Director Chris Hooper, best known for his work in comedy, has joined bicoastal Über Content for exclusive U.S. spot representation. He comes over from Santa Monica-based Bob Industries and is currently shooting his first project with Über, for McDonald’s via Moroch Partners, Dallas.
Hooper brings agency creative sensibilities to the director’s chair, having first established himself as a creative at TBWA/Chiat/Day in Los Angeles and Toronto, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. His first directorial roost was bicoastal Tool of North America, after which he landed at Bob Industries.
Hooper’s spot helming credits include notable work for Volkswagen, DirecTV and Budweiser, and honors from competitions that include the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, The One Show and the AICP Show.
Headed by partners/exec producers Phyllis Koenig and Preston Lee, Über has a directors’ roster comprised of Hooper, Jordan Brady, Jeffrey Fleisig, Luis Gerard, Jason Kohn, Dave Laden, Marc Schölermann, and Steven Tsuchida.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More