#SmokeyBear75: Smokey Bear Celebrates 75th Birthday with Celebrity Friends in Innovative New Animated Emoji Campaign

Smokey Bear | Love Thy Neighborhood

In honor of Smokey Bear's 75th birthday – August 9, 2019 – the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters and the Ad Council have teamed up to celebrate the nation's favorite bear.

To ensure that Smokey Bear's important message of wildfire prevention is heard throughout the nation, Stephen Colbert, Al Roker and Jeff Foxworthy have joined the historic campaign, lending their voices to help expand on Smokey's iconic "Only you can prevent wildfires" catchphrase through the use of facial recognition and voice technologies.

For years, through the voice of Academy-Award nominated actor Sam Elliott, Smokey Bear has only said five words: "Only you can prevent wildfires." Now, to complement this signature message, Smokey's friends are stepping up to say more about wildfire prevention on his behalf and help millions of Americans understand the importance of the issue. 

Utilizing cutting-edge facial recognition and mapping technology, coupled with instantly recognizable celebrity voices, the animated emoji campaign has enabled Smokey's famous friends to speak through him and further raise awareness of fire safety and wildfire prevention, in an effort to reduce the incidence of unplanned human-caused wildfires.

"I can't think of a better birthday gift for Smokey than to have his wildfire prevention message echoed through the use of advanced social media tools like animated emojis," said Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. "In fact, since wildfire season is year-round, Smokey's message is even more important."

For 75 years, Smokey Bear has been recognized as a symbol of wildfire prevention. In fact, Smokey Bear is the longest-running PSA program in U.S. history, created in conjunction with advertising agency FCB, who has developed Smokey Bear campaign assets pro bono since his first introduction in 1944. 

Smokey Bear | For the Love of the Outdoors

While his campaign began three-quarters of a century ago, and great strides have been made in preventing human-caused wildfires, Smokey Bear's message continues to be as important as ever, as wildfires continue to be one of the most critical environmental issues affecting the U.S. On average, almost nine out of 10 wildfires nationwide are caused by people.

"Smokey Bear and his friends know that wildfire is not just a western issue or a summer phenomenon. It's always wildfire season somewhere in the United States," said Jay Farrell, Executive Director of the National Association of State Foresters. "This is why it is so important that Smokey's message resonate year-round and nationwide with all Americans. This year's Smokey Bear wildfire prevention campaign promises to do just that."

"Ensuring an icon like Smokey remains fresh and relevant for today's audiences is no simple task," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "With this new work, our volunteer agency FCB created a campaign that not only honors Smokey's past but celebrates his enduring legacy and message of wildfire prevention."

"75 years ago, FCB, in partnership with what would become the Ad Council, gave birth to Smokey Bear. All these years, he's been reminding us that 'Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.' In other words, there's a little Smokey Bear in all of us," said Susan Credle, FCB Global Chief Creative Officer. "This year, we are asking people to listen to their inner Smokey Bear. People sharing stories about why they love the outdoors and how they protect our country's beautiful wildlife — what a perfect gift to give Smokey Bear on his 75th birthday!"

Smokey Bear's 75th Birthday - Artwork by Joe Kulka

Smokey Bear first appeared on a forest fire prevention campaign poster in 1944. Two years later, he and his message were featured on a series of stamps, making his way into households nationwide. 

• Starting in the 1950s, Smokey Bear made his debut first in radio commercials and then on television, paired with a number of well-known actors and celebrities including B.B. King, Barbara Stanwyck, Betty White, Dolly Parton, Leonard Nimoy, Ray Charles, Ted Nugent and more. 

In the decades since first being introduced, the beloved icon has continued to be featured in TV, radio, print and on posters, stamps, billboards, memorabilia and other forms of media. 

First voiced by Washington radio personality Jackson Weaver, Smokey Bear's message has been brought to life for the past 12-plus years by Sam Elliott, and is now amplified through the voices of Stephen Colbert, Al Roker and Jeff Foxworthy.

• The new creative is being distributed to media outlets nationwide and will run in donated time and space, per the Ad Council's model. 

