 6,929 young lives lost by marking their missed birthdays. In a poignant tribute to World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, the campaign featured an installation made of birthday balloons to bring attention to this urgent issue.
New research shows that Gen Z's gaming habits generate as much carbon emissions as 17 million cars. In response, Greenpeace, an independent movement focused on protecting the planet, has partnered with creative agency VML to create "Play for the Future," an app that helps gamers track and offset their carbon footprint while playing. This is to make this often overlooked source of emissions more visible and easier to understand.
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To launch Heinz new Pickle Ketchup in Australia, TBWA\Sydney and the creative agency Eleven sent a human pickle to Spain’s iconic La Tomatina festival to get pelted with tomatoes. The stunt went viral on social media, received extensive editorial coverage, and was backed by traditional advertising, which expanded the campaign's reach across both social and digital platforms.
The Novelry, an online writing school, debuted its first major ad campaign this week. Created by St Luke’s, the campaign encourages aspiring authors to dedicate an hour of their day to transform moments of boredom into creative inspiration. It features custom animations that are activated across social media in the UK and US.
The Paralympic torch has officially gone out, marking the end of an incredible games. This gives us a great opportunity to look back at the 2024 Paris Paralympics coverage on Channel 4 and how it performed given that the broadcast was more accessible than ever, featuring enhanced British Sign Language, improved audio options, and better descriptions. Advertisers also included sign language in their ads, making the commercial breaks more inclusive. ? Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics captivated an impressive UK audience of over 18.5 million viewers. This year, viewership soared compared to the Tokyo 2020 Games, with 4.3 billion minutes streamed—an increase of 2.9 billion minutes from previous coverage. ? Over the two weeks, viewers enjoyed live sports and highlights on The Last Leg with Adam Hills. The lineup featured veteran presenters like Ade Adepitan and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, alongside exciting newcomers such as Rose Ayling-Ellis, comedian Fats Timbo, and actor Lenny Rush. We’re eagerly anticipating the Paralympics returning to our screens live from Los Angeles in 2028, it will be interesting to see how other broadcasters adapt their viewing offerings.
Advertisers have been pulling their budgets from X over the past few years, and with trust in the platform continuing to fall, even more marketers are expected to cut their spending. According to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024 report, this decline is mainly due to concerns about brand safety and negative perceptions of X. Trust in X's ads has dropped significantly from 22% to 12% since Elon Musk took ownership, while Google leads with a trust level of 39%. Additionally, X is not among the top ten platforms for advertising innovation. For brands to keep investing, they need to trust the platforms they use, so a change in this trend seems unlikely soon.
Following revelations from the Guardian’s Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement report, which investigated the newspaper's historical connections to transatlantic slavery, the Guardian has made two key hires in Manchester. Chris Osuh has been appointed as a community affairs correspondent, focusing on issues affecting Black communities and ethnic minorities in Greater Manchester and across the UK. Keisha Thompson has been hired as a programme manager for the Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement project, where she will lead community engagement related to Manchester's connections to transatlantic slavery. Additionally, the Guardian has announced new correspondents in the Caribbean, South America, Africa, and the UK, along with new members joining the race and equity team at Guardian US. These moves are part of the Guardian’s broader commitment to reparative justice and improving coverage of historically underreported regions and communities.
Thanks for tuning into the 201st?edition of Stuffed.?Catch you?next week.