This Week in TV News: A Moldy Whopper and the Brands Gen Z Likes Best

This week we’re talking about the brands that Gen Z and millennials love the most; Mike Bloomberg’s TV advertising efforts; and Burger King’s moldy Whopper ad.

Democratic political ad spend. The former New York City mayor and current candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mike Bloomberg, is outspending all the other Democratic candidates combined on both TV and digital media. Bloomberg is also using advertising formats that other candidates aren’t, including influencer advertising. Generally, political candidates lean on digital advertising less than TV and other tried-and-true ad formats, with Google and Facebook will account for almost 78% of the total spend, compared to about 61% for the general market, eMarketer predicts. eMarketer also forecasts that the total U.S. political ad spend for 2019 and 2020 combined will be $6.9 billion, up 63% from the previous presidential cycle. (AdExchanger)

Burger King ad demonstrates what preservative-free food looks like. And it’s another viral hit. “The Moldy Whopper” campaign, which includes a time lapse video of a burger growing green-gray mold for a month, is the latest effort led by Fernando Machado, Restaurant Brands International’s global chief marketing officer. Machado told USA Today that instead of showing the burger in “the classic flawless and often too perfect photographic style typically used in fast food advertising,” they wanted to “showcase something real, honest and that only Burger King could do.” (Ad Age)

The brands Gen Z and millennials like most. Which brands do young people care about the most? Agency MBLM took a close look in a new report on brand intimacy, defined as the relationship between people and a brand that “transcends purchase, usage and loyalty,” according to Mario Natarelli, managing partner at MBLM. When it comes to video game consoles, Gen Z prefers Xbox, and millennials are partial to Playstation. Gen Z is all about Sephora, H&M, Spotify, Venmo and Louis Vuitton, according to the report, and millennials are into Nintendo, Amazon, Ford, Jeep, Apple, Target, YouTube and Xbox. (Adweek) 

The Democratic debate crushes ratings record. About 20 million people tuned into the debate Wednesday night, setting a new record for Democratic primary debate viewership, according to Nielsen Media Research. The second-most watched Democratic primary debate was in June 2019, when about 18.1 million viewers watched night two of a debate series on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo. The next debate will air February 25 on CBS. (CNN Business)

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