H'Wood Election Panic; Sue Kroll's Ads; More Penske Mysteries!
Plus: Why is Variety so interested in Turkey? And why is THR running a story about an electric toothbrush?
Welcome to the Jamboree, my weekly series of quick(ish) takes on the industry’s passing parade.
Nothing like an impending world historic cataclysm to put our own troubles in perspective. If there’s a bright side to the state of America, it’s that the calamity makes it hard to get too riled up about how no one has a plan to deal with the collapse of the cable bundle.
With the election first, last and everywhere on our minds, I checked in with some of the smartest people in town to find out how they are feeling.
But first . . . and before I get to Variety’s, let’s say, seemingly unusual interest in dictator-run Turkey, which may or may not have anything to do with that secret Golden Globes event there that Jay Penske’s own publications buried, let’s not completely forget who we are and what we’re doing here.
From another corner of the fine Penske-verse:
Scoop of the Week
Yes, you read that right. This week, in a scoop that’s somewhere between exposing child labor in meatpacking plants and busting open Watergate, THR scored the exclusive interview with McKinnon, in which “the Emmy-winning comedian stars in a new campaign for Philips Sonicare as Susan Toothbrush, a mythical mascot of oral healthcare.”
Look, this was not some Stay-Puft piece with a spokescharacter. Penske Media sunk its teeth into another icon to get to the root of this story:
“What made you say yes to Sonicare?” (She really does “believe in the product.”)
“Are you a once, twice-a-day brusher? There are some people I know who brush after every meal.” (She loves “being able to have that fresh, clean, pristine feeling twice a day.’)
“When you go to the dentist, you get the A-plus.” (McKinnon loves “getting good feedback from the dentist.”)
“When you were working with Philips, were there any ideas that got left on the cutting room floor?” (“No.”)
Mock if you will, but it’s a breakthrough of sorts to see the same inane banter that passes for serious conversation everywhere else in celebrity journalism applied with a straight face to stars’ endorsement work. I look forward to Timothée Chalamet being grilled on his process in creating a character for his Chanel fragrance campaign, Jennifer Garner on what drove her to take on the challenge of the Capital One campaign and Dwayne Johnson on what it was like representing an energy drink after appearing as the spokesman for milk in his last campaign.