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Musk attack // Illustration by Kate Walker
While we hope everyone had a good weekend, we know those who went to an AMC to check out Dune: Part Two definitely did. Why? The cinema chain rolled out three new ads starring Nicole Kidman over the weekend. The original Kidman spot from 2021 is essentially the moviegoing national anthem at this point, so there’s no doubt there was ample cheering when the new ones came onscreen.
In other news… Elon Musk is waging war against OpenAI, and LVMH is tailoring a Hollywood victory.
LATEST PODCAST EPISODE
Feb. 29, 2024
Today we get into McDonald's new anime-based promotion, how Reddit is going public, and how Florida passed a new bill trying to ban kids younger than 16 from social media.
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YT: The Bikeriders, X: Sydney Sweeney, G: Dune 2, R: Mark Dodson, TT: “Good Old Days”, S: “Ring of Fire”
United Talent Agency has acquired JUV Consulting, a marketing and research agency geared towards helping clients reach Gen Z. Read More → variety
Figure, a startup building humanoid robots, raised a $675 million funding round with investment from blue-chip brands like Microsoft, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Amazon. Read More → theinformation
Pepsi rolled out massive physical and digital installations all over the world to show off its first brand logo redesign in 14 years. Read More → hypebeast
Meta is officially ditching its News tabs and discontinuing publisher payment on the platform in both the US and Australia. Read More → theverge
TikTok’s #TikTokShortFilm contest is returning to Cannes for a third year… but it’s the first time that US-based creators can also apply. Read More → tubefilter
81.3% of you voted Neither in Friday’s poll: What concert movies have you seen (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and/or Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé)?
“I feel like I see enough of them just turning on my phone.”
“What a waste of time and brain cells.”
“Am I unamerican that I don’t care for either artist?! Even if I did, I wouldn’t watch a concert movie — boring.”
.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT SAFARA.
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.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Elon Musk is taking OpenAI to the mat
The Future. Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company has chosen profits over safety. While the lawsuit’s chances for success may be dim due to OpenAI’s complicated corporate structure, the discovery process may at least illuminate why Sam Altman was briefly fired as CEO last year.
System crash
Elon Musk is going to war with the company he helped found.
Musk claims that “OpenAI has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company, Microsoft, straying from its founding mission of creating AI for the ‘benefit of humanity.’”
The lawsuit seeks to require OpenAI to open-source its research and tech and pay back all the money that Musk invested over the years ($44 million plus other monthly expenses).
Additionally, the suit says that OpenAI has already achieved an early version of artificial general intelligence (the holy grail of the industry), which adds to his alleged safety concerns.
Many believe that Musk’s move is simply “sour grapes” (he tried to take over OpenAI in 2018 but was pushed out), or him trying to take down a competitor (he launched xAI last year).
No matter the true motive, it adds to OpenAI’s constantly increasing issues this year.
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Listen: Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis got deep on the state of AI with NYT’s Hard Fork podcast.
Read: The New Statesman breaks down how the rise of “Disney adults” is actually the end result of the Mouse House’s genius corporate vision.
Watch: Product marketing manager Marta Puerto released a wildly creative video résumé that has gone viral… and led to hundreds of interview requests.
.ENTERTAINMENT.
Fashionable cinema // Illustration by Kate Walker
LVMH makes Hollywood its new runway
The Future. LVMH’s newly launched 22 Montaigne Entertainment hopes to be the liaison between the global entertainment industry and the fashion conglomerate’s 75 luxury houses. Considering last year’s Air boosted popularity for Nike and Air Jordan, it may now become easier for productions to score products from brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Dom Pérignon if they’re promised a starring role.
Exclusive wide release
LVMH is designing a Hollywood takeover in hopes of putting its products in front of millions of potential customers.
Traditional advertising isn’t working like it used to, with a Kantar study finding that 86% of people “took actions to avoid ads across TV, streaming, and online,” per Business of Fashion.
Meanwhile, studies show that brand marketing — embedding your products and services into entertainment and experiences — is viewed more positively (and is harder to skip).
22 Montaigne Entertainment creates a “single point of contact” for studios and producers to approach LVMH about mining its brands’ histories and products for stories, like how it’s already done with the Apple TV+ series, The New Look.
With rival Kering now tied to CAA through François Pinault’s recently acquired majority stake, expect the next great fashion war to play out on the silver screen.
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Tesla dropping this Cybertruck “Desert power” spot the weekend of Dune: Part Two’s debut gives major cultural synergy vibes.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Boye Akolade. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.