If you keep hearing your friends and colleagues mention Threads, but you’re not quite sure what they’re talking about, you need our Weekly Must Reads this week. Keep reading to catch up on the biggest news you may have missed in the last few days.

Threads Sets Record for Number of Downloads in One Day

Last Wednesday, Meta launched its new Twitter rival, Threads, and instantly racked up millions of downloads. In less than 24 hours, Threads received more than 30 million downloads, making it the most rapidly downloaded app in history. High-profile brands and celebrities were among the first to adopt the new social network, with Meta granting early access to select users earlier in the week so they could encourage more people to join when the app officially launched.

As we discussed in a recent article, many Twitters users have started searching for an alternative platform to host their real-time conversations. Twitter first faced backlash when new owner Elon Musk instituted changes to the platform and has seen renewed criticism after temporarily limiting non-verified users to 600 viewable tweets per day. Find out more details about the new Threads app here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/technology/threads-downloads-twitter.html

DoorDash Offers Discounts to Wordlers

Since taking ownership of Wordle last year, the New York Times has been looking for ways to monetize the hit daily word game. They first launched advertisements within the game last fall, but last week, they expanded the ad platform to offer new formats available for mobile web users. The first brand to take advantage of the new ads is DoorDash, who is using their placements to promote their DashPass delivery subscription. Each Wednesday, players can enter the Wordle word of the day as a discount code for the DashPass.

The New York Times has also been looking to increase their overall subscriptions and engagement to NYT Games with new marketing campaigns. Earlier this summer, they partnered with Keegan Michael-Key to promote the chance to win prizes for users who share their scores on social media. Learn more about how to advertise on Wordle and other NYT Games here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/new-york-times-wordle-new-mobile-ad-format-doordash/685073/

Budweiser Brings Back the Bud for Women’s World Cup

Following their clever (yet disrupted) ad campaign during the 2022 Men’s World Cup in Qatar, Budweiser is renewing their Bring Home the Bud platform for the upcoming Women’s World Cup. The first spot for the campaign premieres today, featuring Lionel Messi getting both players and fans pumped up for the tournament. Messi also asks fans to submit their predictions of which team will “Bring Home the Bud” and win the World Cup.

For Budweiser, the best news of all is that the tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand, two countries that do in fact allow for alcohol sales at sports stadiums. The brand will bring back its “Bring Home the Bud”-branded cases of beer to tournament venues, which they originally created but could not use for the men’s games. Check out all the details about Budweiser’s returning campaign here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230630907006/en/Budweiser-Global-Celebrates-2023-FIFA-Women%E2%80%99s-World-Cup%E2%84%A2-with-the-Return-of-BringHomeTheBud

The Premier League Launches an AR Trophy Hunt

In other soccer news, the English Premier League soccer association recently launched an AR scavenger hunt to support its first US-based tournament this summer. The league’s Premier League Trophy Hunt asks soccer fans to search across the series’ five host cities for 20 AR trophies, each representing a different Premier League team. Once they find a trophy, consumers will have the chance to win a variety of prizes, including VIP tickets and exclusive merchandise.

Premier League fans who don’t live in one of the five host cities can still participate in the scavenger hunt virtually. They can post Summer Series-branded selfies, and place a virtual Premier League Trophy in the location of their choosing. Get all the details on the Premier League’s effort to engage young American soccer fans here: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/premier-league-ar-trophy-hunt-summer-series/685209/