• To learn more about Smokey Bear and wildfire prevention, visit SmokeyBear.com and follow Smokey on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with the hashtags #SmokeyBear75 and #OnlyYou.

SOURCE: The Ad Council

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#NutsForAHealthierWorld's Campaign from INC Raises €47,800 to Fight Against Child Malnutrition

The INC and Save the Children join forces to fight child malnutrition. (PRNewsfoto/INC International Nut and Dried)

Since January, €47,800 has been raised for the international NGO Save the Children through Nuts for a Healthier World Campaign. INC International Nut and Dried Fruit Council's global campaign has exceeded the initial €40,000 goal. 

With this achievement, Save the Children can provide a monthly supply of nutritional packs to more than 2,041 severely malnourished children from Mauritania, South Sudan and Bangladesh.

Last year, the INC created a video campaign to raise awareness of the Project, and at the beginning of 2019, Save the Children joined forces and turned all video shares into physical aid. 

• The INC also asked members to join the project by donating, and further empowering the campaign. 

The main video has been shared over 43,000 times, with other content totalling over 1.1 million views. While the campaign visibility through all media and platforms has reached more than 43 million people.

Since the partnership with Save the Children boosted the fundraiser, companies such as Starline Global Trade Inc., Bösch Boden Spies GMBH and Co. KG, Noberasco SPA, Tomra Sorting Solutions, Campos Brothers Farms, John B. Sanfilippo and Son, Inc., MWT Foods, QiaQia Food Co. Ltd., Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., ShoEi Foods Corporation, Samsons Traders and CWS Ingredients, have become the cause's most prominent flag-bearers.

Goretti Guasch, INC Executive Director, has expressed: "I am delighted to see the nut and dried fruit industry come together again to support such an important cause." As for Save the Children's Director of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, David del Campo, "Nuts have much to offer in most situations of malnutrition and this campaign has helped us to ensure that pregnant women and young children have access to an accurate treatment."

• The INC thanks the INC members, the INC community and above all, Save the Children for joining the campaign.

The Video:

SOURCE: INC International Nut and Dried Fruit Council

Why Emmanuel Macron's Plan For A European Agency To Fend Off Fake News Makes Sense

Emmanuel Macron (EPA/Ludovic Marin)

When French president Emmanuel Macron sent an open letter to the people of Europe, he said their first freedom is democratic – “the freedom to choose our leaders as foreign powers seek to influence our vote at each election”. He went on to propose establishing a European agency to protect this right. The idea would be to provide European states with experts to help them fend off cyberattacks and other kinds of threats to their elections.

It’s clear that Europe does indeed need an agency of this kind. There is significant evidence that the cyber-attacks and misinformation campaigns that targeted the 2016 US presidential election were not an isolated incident. Nor is the phenomenon geographically limited to the US.

There have been allegations of Russian meddling in the UK’s Brexit referendum and of fake news being spread in the run up to the unofficial referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain in 2017.

In Germany, state agencies have accused Russia of hacking into state computer systems in the run up to parliamentary elections. Concerns have been raised about misinformation being spread on social media in Estonia, Lithuania and Taiwan. And of course, the topic is important to Macron, who saw his emails hacked and leaked online just hours before his second round presidential election run off against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The modus operandi of most of these incidents has been almost identical – although the actors behind the operations are becoming more diverse. Russia was the earliest adopter but Taiwanese officials claim that China has begun to employ similar means towards their citizens. And as Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries develop cyber-capabilities, they are almost certain to soon follow suit.

International threat

It’s clear that all European member states, regardless of their size, are potential targets. The same strategy – steal political intelligence through cyber-attacks, leak it online to sew discord and doubt during the run up to key democratic events – is just as viable a tool of power politics in Montenegro as it is in Germany. This adds weight to Macron’s argument that the response to this problem must come from the European level.

Equally, applying a technical, legislative solution in one EU nation won’t be enough to negate the risk. Twitter and Facebook operate across borders so the response can only be effective if it does too.

