The Grey Cup will celebrate its centennial this year. Agency Bensimon Byrne has created an extended video ad for the Canadian Football League showcasing the game’s history in Canada.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
1.Fans of Lululemon Athletica's figure-hugging yoga pants got the bum's rush Wednesday as an apparent Facebook glitch meant they could not use an offer in the retailer's stores. Facebook Offers allow businesses to send out discounts, coupons or other deals to people on the social network who have "liked" their corporate pages. But Lululemon did not mean to send an offer Wednesday, and the message fans received after clicking on it was blank. Lululemon said it was Facebook's error and that other companies were also affected . Neither company would answer questions about how many stores were affected or how many customers accepted the invalid offers. Facebook did not explain what caused the error.
2.After two years out of the business, Alex Bogusky, ad guru and former co-chairman of MDC Partners agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, is back at it. Mr. Bogusky said this week that he has joined Colorado-based marketing agency Made Movement, which is dedicated solely to promoting products made in the U.S. The firm was founded by other former CP+B executives Dave Schiff, Scott Prindle and John Kieselhorst. The agency argues that buying American-made products is good for the economy, shuns the use of underpaid or ill-treated workers in outsourced production facilities, and is a more environmentally friendly option because it cuts down on shipping and leads to greener production practices. "Red, white and blue is the new green," Mr. Bogusky said.
3.Global advertising spending is up. According to the latest Global AdView Pulse report by Nielsen, every type of advertising except for magazines saw a rise in spending in the first quarter of this year. The clear leader, as usual, is Internet advertising, which saw 12.1-per-cent spending growth compared with the same period in 2011. Television advertising continues to draw the most ad dollars, but saw more modest growth at 2.8 per cent. Print ad spending in both newspapers and magazines was down in North America and Europe, but growth in other regions led print advertising to an overall gain of 3.1 per cent. Radio grew nearly 8 per cent. Outdoor was up 6.4 per cent, and cinema ads increased 4.1 per cent. Emerging markets such as the Middle East, Africa and Latin America had more robust growth. "These markets have proven their resilience through the down economy, and many consumers now wield spending power like never before," Nielsen executive vice-president of advertiser solutions Randall Beard said in the report.
4.The Grey Cup is kicking off its 100th anniversary this year. Leading up to the centennial game in November, the Canadian Football League has launched an extended video ad celebrating the game's history in Canada. The ad is currently running online, and had its debut during the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa this month. Agency Bensimon Byrne is responsible for the ad, which used archival Grey Cup footage, a voice-over by Kiefer Sutherland and the song Gift Shop by the Tragically Hip to complete the Canadiana theme.