It’s a new year with new rebrands and campaigns from some of the most well known brands. Get caught up on advertising and marketing news from the start of the year with our Weekly Must Reads!

First Major Rebrand of the Year

In one of the first major rebrands of the year, Burger King is getting back to its roots. After 20 years with its previous logo, the brand is shifting to a refreshed version of their original 1969 logo. The colors are more vibrant and the font is rounded, very much like Dunkin’s thick rounded text. According to Burger King’s CMO, the old logo wasn’t optimized for digital experiences, and they wanted a refreshed brand to reflect their growing focus on food sustainability.

The new logo and branded materials will roll out to Burger King stores throughout the first months of 2021. Restaurants will also implement new digital menu boards and double (or even triple) drive-thru lanes. See the new brand for yourself here: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/burger-king-rolls-out-a-refreshingly-familiar-new-look/?itm_source=parsely-api

Down with Big Pizza

You’ve heard talk about “Big Pharma” and “Big Tech,” but what about the evils of…Big Pizza? In a funny new campaign, Little Caesars takes on the traditional national chains to emphasize their value prices and delivery service. The ad doesn’t name any names, but rather creates a generic “Big Pizza” rival that offers overpriced pies and only cares about profits. Little Caesars plans to create additional ads for the campaign, including spots for Valentine’s Day next month.

Little Caesar’s chose to run this ongoing campaign instead of a big Super Bowl commercial after participating for the first time in 2020 to help launch their delivery service. The ad paid off, helping them weather the pandemic well so far. Check out the first campaign ad here: https://adage.com/article/podcast-marketers-brief/little-caesars-takes-big-pizza-new-campaign-and-skipping-super-bowl/2303806

It’s a Nappy New Year

Brands everywhere have been dogging on the year 2020, but diaper brand Little Big Changes might have the most targeted campaign of all. The French subscription diaper brand is telling its customers to “let your child shit on 2020,” by writing the year on the back of their baby’s dirty diaper. Parents can post a photo on Instagram with the hashtag #LittleBigChange to share their feelings of the past year with the brand.

Other companies have taken similar marketing approaches to condemn the universally-hated year, including Match’s devilish commercial and Reddit’s original song about the woes of 2020. Check out some crappy diaper examples from Little Big Changes’ customers here: https://adage.com/creativity/work/diaper-brand-inviting-babies-poop-2020/2303851

Trump Faces Bans on Multiple Platforms

In the wake of the attack on the Capital last week, multiple online platforms have taken action to block President Trump from posting on their site. Twitter was the first to announce a 12-hour lock on Trump’s account starting last Wednesday evening, and then permanently banned him from the platform on Friday. Mark Zuckerburg also announced that Facebook and Instagram would be blocking Trump on both sites indefinitely. E-commerce site Shopify moved to close websites under their service that were associated with Trump, including the Trump Organization’s official retail website. And even Parler, the social media site Trump and many conservatives had fled to, was removed from Apple, Amazon and Google’s hosting services under concerns of inciting violence.

These bans reflect more aggressive actions from social media sites, which have increasingly monitored Trump’s posts and flagged some as misleading since the election. Expect to see even more online platforms following suit in the lead up to President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Find out more details about each platform’s stance here: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/day-internet-turned-trump-n1253651