The global nature of companies like Facebook and Twitter, whose platforms are the delivery systems of these attacks on democratic processes, poses another problem which is better suited to an EU-driven response. In much the same way that trade deals negotiated on behalf of multinational blocs can often lead to better terms than those sought by individual nations alone, it’s easier for an international institution to force transnational businesses like Facebook to change their ways or accept responsibility for a problem than it would be for an individual country working alone.

The difficulties faced by British parliamentary committees when trying to force Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to attend evidence hearings is a striking example of this. Zuckerberg repeatedly evaded them. Even when the UK worked in partnership with Canada, he resisted. An agency representing the economic and global power of the whole EU might have better luck.

Sharing knowledge

Working together also provides European nations with the opportunity learn from each other. Lithuania, for example, has taken an interesting approach by combining military and civilian infrastructures in its counter strategy. Military personnel work alongside journalists and political commentators to directly engage with fake news. They act as fact checkers and censors, removing potentially destabilising stories.

It’s early days for this approach but it does appear to be effective, at least within the Lithuanian or Baltic context. Adapting it to the European level will inevitably raise questions about censorship but there are nevertheless lessons to be learnt even if the technique is not adopted wholesale.

Due to their geographical location and the politics of their region, states like Lithuania and Estonia have been exposed to disinformation of this kind for longer, which has arguably given them a head start on thinking about a solution. This makes them ideally placed to provide the context that is still lacking in the European political debate. While everyone else is just waking up to the concept of the role and threat posed by information operations of this type, these countries are not only aware but have already been educating their citizens about this threat for years.

Emmanuel Macron meets with Mark Zuckerberg in 2018. (EPA)

Individual countries have been developing their own approaches to the kinds of problems Macron is talking about. But bringing these efforts together under a single, central body capable of pooling wisdom and expert led resources would be a significant step. Whether Macron can make it work, though, is a different matter. The French president’s vision will require a significant pooling of political will against a poorly defined threat.

Europe is seeking to deal with a number of crisis, small and large, some of which have been amplified or brought on by the very risks that this agency would seek to mitigate. Russian troll accounts have fanned the fires of the Gilet Jaunes riots in France, for example. Amid disagreement over so many other issues in Europe, forming an agency with a clear, shared role may prove an uphill struggle.

About Today's Contributor:

Alexi Drew, Research Associate, King's College London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

#FarscapeNow: The Hit Sci-Fi Series Farscape Available On Amazon Prime Video On Tuesday, March 19th

Farscape (Image via YouTube Farscape Official)

Beginning Tuesday, March 19, The Jim Henson Company's groundbreaking sci-fi series Farscape will be available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Nordics, and several other countries around the world on Amazon Prime Video. 

All four seasons in HD (88 x 60'), plus the Emmy-nominated mini-series finale – also newly remastered in HD - will be available. 

Die-hard fans and sci-fi aficionados can binge, watch, and re-watch the entire award-winning cult favorite that has earned its place in science fiction canon.

Throughout the coming year, fans will have multiple ways to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Farscape, which first premiered on March 19, 1999. In addition to the launch on Prime Video, enthusiasts can expect fan events and various licensing initiatives including a special edition vinyl soundtrack release from Music.Film Recordings and Varèse Saraband this summer.

Collectors can look for products from Chronicle Collectibles, Toy Vault, and Trevco in the coming months. 'Scapers' (Farscape fans) are encouraged to follow the official Farscape social channels using the fan-created hashtag #FarscapeNow for specific Prime Video territory details and any upcoming announcements.

"Farscape is one of my most favorite productions, and I am so honored by the 'Scapers' who continue to love it and share it with other sci-fi fans. Premiering the series and the beautiful HD remastered mini-series on Prime Video is a great way to celebrate the 20th anniversary with the Farscape community," said Brian Henson, chairman of The Jim Henson Company and executive producer of Farscape.

Fusing live-action, digital effects, and state-of-the-art puppetry and prosthetics from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Farscape has been hailed by TV Guide as one of the 25 Best Cult TV Shows. 

Emmy-nominated and winner of two Saturn Awards, Farscape, created by Rockne S. O'Bannon, was the first original series to air on SYFY. It went on to gain a loyal international fan following that has propelled multiple ancillary products including comics, collectibles, games, and publishing. 

