Your rundown of the must-read marketing and advertising news is here! Catch up on the latest news, from tech scandals to the egg that broke Instagram.

Jeff Bezos vs. the National Enquirer

In a blog post published last week, Amazon founder and Washington Post publisher Jeff Bezos accused the National Enquirer of extortion and blackmail. The accusations stem from an article the Enquirer posted last month exposing Bezos’ affair after he announced his divorce. As part of their investigation, the Enquirer followed the pair across five states and published their text messages.

The original story drew speculation of political interference, due to an Enquirer chief executive’s close relationship with the White House. Bezos now claims the tabloid threatened to publish private photos of himself if he did not publicly confirm the report was not politically motivated. Do you think Washington had anything to do with the story? Find out more details here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/technology/jeff-bezos-sanchez-enquirer.html

The Instagram Egg Takes a Crack at Mental Illness

After overtaking Kylie Jenner’s Instagram-likes throne, the “Instagram egg” teamed up with Hulu for a Super Bowl commercial promoting mental health awareness. In the ad, the egg says it’s cracking, because “the pressure of social media is getting to me.” The video ended with a link to Mental Health America’s website, encouraging people to ask for help.

Before the commercial aired, the New York Times announced that Chris Godfrey, an ad executive from London, was the mastermind behind the original account and photo. Godfrey and Hulu have since been widely commended for using the egg’s platform to promote a positive message. Watch the ad here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/327439

App Developers Secretly Record Users’ Screens

Last week, reports surfaced that a number of popular iPhone apps had been using technology from analytics firm Glassbox to record users’ screens without their knowledge. The apps, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Hotels.com, Hollister, Air Canada and Expedia, were given 24 hours to remove the tools from the app or alert users to the screen recording.

In response to the news, Apple said, “protecting user privacy is paramount in the Apple ecosystem,” and threatened to pull the apps from their App Store if the tools weren’t removed. Glassbox also released a statement, saying their tools are not used to “spy,” but rather to improve user experiences. Find out more here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90304349/apple-gives-developers-24-hours-to-remove-screen-recording-code-from-their-apps

McDonald’s Loses Big Mac Trademark in the EU

After more than two decades of exclusively using the term “Big Mac,” McDonald’s lost their European trademark in a case filed by Irish burger chain Supermac’s. The ruling not only allows Supermac to expand, but also gives other competitors the OK to use the Big Mac name. Burger King Sweden has already jumped at the chance, creating a product line called “Not Big Macs,” featuring items like “Kind of like a Bag Mac but juicier and tastier.”

Trolling McDonald’s has been a recurring theme for Burger King lately. The chain also recently ran a promotion through their BK App, where users received an offer for one cent Whoppers when they were within 600 feet of a McDonald’s store. Are these campaigns more clever or petty? Read on and decide for yourself. https://www.marketingdive.com/news/burger-king-trolls-mcdonalds-for-losing-big-mac-trademark-in-the-eu/547364/