Stanley Cup reactive brilliance, Iceland’s Christmas ad boycott and Sam Altman leaves OpenAI

Stanley Cup survival

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Stanley cups are everywhere at the moment. The large tumblers that keep cold drinks cool and warm drinks hot are all over social media, and they’re worth the hype. Apparently, they can even withstand FIRE. 

A TikToker shared a clip showing the aftermath of her car catching fire. The car was burnt to a crisp but her Stanley tumbler in the cup holder went practically unscathed – it literally still had ice in it.  

Stanley promises that it makes ‘tough bottles’, and it’s safe to say it’s done just that. The video went viral and has amassed over 30 million views, giving the brand social clout it can’t buy. Viewers urged Stanley to send the customer a free cup and a new car – and Stanley delivered.

Stanley’s global president Terence Reilly stitched the TikTok video and shared the news that they would be sending some extra Stanleys but also delivering… a brand new car. 

In light of their kind gesture, hundreds of TikTokers have said they’re going to buy a Stanley cup for themselves. This is an incredible piece of reactive work from a brand who capitalised as the event was happening, in real time – they didn’t wait for approvals or need to check with dozens of stakeholders to get it done. Other brands should take note.

Iceland boycotts Christmas… sort of 

Supermarket chain Iceland have decided to forgo a traditional TV Christmas advert in favour of price cuts and finding a way to help customers struggling with high food prices, instead of spending millions on ad budgets. 

Taken as a whole, advertisers are set to spend a record £9.5bn during this festive season, according to new data by the Advertising Association and World Advertising Research Centre.

It’s a brilliant PR move and should resonate with cash-strapped customers figuring out how to navigate the most expensive time of year. It’s also interesting to note that this is the first time one of the big brands has done this, given that the amount of cash spent on Christmas ads coming under fire in the last few years. 

Last year, some retailers toned down their Christmas adverts as retail experts warned that some of the traditional adverts were out of touch with households battling higher prices.

But this year, it was back to big bang budgets –  Michael Bublé, Rick Astley and Sophie Ellis-Bextor are some of the stars fronting this year’s Christmas ads for other supermarkets – last year, Iceland’s Christmas ad featured Noddy Holder.

The company’s managing director Richard Walker said the money not spent on the Christmas advert had already been used to support customers, with lower prices and money-saving initiatives. Those include the north Wales-based supermarket’s £1 lines and a 10% discount for anyone over 60 every Tuesday.

The other supermarkets must be quietly fuming.

Drama at OpenAI 

Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI and former CEO, was fired in a shock announcement on Friday. The full details haven’t been released and the true reason for the sacking remains unclear. There had been speculation he would return to the company, but Microsoft’s chief executive on Monday announced Altman would join Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team.

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI as it developed its generative AI model, ChatGPT, which gave millions of people the ability to have questions answered by artificial intelligence (AI) after it launched last year.

In a statement that confirmed Mr Altman’s appointment, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added that OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman would also be joining the business and clarified that Microsoft remains committed to its partnership with OpenAI.

Open AI employees said in a letter to the board that the directors had “undermined our mission and company” by the way they let go of Altman and Brockman on Friday. One person said 747 employees out of 770 had called for the board to quit as of 6pm local time on Monday. OpenAI did not respond to confirm the figure.

It’s a move that has taken the tech world by surprise and has triggered Silicon Valley corporate drama. Watch this space.