Four things people protested against at SXSW

Digiday is at SXSW giving you the latest industry news out of the festival at Austin, Texas. More from the series →

yume-sxsw

With each year that goes by, it seems SXSW gets just a little more corporate. All the more to rally against! Here are four things people are protesting in Bat City this year.

Brands not paying bands to play at events
McDonald’s felt the heat of the fryer when it asked a musical duo, Ex Cop, to play at its event in Austin for exposure (i.e., “unpaid”). Ex Cop fought back with a Facebook post about the offer: “It is a horrifying and gross reality when one sees the true nature of corporations and their pathetic attempts to achieve relevance with millennials,” the duo wrote.

McDonald’s backtracked a few days later, saying they would pay performers after all. But there’s plenty of strong pro-musician sentiment.

Robots
A group of University of Texas at Austin students, killing time before Spring Break apparently, staged a protest outside the Convention Center Saturday against artificial intelligence. 

“Brand Israel” events
SXSW is hosting a series of sessions this year from Israel, such as “Israel: Small country, Big ideas,” and some activists contend that this is an implicit endorsement of Israeli actions in Gaza.

We are protesting at #SXSW2015 @US_Campaign @jvplive #jvp2015 #NoHipsterApartheid pic.twitter.com/H32mhBLF5X

Circumcision
An activist group called “Blood Stained Men and Their Friends” launched an anti-circumcision protest at SXSW Saturday, rallying against what they’re calling “forced infant circumcision.”

https://digiday.com/?p=110906

More in Marketing

Key takeaways from Digiday’s 2024 Gaming Advertising Forum

Now that gaming has gone from a buzzword to a regular presence in brands’ media mix, marketers are more closely scrutinizing the value and ROI of their investments in this channel — and the platforms are rising to the challenge. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from this week’s Gaming Advertising Forum.

‘The most controversial rebrand of the year’: Understanding the tightrope that legacy brands like Jaguar walk during a rebrand

Jaguar’s attempt at a sleek, ultra-modern rebrand replete with art-house aesthetics has been the talk of the water cooler – excuse me, LinkedIn – this week.

The Trade Desk finally confirms it: Meet Ventura, the OS to cement its grip on CTV

The Trade Desk is indeed building a CTV operating system. So much for shutting down those rumors. Weeks ago, CEO Jeff Green insisted they were off-base.