Farscape (Courtesy of the The Jim Henson Company)

About Farscape:

Farscape follows astronaut John Crichton who, during an experimental space mission, is hurled across a thousand galaxies to an alien world. In his quest to return to Earth, he finds himself aboard a starship populated by escaping political prisoners from a variety of alien cultures. 

Crichton must rise to the challenge of surviving in a world he barely understands, keeping one step ahead of the pursuing Peacekeepers, a race of deadly mercenaries who will stop at nothing to capture him.

About The Jim Henson Company:

The award-winning Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 60 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics, and digital animation. 

Best known as creators of the world-famous Muppets, Henson's most recent television credits include Dot., Word Party, and Doozers, and the Emmy-nominated Splash and Bubbles, Sid the Science Kid, and Dinosaur Train. 

Television productions include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller, and the sci-fi series Farscape. 

• The Company is currently in production on the upcoming Netflix original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio.

SOURCE: The Jim Henson Company

eBay Teams Up with Influential Women in Comics to Launch Superheroine HQ, the World's First All-Female Superhero Store

eBay launches “Superheroine HQ” – the world’s first online shop dedicated to female superheroes offering rare and right now comics, collectibles and merchandise all in one place  ("Superheroine HQ" by comic illustrator Cat Staggs)

Female superheroes are more popular than ever and a force of leading ladies are taking off in Hollywood and on eBay - one of the world's largest destinations for comics and collectibles. 

To celebrate this moment, eBay partnered with legendary writer Gail Simone and notable comic illustrator Cat Staggs to launch the world's first online shop dedicated to superheroines. 

Legendary comic book writer Gail Simone

The new destination, "Superheroine HQ," offers a curated selection of comics and memorabilia featuring female superheroes.

Beginning today, fans and collectors can shop thousands of female superhero comics, collectibles and merchandise all in one place at "Superheroine HQ." 

Top items include: 

• Wonder Woman #1 CGC 8.0 ($149,950.00) 
• All Star Comics #8 CGC 5.0 ($87,495.00) 
• Ms. Marvel #1 CGC 9.8 signed by Stan Lee ($4,350.00)  
• Batman Adventures #12 CGC 9.8 - 1st Appearance of Harley Quinn ($1,949.99) 

Newly released, limited edition Captain Marvel: Braver & Mightier #1 comic book 

⏩ Additionally, eBay is offering a newly released, limited edition Captain Marvel: Braver & Mightier #1 comic book with an exclusive variant cover designed in collaboration with eBay, Marvel and eBay seller MyComicShop.

Fandom for superheroines is at an all-time high. eBay has seen a 63 percent spike in sales year-over-year for Captain Marvel and a 34 percent jump in sales year-over-year for female superheroes overall. With the launch of the store, eBay and industry power team Simone and Staggs are working together to put superheroines at the forefront.

"Spotlighting the amazing spectrum of women in comics has long been my passion, both the characters in the books, and the writers and artists who create them," said Gail Simone, writer of such titles as Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Domino. "I believe these fantastic women can inspire readers everywhere to the limits of their imagination and creativity. That's why I'm teaming up with eBay to bring more attention and accessibility to comics featuring strong female characters of past and present."

Additionally, Staggs, who has worked on popular titles, including Smallville Season 11, Adventures of Supergirl, Wonder Woman '77, and Orphan Black, celebrated the launch with original artwork showing the power of comics. Staggs' eBay Superheroine HQ poster illustrates a young girl discovering her passion for comics and imagining herself as a future superhero.

"With the rising popularity of superheroes like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel from comic books to the big screen, we've seen this same interest resonate on eBay," said Sam Bright, Vice President of Merchandising, eBay North America. "We're proud to encourage a more diverse and evolving marketplace among not only our millions of buyers and sellers, but also the merchandise that we offer, giving everyone access to rare, iconic, and exclusive inventory that puts a spotlight on female superheroes."

SOURCE: eBay Inc.

