What you need to know in advertising today

Lyft

As Uber flounders amid a spate of branding disasters, rival Lyft is surging.

After a trying few months, it's been a particularly brutal week for the ride-hailing app. Tuesday saw the release of the results of an intensive, monthslong investigation into its culture, followed by CEO Travis Kalanick announcing his leave of absence and a board member resigning. And on Thursday, a woman who was raped in India by one of its drivers slapped the company with a lawsuit for defamation, intrusion of privacy, and public disclosure of private facts.

Meanwhile, Lyft has embarked on an aggressive campaign to position itself as a socially conscious alternative in a crowded field. To read how Lyft is ramping up its marketing as well as community engagement efforts, click here.

In other news:

Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. The online giant said Friday it was buying the high-end grocer for $42 a share in an all-cash deal.

Meanwhile, Walmart is acquiring Bonobos, one of the hottest men's retailers for $310 million. This is Walmart's e-commerce acquisition after ModCloth, MooseJaw, ShoeBuy and Jet.com.

Heading to the Cannes Lions? Here's what media and marketing execs wish they knew before they made their first trip to Cannes.

Facebook has explained how it's using AI to help tackle terrorism. The move - detailed in a blog post by the Californian tech giant on Thursday - comes after several world leaders put pressure on the company to stop the spread of extremist content on its platform.

McDonald's has ended its 41-year long Olympic sponsorship stint, reports AdAge. It is the latest big-name sponsor to depart from the Olympics, following Budweiser, Citi, Hilton, TD Ameritrade and AT&T.

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