Interesting Reads. Industry news that you may have missed.
The Influencer election is here — Wired
Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is just the start of #sponsored election posts. Last week, Instagram posts of Bloomberg’s direct messages to high-profile meme accounts circulated social media including, @KaleSalad (3.5 million followers) and @TankSinatra (2.3 million followers). While his campaign is not the first to tap online influencers, we are sure to see more partnerships like this in the social world.
KFC’s new Crocs are a brand partnership made in ‘Murica heaven — Fast Company
A new iconic duo has come to life, this time in the form of KFC Crocs. The KFC Crocs are completed with Jibbitz Charms that look and even smell like fried chicken. The collaboration plans to release the special edition rubber sandals in spring, which will retail for $59.99.
Conde Nast establishes a network of film and TV studios — The Drum
Conde Nast Entertainment plans to establish itself as a ‘video-first’ company, so they’re creating a network of film and TV production studios to align with its publishing brands. An initial run of the studios will span five of its most well-known titles including The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Wired, and GQ. Each studio will work alongside the existing editorial teams with an angle to develop specific film, TV, and podcast projects.
SpaceX will launch private citizens into orbit — The Verge
Recently, SpaceX announced an agreement with Space Adventures to launch four private citizens into space. The trip around the Earth will happen sometime at the end of 2021 or in early 2022. The companies said that the tourists will fly in the human-rated version of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and will orbit Earth at two to three times the roughly 250-mile height of the ISS.