Facebook: Issue Corrections To Fake News! [Petition]

This photo went viral in France as a symbol of police brutality... but it's completely fake!

Dear friends,

This shocking photo of a young woman, left beaten and bleeding by police at a protest, went viral on social media in France. 

It’s the sort of thing Avaaz might launch an urgent campaign on. But there’s just one problem -- the image has nothing to do with France. It was taken in Madrid, years ago. It’s fake. Untrue. A lie.

And it’s dangerous.

Disinformation like this has the power to turn protests violent, destroy trust in our democracies and make us hate, even kill each other. But there's a simple solution to this threat: distribute corrections to dangerous fake news -- to EVERYONE who has seen it!

Avaaz has pitched the idea to key decision-makers all over the world, and many of them love it. Facebook is sensitive to its public image, and Avaaz staff are meeting top executives there this week -- let's get massive public backing from people everywhere for them to correct the record on fake news!

⏩ Tell Facebook: Correct the Record! ⏪

In many countries newspapers are required to issue corrections if they print false information -- why shouldn’t the same rules apply to Facebook and Twitter, who reach many times more people?

This isn’t about censorship -- no content would be taken down or deleted. Instead, the social media companies would make sure people who had been given false information were provided with the full facts so they can make informed decisions.

The Avaaz team has pitched this idea to politicians across the planet, as well as regulators, experts, academics, free speech advocates, and to social media executives at all the major platforms. Most of them see that this could really work, but it's still missing massive public demand to make it happen.

If Facebook moves, others will follow. Sign the petition calling on Facebook to correct the record on fake news, and when this is huge, we’ll deliver our voices direct to Facebook and to lawmakers all over the world:

⏩ Tell Facebook: Correct the Record! ⏪

Armies of bots and trolls, often bought and paid for by billionaires and governments, thrive on a social media drowning in their lies. They'll fiercely attack our effort. But Avaaz has always stood for the authentic voice of the people, let's make sure that voice gets heard loud and clear, before more lies are spread.

With hope and determination,

Loup Dargent
On behalf of Christoph, Luca, Martyna, Alice, Risalat, Fadi, Ricken, and the rest of the Avaaz team

More Information:

• Europe’s most hackable election (Politico)
• Fake news on WhatsApp swayed Brazil’s election. India should be worried (Quartz India)
• EU steps up fight against ‘fake news’ ahead of elections (AP)
• Four ways to verify images linked to France’s ‘Yellow Vest’ protests (The Observers)

The Petition:

To Facebook, Twitter, and all technology platforms:

As citizens across the world, we urgently call on you to 'Correct the Record' -- by working with independent fact checkers to show effective corrections to each and every person who sees verifiably false or misleading content on your platform. It’s the best thing you can do to restore public trust and protect democracy and freedom of speech.

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#ArmMeWithGames: Leading Game Designers & Educators Come Together to Recommend 20 Empathy Games For Young People Growing Up In The Shadow Of School Shootings

Literary Safari Media's #ArmMeWithGames list features 20 empathy and social emotional learning game recommendations for young people growing up in the shadow of lockdown drills and school shootings. It is a companion resource to the #ArmMeWithBooks list which features reading recommendations from over 50 award-winning children's authors and librarians.

In remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the New York City-based studio Literary Safari Media has released an #ArmMeWithGames list of 20 award-winning games that can build empathy and social-emotional learning

At a time when video games are blamed for violence and even, mass school shootings, the #ArmMeWithGames list invites parents and educators to take a more nuanced view toward the role of games in the lives of young people. 

The list features letters to parents and teachers from Joel Levin, technology educator and founder of MinecraftEdu, and Dr. Karen Schrier, author of Knowledge Games: How Playing Games Can Solve Problems, Create Insight, and Make Change, along with game recommendations from leading game designers, researchers, and educators such as Barry Joseph, head of Digital at Girl Scouts USA, Asi Burak, author of Power Play: How Video Games Can Save the World, and Susanna Pollack, President of Games for Change. 

Featured games include Never Alone (E-Line Media), Sign, and Zoo-U.

