Looking at Apple’s early branding and history makes me feel like an archeologist
Plus: So… how does everyone like the Instagram redesign?
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Hulu reverses course on Democratic ads that mention abortion and guns
So… how does everyone like the Instagram redesign?
Looking at Apple’s early branding and history makes me feel like an archeologist
Hulu reverses course on Democratic ads that mention abortion and guns
Disney-owned Hulu has now agreed to run political issues-based ads after Democrats say the streaming platform blocked ads mentioning abortion or guns.
A pair of joint ads by groups working to elect Democratic Senate, House, and gubernatorial candidates were submitted to Hulu earlier this month as well as to Facebook, YouTube, Roku, NBC/Universal, and a Disney-owned ABC affiliate in Philadelphia. The ads ran on every platform beginning last week except Hulu, a Democratic Party official told me, and they were told by the streaming platform the reason was “content related.”
Other Democrats have accused Hulu of blocking ads that mention abortion or guns, including Suraj Patel, a U.S. House candidate in New York. The Patel campaign finally got its ad approved after swapping out “climate change” for “democracy” during a voice over of issues he said long-time elected Democrats were losing on, and replacing footage of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol with b-roll of people with QAnon signs, according to Jezebel.
Now, Disney told Axios it would update Hulu’s advertising policies to match company policies at cable networks.
Democrats’ spat with Hulu follows Republican allegations that Gmail marked their fundraising emails as spam more often than emails from Democrats. While Google denies bias, the company pitched a pilot program to protect political email from spam detection.
While campaigns work to grow their owned channels (and one former president even went so far as to start his own social network), it’s a reminder of how much political advertising relies on gatekeepers to reach its audience.
So… how does everyone like the Instagram redesign?
What began as a new font and brand refresh for Instagram in May has finally blossomed into a full-blown UI redesign and content refocus, and the Kardashians hate it.
As Instagram continues to roll out updates copying TikTok for clout, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner finally posted what everyone’s thinking, sharing a “Make Instagram Instagram Again” graphic to Instagram Stories Monday.
Of course, as influencers and direct-to-consumer business owners, the Kardashians have a vested interest in maintaining the app’s status quo, but the sentiment has been echoed widely online. Users prefer seeing cute photos from their friends and accounts they follow over the recommended Reels and ads that Instagram is pushing in a bid to transform into a TikTok competitor.
Instagram Head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the criticism in a video posted Tuesday in which he said the full-screen layout some users are seeing is “not good.” “This is a lot of change all at once,” he said.
I don’t know what your Instagram feed has been looking like lately, but I can hear the desperation when I scroll through mine. So many of my suggested Reels are artists and small business owners showing behind-the-scenes footage of their creative process with sounds that suggest they’re doing it begrudgingly, like “look, I made you some content.” Creators who joined an app to share photos are now being forced to pivot to video to maintain relevance, something we’ve seen before.
I wouldn’t plan on Instagram going back to what it used to be, though, no matter how many Kardashians lobby for it. In a June 30 meeting, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg told employees “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” according to audio obtained by the Verge. I’d imagine he’d offer similar sentiments to creators unwilling to go along with his direction for the app’s future.
Meta announced its first year-over-year revenue decline today, but I’m assuming the company is giddy over leaked documents showing how TikTok downplays its association with China, new reporting about how its parent company ByteDance pushed pro-China stories on a now-defunct news app, and Joe Rogan saying he believes TikTok “ends with China having all of your data.”
What do you think of the redesign?
Looking at Apple’s early branding and history makes me feel like an archeologist
I don’t know if it’s the recent implosion of the Web3 bubble or the end of social networking as we know it, but… looking at the more than 70 items from early Apple and personal computing history now available at RR Auction’s Apple, Jobs, and Computer Hardware sale felt like looking at dinosaur bones.
The auction items range from a sealed First Generation iPhone from 2007 (currently going from $1,774) to Steve Jobs’ original 1976 Apple-1 Computer prototype. The cracked prototype was used to pitch Apple’s first big order at the Byte Shop in Mountain View, Calif., and the latest bid is $336,387.
My favorite pieces are the ones that show early Apple branding in all its rainbow glory, including — get this — an original Apple-produced “Star Wars”/”Star Trek” combo cassette tape game, the first “Star Wars” game ever released.
There’s also an employee pin given for employee service until it was discontinued in 1982, a 281-page user manual for Apple’s business management software in 1979, and a pair of custom rainbow Apple sunglasses given to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The auction is open through Aug. 18 and you can see the items here.
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