Limited seats remain

Secure your place at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, March 23-25

REGISTER

Zayn it ain’t so: Brands mourn the loss of a One Directioner

It’s a momentous time in history. Singer Zayn Malik has left One Direction, throwing tweens everywhere into a downward spiral of depression they will not emerge from until their 40th birthday. The news broke Wednesday morning that Malik was leaving the hot band to focus on being a “normal” 22-year-old. Brands, ever mindful of the difficult time this was for their young customers, were quick to lend their support. We round up and grade the offenders.

Girl Scouts
On-brand, includes the product and also just adorable. A+

JobSite U.K. Very cute offering from this U.K. company. A

Marmite Shoddy photoshopping, but appreciate the effort. B+

Denny’s You couldn’t even add in a picture of some of your comfort food? C-

Paddy Power Good use of “that moment when,” but are Paddy Power’s target demographic really pre-teen girls? D

Nihilist Arby’s This parody Twitter account has got game. A

Homepage image courtesy of Shutterstock.

More in Marketing

In graphic detail: How Anthropic’s Pentagon refusal is paying off in downloads, brand trust and enterprise deals

OpenAI’s Pentagon deal seemed to spark uproar among its users, many of whom were against it. Anthropic’s refusal to agree to the terms was seen by users as the more trustworthy alternative.

How AI could disrupt retail media’s $38 billion search ad market

ChatGPT and other AI chatbots could divert shoppers from retailer sites, putting the $38B retail search market at risk.

‘Brand safety is moving from fear to curiosity’: Zefr’s Raddon on content-level accreditation – and what it exposes about the industry

The threat is no longer a discrete piece of bad content that a keyword list or a domain block can catch. Its volume.