The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. YouTube will now let brands automatically buy ads on its hottest viral videos. The Google-owned video site just launched a new ad product called Google Preferred Breakout Videos.
2. Drawbridge raised $25 million to help it compete with Google and Facebook in one key area. It is planning to use the investment to "invest aggressively" in building its "global graph" that helps it anonymously identify people as they switch between devices.
3. WPP has pulled out of the McDonald's creative pitch. Agency Spy cites sources saying the decision was due to the client's "unusual financial demands and calls for a rapid turnaround on the pitch."
4. The latest episode of "Modern Family" had one of the strangest ads we've ever seen. If Phil Dunphy's insistence that he's a Realtor and not a real estate agent on "Modern Family" this week seemed a little odd, be aware that ABC was paid to make that distinction.
5. Katie Couric is reportedly looking to jump ship from Yahoo. Katie Couric is mulling an exit from Yahoo, just a year after signing a new contract worth $10 million.
6. Most people aren't willing to pay even $1 a year to avoid mobile ads. That's the conclusion from Tune, a company that measures and analyzes user behavior in mobile apps.
7. Tons of people received a "leaked memo" that revealed a new Krispy Kreme flavor (and the brand says it definitely wasn't a marketing stunt.) The memo - which was followed by an email recall - warned that the new doughnut was so tasty, in testing, some people "fainted due to the euphoria it created."
8. The New York Times is to start delivering meal kits to your home. The newspaper is partnering with meal-delivery startup Chef'd to sell ingredients for recipes from its cooking website, Bloomberg reported.
9. 11 horrendous beauty products made by food and toy brands. Inspired by the poultry-flavored nail polish, we gathered 11 of the strangest beauty products created by inappropriate brands.
10. A music startup cofounded by Spotify is launching in the US, and it's already snagged McDonald's as a client. In 2013, Spotify quietly cofounded a startup in Sweden called "Soundtrack Your Brand" to help bring the business market into the streaming era.