February 16, 2018
It was a week of great highs and tragic lows. From the mountaintops of Pyeongchang to the hallways of a high school in Parkland, Florida, our spirits have been lifted and crushed. In an attempt to distract us all from these emotional extremes, following are some other stories that caught our eyes this week:
- Figure Skating or Fried Rice? – As much as we love our friends at Chicago’s ABC7 News, we definitely got a chuckle out of the gastro-inspired graphic they used during a report on the 2018 Winter Olympics. The award-winning news program mistakenly posted a graphic with the Olympics logo that read “P.F. Chang,” as in the popular U.S. eatery, where it should have read Pyeongchang, the South Korean city hosting the Games. Other media outlets had a field day and we all had a good laugh – perhaps with the exception of the WLS graphics department.
- Brrr, That’s Cold! – In other Olympics news, Johnny Weirand Tara Lipinski are
grabbing headlines – and audiences – with their icy takedowns of the figure skaters competing at the Winter Games. Even before the Opening Ceremony, the Olympians-turned-analysts gave a chilly reception to many of the skaters performing in the early events,
throwing more shade (and drawing more viewers) than the “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” One viewer tweeted that “NBC should send Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir to cover White House press briefings.” - Is He or Isn’t He? – New details were released this week about the pending royal nuptials between Price Harry and Meghan Merkle, including the time and place and a leak about a special guest performer for the ceremony. Early in the week, numerous media outlets reported that Grammy winning artist Ed Sheeran was likely to perform as the couple walked down the aisle after US Weekly reported that Sheeran had been personally asked to perform by the Prince. However, this morning, those dreams were dashed by reports confirming that Sheeran will not be performing at the royal wedding due to a previously scheduled concert in Dublin – and the fact that, according to his manager, he hasn’t been invited.
- Has High Point Hit a New Low? – Designers this week were buzzing about the rumor that High Point Market is planning to open its doors to consumers, sparked by an invitation that read, “For the first time, High Point Market, the largest furnishing industry trade show in the world, is opening the showroom floor to consumers, providing unprecedented access to view the latest products and designs in home furnishings.” Market officials have confirmed that the High Point show will remain a trade-only event. The invitation is for an exclusive limited-attendee consumer tour being sponsored by Hearst media. Tour participants will not be permitted to purchase products from any of the showrooms. They will be referred to retailers or interior designers, and the tours will only allow access to participating showrooms.
- Oh, Snap! – In an effort to regain momentum and retain influencers, Snapchat announced this week that it will roll out new analytics tools designed to help advertisers and influencers refine their Snapchat approach. Following the expansion of its Advertising API availability, Snap Inc. is also giving selected creators access to in-depth analytics data. With these new tools, popular creators will now have more reason to come back to Snap, with the capacity to quantify their efforts with actual data, while the new Discover layout will give them increased exposure to more users, adding to Snap’s appeal.