"This list curates some of the best and most innovative game experiences that can help foster social emotional learning in children," says Matthew Farber, a professor of technology at the University of Northern Colorado and author of Game-Based Learning in Action.

Also releasing in remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the Parkland tragedy is a free, downloadable adaptation of Literary Safari's graphic novella William H.G. Butler Middle School, which was created on Instagram, and a new discussion guide for students, parents, and teachers that was written by a middle school Language Arts teacher. " "The format of the narrative feels very connected to our techno-cultural moment," says Josh Neufeld, Eisner Award nominated comics journalist.

⏩ The #ArmMeWithGames list is a companion resource to Literary Safari's #ArmMeWithBooks list of book recommendations from award-winning children's authors which was released in December 2018 on the 6th anniversary of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In creating these resources, the studio was inspired by the viral teacher-driven #ArmMeWith social media campaign that emerged in response to politicians' suggestion that teachers be armed with guns to prevent further school shootings.

"While gun reform legislation and school safety take center stage amongst legislators and in the media, what I see as being less discussed is the very real impact of lockdown drills and school shootings on the emotional lives of young people, educators, and families," said Sandhya Nankani, founder of Literary Safari and a mother herself. "This week, we are also releasing a downloadable PDF version of our Instagram-style graphic novella, William H.G. Butler Middle School, which inspired our #ArmMeWith campaign. The graphic novella comes with a discussion guide written by a middle school teacher. It is our hope that the story and the companion questions can be used as a tool to foster dialogue among and between students, parents, and educators."

Quick Links:

• #ArmMeWithGames list
• #ArmMeWithBooks List
• William H.G. Butler Middle School  (A graphic novella that explores the impact of school shootings, with a discussion guide for students, parents, and educators)

 SOURCE: Literary Safari Media

TikTok and Sony Pictures Entertainment Team Up on a Promotional Campaign for the Feature Film "Escape Room"

TikTok, the world's leading short form video platform, and Sony Pictures Entertainment have teamed up on a promotional campaign based on the Columbia Pictures hit psychological thriller, Escape Room, as the film continues its international rollout.

For this campaign, Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room." The promotional partnership officially kicked off last week in Madrid, Spain, where Sony Pictures and TikTok co-hosted a "Creator Event" for 30 leading influencers from over 17 countries, as well as TikTok's "creators" from eight countries: UK, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia and Spain.

Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room"

Both groups participated in escape room challenges and recorded their experiences generating over 75+ pieces of content. TikTok's "creators" included the exceptional magician @magicsingh, comedian Karol Konk @karolkonk and the talented makeup artist and body painter @vickybanham, who all shared their experiences with their fans and on the Official Escape Room Movie TikTok page.

The event ended with massive scavenger hunt, exploring Madrid's prominent landmarks, solving puzzles and photographing and sampling local Spanish tapas. The prize for the winning team was a special fan screening of the film in their local markets.

Sony Pictures recreated elaborate escape rooms from the film, including the "shrinking room" and the "ice room"

TikTok's collaboration with Sony Pictures is their largest, international promotional partnership with a Hollywood studio to date.

⏩ TikTok users can now follow the creators and the Escape Room official page @escaperoommovie to experience the excitement of the much-anticipated hit film. 

Escape Room

Escape Room is a psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die. Directed by Adam Robitel, the screenplay is by Bragi Schut and Maria Melnik and the story by Bragi Schut. The film is produced by Neal H. Moritz and Ori Marmur. Rebecca Rivo serves as executive producer. The film stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Nik Dodani and with Yorick van Wageningen.

"TikTok's community interests and demographic are perfectly in line with Escape Room's audience and we are thrilled to team up with Sony Pictures. This collaboration allows us to offer a unique experience to some of our fabulous "creators" but, most importantly, to create exciting and engaging content for our global community," said Stefan Heinrich, Head of Global Marketing at TikTok.

"An innovative and immersive thriller like Escape Room makes for a perfect collaboration with global innovators like TikTok. With Sony Pictures Spain creating the live experience in Madrid, based on the movie, the TikTok creators were able to generate their own fun and shareable UGC for their followers and spread their excitement about the film," said Sal Ladestro, Executive Vice President of International Marketing for Sony Pictures Releasing International.

