S T U D I O 1 2 : Walmart's Naughty Santa

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First Things First

December 09, 2019

By Jameson Fleming & Kathryn Lundstrom

Presented by

Walmart Pulls Cocaine-Themed Third-Party Holiday Sweaters From Its Canadian Site

After a Twitter-fueled kerfuffle involving a Santa Claus doing cocaine on an ugly Christmas sweater, Walmart Canada apologized to customers for a line of NSFW holiday attire up for sale through a third-party vendor in its online store. The cocaine Santa sweater has been removed from the site along with several other adults-only-themed twists on ye olde ugly sweater, and represents the latest embarrassing ordeal for companies that struggle to enforce company policies governing third-party vendors.

(Editor's Note: Austin, Texas-based breaking news reporter Kathryn Lundstrom is joining the First Things First team. She helped compose today's edition. Say hi to her over email.)

The 10 Best TV Shows of 2019

As the streaming wars heated up, the streaming platforms landed another knockout punch against the broadcast networks. TV editor Jason Lynch revealed his top 10 shows of the year, and the only one produced by a broadcast network, The Good Fight, didn't even air on network TV. Instead, it lived on CBS All Access as a reason to subscribe (and it's definitely worth forking over the money for). HBO shows snagged four spots on the list, Netflix had three and Amazon only had one—but it took home Lynch's show of the year.

For Younger Creatives, Advertising's Culture of Hero Worship Is Shifting

Do names like Bill Bernbach, Leo Burnett, Jay Chiat and David Ogilvy—or the many (still overwhelmingly white and male) creative leaders who've come along since—still pack as much motivational punch with today's rising agency creatives? For younger creatives, that answer is no—for a number of reasons. Today's talent is more diverse and skeptical of legacy leaders—and those who still have clout are no longer titans in an ivory tower. Social media has brought the creative community together, making leaders more accessible to everyone.

Lord & Taylor Is Back in New York—But There's a Catch

A year after closing its Fifth Avenue flagship (which is being turned into a WeWork space), one of the United States' oldest retailers is reopening in New York, but only for a two week pop-up, opening in SoHo tomorrow. Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor earlier this year for $100 million, and the clothing subscription brand will have a section within the pop-up. "It's really a way for us to start communicating with a different type of customer, to take a swing at building a smaller-sized store," said Brett Northart, founder of Le Tote. "We're taking one piece of this bundle and putting it in a store that's tiny and offers a targeted experience to a specific customer for a short period of time."

Netflix Dominates Golden Globe Nominations, on Both the TV and Film Side

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed Golden Globe nominations this morning, and Netflix raked in a whopping 34 nominations, across both the TV and film categories. Highlights from the streaming giant included The Crown, The Irishman, Marriage Story and The Politician. HBO was next in line with 15 nominations, while Hulu and Amazon Prime tied with five a piece. But the announcement didn't come without controversy—critics say that the HFPA is too dazzled by celebrity, and overlooked some of this year's best works that didn't feature an A-list cast, such as Netflix miniseries When They See Us. The awards ceremony will air Jan. 5 on NBC, and Ricky Gervais is hosting.

Best of the Rest: Today's Top News and Insights

Ad of the Day: 20 Heartwarming, Cinematic Ads That Brighten Up the Holidays

The infectious holiday cheer of the U.K. advertising has spread to the U.S. in recent years, often leaving consumers with a teary eye or two (I'll admit, I cried during the Apple iPad ad). We rounded up 20 of the best ads so far all in one place.

Watch them all here.

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How does your company use Slack or other similar communication tools to help remote employees stay connected?

Josh Kelly, managing partner, FINE

Slack is a mainstay—people use it within our office locations just as much as remote. We also use Notion as a central knowledge warehouse, Google docs, our own extranet, and other tools. Video conferencing is great, but doesn't replace clear audio, preparation in sending out or displaying key visual materials and information. Our tools and platforms are a great equalizing factor for staff inside and outside the office.

Jessica Carson, director, agency resources, Chemistry

Slack is an integral communication tool for Chemistry. It is used between offices, with our remote employees, freelancers and even with our clients. It allows for access and ease of communication to quick questions and urgent requests. Integrations with Invision, GitHub and Google docs all help the team, no matter where they are, to stay closely connected to the projects. The more informal nature of the communications really allows for people to get to know each other better than they would in a typical email exchange. And with the creation of internal channels for lunch recommendations, general questions, happy hour, shout outs, etc., Slack contributes to a more unified culture and makes for some really funny reads.

GM's Global CMO Deborah Wahl Driving Growth on New Roads

Today's episode with Deborah explores her latest role as Global CMO of GM, the first Global CMO since 2012 and certainly the first female Global CMO of the automotive giant. Promoted from CMO of Cadillac in Sept 2019, Deborah shares what she's working on now and how she and CEO, Mary Barra, are pursuing a vision of "a world of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion."