Morning Update: Party with Thrillist (if you’re hot); ad-blockers cut mobile load times; Future Lions winners; Snapchat enters A.R.
Ad Week: Gary Vaynerchuk Apologizes for Cannes Party Invite Seeking ‘Attractive Females Only’
CANNES, France—Cannes Lions 2016 has its first truly cringeworthy moment, in the form of a party invitation seeking “attractive females and models only.”
The email went out to a number of festival participants who planned to attend The Wednesday Party, an event sponsored by digital agency VaynerMedia and media company Thrillist Media Group with a musical performance by Wyclef Jean.
A female agency executive tells Adweek that she and two female colleagues received the email while having lunch in Cannes on Tuesday. One of them forwarded it to women’s advocate and agency veteran Cindy Gallop, who subsequently shared it on Twitter and wrote, “It’s 2016, @vaynermedia @thrillist. This is not how you party at @cannes_lions.”