⏩ Escape Room debuts in U.K. cinemas on the 1st of February and it's the latest of Sony Pictures' successful genre film releases, which also include the Insidious franchise and Searching.

SOURCE: TikTok

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PicsArt Unveils Most Uploaded, Edited & Socially Shared Celebrities of 2018 [Infographic]

"Year in Review"

PicsArt, the world's largest creative platform with more than 100 million monthly active users and influencers, today announced the release of its inaugural "Year in Review" infographic featuring the most uploaded, edited, and socially shared celebrities trending on social media in 2018!

With more than half a billion images, stickers, and user-generated content uploaded and shared to its platform every month, PicsArt looked at the top 10 most-uploaded and edited celebrities trending in 2018 for the following categories: Actors and Actresses, Music Artists, Models, and Celebrity Tributes (in honor of those who have passed). 

The top 10 lists were developed based off insights from PicsArt's user upload and edit trend data between January 1, 2018-December 1, 2018. 

A few highlights include: 

• A Star Was Born Indeed - No surprise here! Lady Gaga made the top five in the Actors category for her buzzworthy performance in A Star is Born. She joins the list with veterans Angelina Joliecoming in at #8, and Scarlett Johansson rounding off the list at #10.
• Grande's Got Game - As the hardest working woman in pop, it's no surprise that tiny and mighty Ariana Grande wins the #1 top music artist spot. Grande supersedes pop artist sensations Shawn Mendes and Taylor Swift which captured the #2 and #3 spots respectively.
• Kardashian vs Jenner - Kim Kardashian may be the Queen of likes on Instagram, but sister Kendall Jenner is ranked #1 for being the most edited and socially shared model on social media this year.
• From Comic Superhero to The King of Pop - Stan Lee and Michael Jackson may be gone, but their stream of fan tributes are alive and strong on social media this year.

⏩ See PicsArt 2018 Year in Review Recap here. ⏪

The Infographic:

PicsArt 2018 Year in Review - Infographic

"PicsArt has thousands of fandoms and interest groups spotlighting everything from celebrities and models to bands and brands, comic book heroes, and more," said Hovhannes Avoyan, founder and CEO of PicsArt. "Pulling our top trending celebrities by year end is a fun way to see which celebrities had stronger fandoms and creative enthusiasts. It'll be exciting to see what 2019 has in store and who will prevail!"

 SOURCE: PicsArt

3 Ways Facebook And Other Social Media Companies Could Clean Up Their Acts – If They Wanted To

Mark Zuckerberg - under fire, but not without options. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Facebook is in crisis mode, but the company can take major steps to fix itself – and the global community it says it wants to promote. Facebook founder, CEO and majority shareholder Mark Zuckerberg need not wait for governments to impose regulations. If he and other industry leaders wanted to, they could make meaningful changes fairly quickly.

It wouldn’t be painless, but Facebook in particular is in a world of hurt already, facing criticism for contributing to civil unrest and sectarian turmoil around the world, delayed responses to disinformation campaigns, misleading users about data-handling policies, and efforts to discredit critics – not to mention a budding employee revolt.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and other social media companies are causing society-wide damage. But they tend to describe the problems as much smaller, resulting from rogue individuals and groups hijacking their systems for nefarious purposes. Our research into how social media can be exploited by manipulative political operatives, conducted with Joan Donovan at the Data & Society research institute, suggests the real problem is much larger than these companies admit.

We believe the roots lie in their extremely profitable advertising systems, which need a major overhaul. We have identified some key changes that these giant powerhouses could make right away. These moves could reduce opportunities for political manipulation and limit the harm to democratic societies around the world.

Users’ minds in the crosshairs
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social media companies have built an enormous digital influence machine powered by user tracking, targeting, testing and automated decision-making to make advertising more effective and efficient. While building this supercharged surveillance system, companies have promised users and regulators that targeted advertising is mutually beneficial for both consumers and advertisers.

