How the Bailout Became a Boogeyman

Airlines will receive $50 billion out of the $2 trillion stimulus bill to bail them out as the industry collapses during the pandemic. Americans on both sides of the aisle have grown to hate bailouts over the years. So how did the notion of throwing a lifeline to a company—even one in the airline industry, which employs 750,000 people globally—become such an abhorrent idea?

It's a long, winding path that starts at the New Deal with visits to a railroad bailout—which created Amtrak in the 1970s—and a Chrysler bailout, and ends with the infamous banking bailout. It wasn't until the last bailout that transformed the term into a political pariah. In 2008 banks received $442 billion as American consumers lost their jobs and homes. Later, it was revealed that 5,000 Wall Street traders received bonuses of more than $1 million each afterward. That dichotomy branded corporate bailouts so negatively that politicians refuse to touch the term, preferring "rescue" instead.

Read more: In today's digital feature, senior editor Robert Klara provides a rich history of how the corporate bailout went from a bipartisan act of Congress to utterly toxic.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has left the TV industry reeling and in “uncharted territory,” as execs and buyers began navigating the ad sales fallout of sports cancellations, including Tuesday's Summer Olympics postponement. Networks and marketers alike tell Adweek that they are now making the best of the situation, but one size does not fit all in terms of solutions, and more advanced advertising discussions are being tabled as they address short-term hurdles.

Read more: Travel, theatrical, automotive and restaurants are among the categories scaling back their TV ad buys during the coronavirus pandemic.

Roku has yet again found itself at the center of an ad fraud scheme that likely cost premium brands and political advertisers upwards of seven figures, according to new research from Pixalate. Marketers were led to believe their ads appeared against brand-safe content on the streaming service, such as The Three Stooges, when in reality they were buying ads in screensaver apps or apps for lonely pets when their owners aren’t home, Pixalate has found.

Read more: A spokesperson told Adweek the scheme netted “at least a seven-figure dollar amount.”

While live sports are on hold, leaving broadcasters in a lurch, streaming services are skyrocketing. Among the 43 million hours watched on Amazon's Twitch last Sunday was the Bahrain Virtual Grand Prix, a partnership between Formula One and Veloce Esports. In the U.S., Nascar also embraced esports with Nascar Esports Sunday, which became the highest-rated esports broadcast on linear television ever.

Read more: Nascar and Formula One's unique focus on technology has led the racing leagues to quickly adapt to esports versions of their events—with a lot of success.

Publishers See Impacts of Coronavirus, New Privacy Measures

Microsoft Is Powering the CDC’s Coronavirus Assessment Bot

The CDC tapped Microsoft to build a chatbot called Clara that asks potential coronavirus patients a series of questions in hopes of screening whether or not they are suffering from symptoms of COVID-19, assessing risk factors and disseminating relevant information.

Read more: The bot seeks to communicate with patients in conversational natural language and can be customized to the needs of a particular organization or integrated with hospital medical records.

Brands Initiate Relief & Awareness Efforts for Those Impacted By Coronavirus

Just how well do you know your industry jargon? Take a break from all the COVID-19 news and test your knowledge with our advertising vocabulary quiz.

Watch the discussions, hosted by Adweek editors along with industry leaders, seeking guidance, solutions and information—together. Tune in daily at 1 PM EST to view the conversations live or catch up on those that you missed.

Cannes Lions may be officially postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but at least one ad professional is concerned that the two may meet again with COVID-19 related entries plaguing the annual awards show.

With physical stores closed, the hope is digital can pick up the slack.

The luxury retailer is weighing options, including bankruptcy.

It’s time to finally take that project off the back burner.

Because there isn’t too much of a choice to do otherwise right now.

Shreya Kushari and OMD USA CEO John Osborn discussed navigating clients through disruption.