This Week in TV News: Baby Nut Is Back and State Farm Premieres Deepfake Creative

This week, we’re talking about a “deepfake” ad from State Farm that’s getting buzz on social media, Budweiser brought back a creative favorite from 1999, and brands get creative to produce ads when in-person production isn’t possible.

Baby Nut is back. Mr. Peanut perished earlier this year, and Baby Nut was premiered to the world during a Super Bowl spot shortly after. Baby Nut has been on hiatus for a while, but the infant spokesnut is back and active on the @MrPeanut Twitter handle, recently tweeting: “I’ve got a lot to learn, but I look forward to growing back into the peanut you know and love. It’s what I was born to do. Twice, apparently. #BecomingMrPeanut.” (Adweek)

The future of ad creative when in-person isn’t possible. With on-set creative production on hiatus, brands have had to get resourceful with their marketing campaigns. State Farm in particular is getting buzz for its innovative spot that ran during ESPN’s Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance.” In the ad, veteran SportsCenter anchor Kenny Mayne says, “This is the kind of stuff that ESPN will eventually make a documentary about. They’ll call it something like ‘The Last Dance.’ They’ll make it a 10-part series and release it in the year 2020.” The ad, combining present-day Mayne’s mouth and voice and footage from 1998, was developed by ESPN CreativeWorks, Optimum Sports and Translation. Viewers were somewhat confused and mostly entertained, with someone tweeting, “That future/retro State Farm commercial was ingenious.”(The New York Times)

Budweiser asks “Whassup” once again. The beer brand brought back the beloved campaign that originally ran from 1999-2002, this time with Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, Candace Parker, Chris Bosh and DJ D-Nice. The new ads remind viewers to check in with each other during the COVID-19 quarantine, with this message from the brand on Twitter: “Whasssuppppppppppp? That’s all it takes to check in. Staying connected matters now more than ever.” (USA Today)

Netflix adds 16M subscribers. The streaming service has a total of about 183 million global subscribers, bolstered in the past quarter. Two of the streamer’s series, “Tiger King” and “Money Heist,” are expected to garner more than 60 million member views respectively. (The Hollywood Reporter)

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