MediaCat Weekly #25 — subtle rainbow washing, TikTok's momfluencers, and tackling hate speech in sport
MediaCat Magazine
An online publication exploring marketing and media change. We look at brands, marketing, media, culture and people.
Welcome to MediaCat Weekly, our short and sweet newsletter featuring some top stories from the past week, recent conversations, and a round-up of industry news.
As we near the end of June's 'I Don't Do Politics' theme we look at what a new Labour government could mean for workplace inclusion, the relationship between truth and trust, as well as the 'TikTok election'. Our writers also analyse political marketing in India, the trivialisation of political grounds, and why AI genius could cause a training headache for agencies in the future.
We hope you enjoy the issue, and our June playlist, curated by semiotician Becks Collins.
A subtler form of rainbow washing
By Alice Pukhova
To avoid rainbow-washing, brands must commit deeply to social causes and authentically represent LGBTQI+ stories. Yet, there’s a subtler form of rainbow-washing that might escape many cis-het people, but is glaringly obvious to the queer community—sometimes, despite sincere efforts, the content still ‘feels straight’.
Momfluenced: evolution of the mamasphere on TikTok
By Natasha Randhawa
The ‘Mamasphere’ — aka the Internet of All Things Mother — blinked into existence in the late ’90s. As dial up hummed to life, mothers connected across borders and in chat rooms for the first time. Fast forward to the 2010s, and the rise of contemporary social media. As the internet revolutionised visual culture, the appetite for more intimate windows into parenting evolved. Today, TikTok is poised to transform the Momfluencer playbook once again.
Creativity: most important political concept of the 21st century
By Jenny Zhang and Josh Tenser
On 4 June Sunak and Starmer went head-to-head on ITV’s general election debate, getting heated over how to boost Britain’s economy. What wasn’t covered was matters pertaining to the creative industries, one of the Prime Minister’s priority sectors for economic growth.
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Conversations
Q&A: Stuart Perelmuter on content creators in politics
Ahead of the Polaris Leadership Summit, MediaCat’s Content & Social Media Editor, Svilena Keane, spoke to one of the summit’s speakers and the founder of Good Influence, Stuart Perelmuter. They discussed the rise of content creators, their impact on the US election, and the future of political communications.
Q&A: How brands can tackle hate speech during a summer of sport
To find out how brands can protect athletes around the UEFA Euro, Olympics and Paralympics, MediaCat spoke to Daniel Parker, Group Editorial Director at We Are Social. The interview delved into the findings of the 2024 Braving the Backlash report and tangible steps brands can take to tackle online hate.
News
- On 19 June, Yahoo Advertising unveiled Yahoo Creative, its first full-stack data-powered creative solution for advertisers. Developed in partnership with Innervate, this solution enhances creative capabilities through technology and data. read
- WPP announced the launch of Production Studio: an AI-enabled, end-to-end production application co-developed with WPP’s production company Hogarth that will allow marketers to unlock more content. read
Seen elsewhere
- Brands: Watch every Grand-Prix winning ad from the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. (The Drum)
- Media: For the first time, humour will be added as a category in the annual Cannes Lions festival in the south of France, which showcases the industry’s best campaigns in the past year. (Financial Times)
- Media: The owner and chief technology officer of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, is at the Cannes Lions Festival this week on a mission to win back advertisers after many fled the platform over brand safety concerns. (Adweek)
- Media: Europe’s largest privately owned cinema operator Vue International is moving into film distribution following a lack of supply after the Hollywood strikes. (Financial Times)
- Brands: Dating app Tinder has partnered with youth-led charity My Life My Say to launch an in-app campaign that will encourage young people to take an interest in the upcoming general election. (Marketing Beat)
- Tech: Former Snap engineer launches Butterflies, a social network where humans and AIs interact with each other through posts, comments and DMs. (Tech Crunch)