John Hodgman the PC Is Back for Apple

A note from Lisa Granastein, editor, svp, programming of Adweek:

On this Veterans’ Day, we remember one of our own.

We were heartbroken to learn yesterday that Mike Yuhas, Adweek’s indefatigable copy chief for 31 years, died unexpectedly.

Mike was a Vietnam War vet who only occasionally would share snippets from his time in the Army. He served from 1968 to 69 as an infantryman in the Mekong Delta before talking his way into the equally unsafe job of combat reporter/photographer way up north on the DMZ.

But we knew him as our trusted, if irascible, colleague. You didn’t mess with Mike. He had a thing about ampersands (never use them), Nascar had to be written thusly and forget about serial commas. Young reporters (and that included me many years ago) feared him and his red-ink strokes and unsparing editorial commentary.

He was vigilant and principled, and he was hilarious. He’d blow a train whistle to punctuate a newsroom joke, and his spontaneously composed Top 10 lists were cherished. Privately, each of us hoped we’d be immortalized in one of them.

Mike was an Adweek institution, a class act and our rock.

We’ll miss you, Mike.

Please consider paying tribute to Mike and all of veterans with a donation to the Vietnam Veterans of America.

One of the most iconic advertising characters of all time has returned. John Hodgman reprised his “I’m a PC” role from the widely lauded Apple “Get a Mac” campaign, making an appearance at the end of a 45-minute Apple event announcing some new hardware. The original campaign, which was named Adweek’s Campaign of the Decade for 2001-2010, showed Hodgman alongside Justin Long.

Watch: Catch Hodgman’s performance in the video from the event.

And a new “Behind the Mac” ad:

Apple’s other release yesterday was even more star-studded, featuring a black and white selection of celebrities using MacBooks. The ad is simple, made entirely from found footage, showing that stars like Kendrick Lamar, Gloria Steinem, Billie Eilish, Jonathan Van Ness, Lady Gaga, Serena Williams, RuPaul and more are a “certain kind of person … who doesn’t wait for greatness.” Watch the ad here.

Wrangler made a flattering cameo in a mock ad in Rick and Morty’s Season 4 finale—without ever asking or paying for the promo. The brand swiftly adapted to the surprise pop culture moment, releasing a Wrangler x Rick and Morty apparel collection. It’s a pivot that the brand has had to make before, notably after it was featured in Lil Nas X’s hit song Old Town Road (which yielded the Lil Nax X Collection). Other partnerships include those with Rob Gronkowski and with Netflix on its 80s-tastic Wrangler x Stranger Things Collection.

Adorning famous booties: Explore the collections and learn how the brand is able to move so quickly.

Nielsen is poised to supercharge networks’ and marketers’ efforts to scale addressable advertising on linear TV by adding addressable measurement to its national TV currency. Its national TV panel will expand to include 55 million smart TV and set-top box devices, which will give Nielsen a larger data set to measure fragmentation. The move will promote adoption of addressable advertising, help marketers monetize their impressions more effectively and result in viewers being served more relevant ads.

Why hasn’t addressable already grown more? It’s all about measurement and monetization.

In the latest blow for Amazon, the European Commission says the ecommerce company has breached EU antitrust rules by suppressing competition in online markets. It’s not the first time the Commission has investigated Amazon, but this time, it follows the opening of a 215,000-square-foot cargo facility in Germany. Early findings say that seller data is available to Amazon employees and that the company uses the information to compete with the sellers.

A global problem: Amazon’s role as a first-party seller alongside third-party retailers on its platform is a recurring issue.

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More of Today’s Top News & Highlights:

The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman "rivalry" is turning into a full on mock battle between Aviation Gin and Laughing Man Coffee (respectively owned by the two stars)—and all of the proceeds are going to charity. The contest, which pits sales of the brands at Sam's Club against one another, is being promoted on both actors’ social media feeds with two videos created by Maximum Effort and Escape Velocity. Watch them both here.

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