Ad execs tout TikTok’s benefits for businesses in cringeworthy video: ‘So oblivious’
NY Post
Bosses at top advertising firms are facing heat over a video in which they praised TikTok in a slew of gags and comic vignettes – just days after Congress passed a bill that would force a sale or ban of the China-owned app.
The tone-deaf, 75-second video circulating on LinkedIn since Saturday shows executives from Havas, IPG Mediabrands, Horizon Media, Publicis Group, GroupM and dentsu — with each making pitches and cracking jokes on why using TikTok is the “key to scaling your brand’s success.”
In one segment, IPG Mediabrands’ Dani Benowitz pretended to be distracted by her phone while being filmed, calling audience engagement “TikTok’s superpower.”
“Of course we know TikTok is more than Gen Z — how else would do you explain that I’m always bawling my eyes out over heartwarming dog videos?” said Publicis Media CIO Shelby Saville before fake-crying into a tissue.
“We’re in media, of course discovery on TikTok made me buy 50 transparent collapsible shoeboxes,” Havas CEO Greg James said in yet another segment.
The video looked badly timed given the push in Washington to crack down on TikTok over national security concerns. Last month, President Biden signed a bipartisan bill that would force its Beijing-based parent ByteDance to sell within a year or face a total US ban.
