Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam, has brought Mark Bernath aboard as creative director on the Electronic Arts (EA) business. He joins current creative director Eric Quennoy to head up the EA creative team.
Bernath comes over from Ogilvy & Mather, New York, where he served as group creative director, spearheading the creative teams for Miller Brewing, Foster’s Lager and Time Warner Cable. During his Ogilvy tenure, Bernath created the noted “Beer Ref” campaign for Miller Lite and picked up a Gold Pencil at The One Show 2007 for the digital re-launch of Foster’s.
Prior to this, Bernath worked at Publicis in New York where he won the agency’s first Cannes Lion with creative work for Fujifilm. He also developed his creative approach by freelancing in New York and Los Angeles for shops such as Kirshenbaum Bond and Partners, TBWAChiatDay, BBDO and WongDoody.
Bernath described Wieden+Kennedy as presenting “an ideal situation to work in. With W+K, you have an agency that was built on redefining what advertising could be. And with EA, you’re speaking to consumers who are forcing advertising to continue redefining itself. That’s a lot of good energy.”
His partnering with Quennoy represents a reunion for the two, who had occasion to work together while at Publicis, New York.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More