Good morning! Here’s everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. We stumbled across what might be the most bizarre ad of the year. It’s for Thunderhead, a company that make customer service software.

2. McDonald’s has been reprimanded for its kids advertising. It has been told not to focus its Happy Meal marketing on the toy, and instead focus its spots on the food.

3. An emerging American trend is terrifying news for Macy’s, Kohl’s, and JC Penney. Consumers are spending less on clothes and home furnishings.

4. Nike is facing harsh criticism for offering a 30% discount to police officers. It comes in the wake of a string of shootings involving police officers who killed black men.

5. P&G has put its North American media account into review, Adweek reports. The CPG giant spends more than $US2.6 billion on advertising in the region annually.

6. Nielsen has explained to The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Today how it is adapting to the rise of online video. The company is swiftly trying to update its measurement tools to be able to analyse TV viewing everywhere, not just on the main TV set.

7. Interest in mobile audience targeting is on the rise, according to eMarketer. The percentage of US digital marketing and media professional targeting audiences via smartphones and tablets increased significantly year on year.

8. Whole Foods has offended its most important customers. It has announced the launch of a new, lower-cost chain targeting millennials.

9. Econsultancy looks at whether Google is being too easy on mobile sites with desktop pages. Its search algorithm upgrade, dubbed”Mobile-geddon,” may not have been as harsh as first thought.

10. Social marketing company Brand Networks acquired Shift for $US50 million in a cash and stock deal, TechCrunch reported. Shift is another social ad platform.

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