In this bargain, users are supposed to receive more relevant ads. Facebook, for instance, explains that its “interest-based advertising” serves users who “want to see ads that relate to things they care about.” It’s true that these methods can identify ads that connect with users’ actual interests. But the very same data-driven techniques that tell a surfer about a new board design can also identify strategic points where people are most vulnerable to influence.

In particular, the leading social media advertising systems let political operatives experiment with different ads to see which are the most effective. They can use these tools not only to see if certain issues resonate with particular targets but also test for fears or prejudices that can be invoked to influence political behavior.

This misleading ad impersonated racial justice activists to urge black Americans not to vote for Hillary Clinton.( U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Intelligence – Democrats)

One key way to do this is to make people feel that someone else represents an emotionally charged threat to their identity. In 2016, for instance, Russia-linked operatives bought thousands of Facebook ads targeted to specific audiences suggesting Hillary Clinton had insulted their group’s dignity or threatened their safety. Some ads alleged Clinton espoused disrespect for specific occupations, like coal miners, or racial groups, like African-Americans. Others claimed she would confiscate guns or supported radical political movements seeking to overturn familiar ways of life.

Targeting political ads is not unique to online advertising, but the tools of digital ad systems are vastly more powerful than traditional mass media. Advertisers can try out several versions of an ad simultaneously and receive almost instant feedback on which ones most effectively drive specific audiences to share, like or comment on them. This digital feedback loop helps political operatives refine their tactics, probing for just the right images, words and emotions to influence very specific subgroups of citizens.

Move fast and fix things
Members of Congress and even some key Silicon Valley figures have begun discussing the need for tighter government oversight and greater accountability in digital advertising. Change need not wait for politics.

Based on our analysis, here are some steps companies could take right away – on their own. These moves may hurt the firms’ finances, but would demonstrate serious and lasting commitment to limiting their platforms’ usefulness in political manipulation campaigns.

As their first move, social media companies could stop allowing their ad services to be used as freewheeling experimental laboratories for examining their users’ psyches. Just as marketers and academic researchers must obtain permission from their test subjects, political advertisers that run online ad experiments could get informed consent in advance from every user who is involved. Companies should ask for users’ consent in specific notifications about ad experiments and not penalize users for opting out by limiting their access to services. We suspect many users would opt out of these tests if given the choice, but in any case this policy would help draw public attention to the hidden manipulation tools that platforms offer to their real customers: the political and commercial advertisers who pay the bills.

Make targeted political advertising transparent
To increase transparency and limit the ability of special interests to secretly influence politics, social media companies could refuse to work with so-called dark money groups. All political advertisers should be required to disclose their major donors in a format users can easily access.

A new policy banning dark money ads would respond to evidence that political operatives have used impersonation and manipulative ad tactics to stir in-fighting or sow division among coalitions of their adversaries. Impersonation clearly work best when ad sponsors are able to hide their identities and motives. Anonymous ads are also more likely to violate ethical standards simply because no one fears being held responsible for them.

Make platforms more democratic
A more significant change social media companies could make would be to introduce democratic oversight of how they collect and use people’s data.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg recently took an initial step in this direction, announcing that he will create independent review panels to handle users’ appeals against the company’s removal of content it judges inappropriate. He explained that he wanted to ensure “these decisions are made in the best interests of our community and not for commercial reasons.”

Whatever you think about this plan – and it has been greeted with plenty of skepticism – Zuckerberg’s reasoning acknowledges that because social platforms have become so central to democratic life, their own policies and design decisions require democratic accountability.

A more ambitious vision would let independent ethics panels representing diverse communities of users set enforceable policies for ethical political advertising. Similar sorts of groups are common in medicine and are emerging in artificial intelligence, among other fields. The details of how such committees operate will be critical to their success. If these committees are set up in partnership with nonprofit organizations with proven records of advocating for democratic communication and campaign finance transparency, perhaps they could help social media companies earn greater public trust by prioritizing democracy over maximizing their profits.

About Today's Contributors:
Anthony M. Nadler, Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Ursinus College and Matthew Crain, Assistant Professor of Media, Journalism and Film, Miami University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

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