When it comes to travel TV, few names are more well-known than Samantha Brown. Since the year 2000, she has hosted almost a dozen different travel series. Now she's back with her latest on PBS called "Samantha Brown's Places To Love." Brown says this time around she is taking a more personal look at travel.
Since 2000, Brown has traveled to over 260 cities in more than 60 countries. Her favorite place to visit? Southeast Asia. Brown says it's an entirely different world that contrasts so strongly--physically and culturally--from the U.S.
To make the most out of travel, Brown says, "don't go for the exclamation points. Look for the commas." The best experiences are in the side streets, not in the main squares.
Bud Light topped Salesforce's list of most buzzed-about brands during the Super Bowl, followed closely by Pepsi, Budweiser, Doritos, and Avocados from Mexico. Rob Begg, Salesforce's vice president of product marketing, said what set those brands apart was their active engagement on social media. "One of the things we did see with brands over the Super Bowl were the ones who had the highest mentions and the biggest buzz were the ones that sort of carried the advertising conversation online,” he told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Feb. 4, 2019.
While the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams face off for the Super Bowl title, advertisers will be waging their own battles during Twitter's Brand Bowl 53. Ryan Oliver, senior director of brand strategy for the U.S. and Canada at Twitter ($TWTR), said the Brand Bowl is a celebration of the advertisers that are being talked about on Twitter.
Wine manufacturer Yellow Tail can’t buy a national ad during the Super Bowl ー but that won't stop the company from getting its “Tastes like Happy” campaign out to the public in spectacular fashion. To skirt the category exclusivity hold that Anheuser-Busch InBev ($BUD) has on the Big Game, Yellow Tail bought 81 local ads ー which cover about 90 percent of the nation.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Cannabis investment company Acreage Holdings knew CBS would likely reject its proposed Super Bowl commercial, but CEO Kevin Murphy said it was worth the trouble. The ad was produced to draw attention to the STATES Act, a piece of bipartisan legislation that aims to pave the way for widespread legal cannabis in the U.S. "The message is very simple: the time is now to bring on and get behind the STATES Act," Murphy told Cheddar. "The STATES Act is a bill that we hope can pass in Congress and in the Senate to leave cannabis reform to the states."
Fans of the tearjerker "A Walk to Remember" might not recognize star Shane West. In stark contrast to his role as Landon ー reformed bad boy and star-crossed lover to Mandy Moore's Jamie ー the actor is making his debut on Fox's "Gotham" as one of DC Comics' most notorious villains: Bane.
According to West, the series creators saved one of the best nemeses for last. "It was the final season, they saved their one big, bad villain that they hadn't done in five years for the end," he told Cheddar.
Luke Wilson is taking a short break from Hollywood. A commercial break. The "Rushmore" and "Old School" actor is starring in his first Super Bowl commercial, and he says the 30-second Colgate spot will probably get more views than any of his movies. "I think more people will see this than any movie I've ever been in for sure," Wilson told Cheddar on Friday.
What government shutdown? Friday's jobs report showed a blockbuster 304,000 jobs were added in the month of January, despite fears that the partial government shutdown would weigh on the job market. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4 percent, as more Americans rejoined the labor pool. "This economy is now really firing on all cylinders," said Steve Moore, distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "There's nothing negative about this."
Although it has 3 million customers, home security company SimpliSafe isn’t a household name yet. It’s hoping that will change on Sunday after its first Super Bowl ad airs.“In a market where people are trying to lock you in a contract or harvest your data, we’re trying to keep you safe,” brand creative director Wade Devers told Cheddar. “There aren’t really a lot of places you can reach the number of people you can reach like the Super Bowl.”
