If you’re the type of person to watch the Super Bowl for the ads, you’re in for a treat this Sunday, Feb. 7. According to Engadget, Michael B. Jordan — “Black Panther” star, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, Lori Harvey’s official boyfriend, and the Internet’s unofficial boyfriend — has been announced as the voice and body of Amazon’s Alexa. The commercial, which is titled “Alexa’s Body” will make its debut when the Chiefs face off against the Buccaneers. It features an Amazon employee marveling at the new Echo model (which retails for the reasonable price of $100) before drifting off to a daydream. A bus pulls up outside, and the bus features an ad-within-an-ad of Michael B. Jordan advertising “Without Remorse,” a new series featured on — where else? — Amazon Prime. Check out a clip of the ad below: In other Amazon news, Jeff Bezos has announced that he’s recently stepped down as the CEO of the company, and will instead take on an executive role. Andy Jassy will replace Bezos as...

TikTok has been on the tip of many tongues lately. However, despite threats of takedowns and power shifts, the video-sharing giant is still providing opportunities for businesses to grow. According to Small Business Trends , TikTok launched TikTok For Business , under which the brand committed $100 million in ad credits to small businesses as a part of their Back-to-Business program. The initiative is designed to help boost brand awareness, alleviate marketing costs, and craft engaging creative messaging. Now, for a limited time, small businesses can receive up to $2,300 in ad credit. To be eligible for the ad offer, small and medium-sized businesses must sign up for TikTok For Business and register for a TikTok Ads Manager account. Eligible SMBs can claim a one-time ad credit worth $300, the site says. Any additional spending will be matched up to $2,000 per business. This year, TikTok has become an integral part of many businesses and individual creatives’ marketing plans. In...

Across the nation, several states — such as Alabama and Ohio — are enacting laws to severely restrict abortion access . As this happens, it’s imperative that those seeking assistance are not misled by false advertisements. Anti-abortion groups have a history of using manipulation tactics to trick those seeking abortions. These tactics include opening fake clinics and posing as medical professionals and manipulating Google results , so searches for “abortion providers near me” lead people astray. Now, Google is trying to stop anti-abortion clinics from using misleading ads. An update to the healthcare and medicines policy will require organizations running ads about abortions to certify whether or not they provide abortions. Starting June 2019, Google will automatically generate in-ad disclosures letting people know whether an organization “Provides abortions” or “Does not provide abortions.” According to the policy, Google plans to decide who gets which disclaimer through a...

After the Christchurch shooting was allowed to livestream on Facebook and subsequently spread across social media , governments around the world have put pressure on big tech companies to answer for it. Now, it seems advertisers have lost their patience and are calling for companies to present solid plans for change. Recently, Mastercard’s CMO and president of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) Raja Rajamannar called on the group to put pressure on tech companies to prevent platforms from being “hijacked by those with malicious intent,” as reported by CNBC . The WFA is a massive player in the marketing world. The group — whose buying power nears a trillion — contains members like PepsiCo, P&G, and Diageo. Rajamannar says the call is about more than just a “brand safety issue.” In an interview with CNBC, he explained, “It’s a societal safety issue, and as marketers we have a responsibility to society.” Rajamannar also told CNBC: “Do you want live streaming of a shooting...

Salesforce is being sued by 50 women who alleged the company profited by helping Backpage participate in sex trafficking, as reported by CNBC . The lawsuit — which was filed Monday in Superior Court in San Francisco — claims that Salesforce’s data tools were utilized by Backpage and provided the “backbone” of its exponential growth. “With Salesforce’s guidance, Backpage was able to use Salesforce’s tools to market to new “users” — that is, pimps, johns, and traffickers — on three continents,” the lawsuit claims. A Salesforce spokesperson wouldn’t comment on pending litigation, but told CNBC, “We are deeply committed to the ethical and humane use of our products and take these allegations seriously.” Salesforce is known to have a sort of social justice profile. On the same day that the lawsuit was filed, the Red Cross of the Bay Area named Salesforce 2019 Humanitarian Company of the Year . Backpage was a classified ad site that was seized by U.S. authorities in April 2018 . The site...

Facebook has settled a civil rights lawsuit that alleged the company participated in discriminatory ad practices. Facebook’s ad targeting system allows companies to exclude certain groups from seeing ads for things like housing and jobs. The settlement will require the company to essentially overhaul it’s ad system, which is its major money maker. It’s a first of kind settlement and one that could have huge implications for the company moving forward. The company will create a separate space on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger for advertisers who are making job, housing, or credit ads. Within that space, Facebook will get rid of targeted advertisement that allowed people to target ads based on age, gender, and options associated with “protected characteristics or groups” according to the ACLU . People won’t be able to target ads based on a ZIP code or geographic area that’s less than a 15-mile radius. And, when developing “Lookalike” audiences for advertisers, Facebook will stop...

For-profit bail bond services have been proven to make most of their money on the backs of people of color and low-income communities . The offers they provide often leave customers in crippling debt when they’re already in vulnerable positions. But Google just announced a new policy that will ban ads for these services from all of its platforms. Google removed more than three billion ads last year if found to be harmful or misleading. And this new policy continues that work. “We made this decision based on our commitment to protect our users from deceptive or harmful products, but the issue of bail bond reform has drawn support from a wide range of groups and organizations who have shared their work and perspectives with us,” said David Graff, Google’s Senior Director of Global Product Policy. Read more in a blog posted by Graff here . This move is one that demonstrates how Google is continuing to work to keep the advertising space ethical and show consciousness of social issues....