Around the World: Orange is the new gold as brands jump on Taylor Swift’s album reveal

Media expert Antony Young rounds up media news from beyond Aotearoa in a regular column for StopPress.

This week:

• Orange is the new gold as brands jump on Taylor Swift’s reveal of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.
• Entry level jobs are disappearing from the marketing and advertising industry and AI adoption is accelerating the decline.
• OpenAI is reconsidering its anti-advertising stance as financial pressures mount
• The UK is set to penalise “less healthy” food brands for using influencers from October.
• Paramount secures an exclusive seven-year $7.7 billion media rights deal with the UFC.
• Google says AI is powering the biggest upgrade to Search in its history.
• Over half of Pinterest’s users are Gen Z

Orange is the new marketing gold: brands jump on Taylor Swift’s album reveal

Short of an idea for your brand’s social media feed? Then jump on to a cultural moment that’s more interesting than your brand. Taylor Swift’s reveal of her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl ignited not only her fanbase but also a rush of brand activity, as companies used their social media channels to join their Love Story with Tay Tay.

Her neon orange and mint-green visuals, teased during an appearance on beau Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast, inspired a flood of playful brand posts from Olive Garden, Shake Shack and FedEx to Walmart, Netflix and even Google, which released a special orange confetti Easter egg in search.  

Advertising and marketing entry-level job losses due to AI

Younger workers are disappearing from advertising and marketing, with employees aged 20–24 making up just 6.5% of the industry’s workforce in 2024, a fall from 10.5% in 2019. US labour data shows recent college graduates now face higher unemployment rates than the general population, reversing a decades-long trend.

While economic uncertainty and industry consolidation play a role, AI adoption is accelerating the decline by eliminating entry-level jobs, leaving staff-level positions down more than 10% since 2022 even as manager and director roles remain stable.

ChatGPT considering bringing in ads

OpenAI is reconsidering its anti-advertising stance as financial pressures mount, with ChatGPT head Nick Turley acknowledging that ads or more likely affiliate-style “commerce in ChatGPT” may be necessary.

Early on, CEO Sam Altman dismissed ads as a “last resort.” While ChatGPT boasts 700 million weekly users, only about 20 million (under 3%) pay for subscriptions, leaving OpenAI burning more cash than it makes despite projected 2025 revenues of $12.7 billion.

Turley argues any ad integration would need to be “thoughtful and tasteful,” with commerce-driven recommendations framed as independent, but sceptics warn this risks eroding trust and authenticity. With rivals like Perplexity, Meta and Google Gemini also moving into ad-supported AI, OpenAI faces the classic Silicon Valley trade-off: staying principled versus paying the bills, ushering in an era where AI assistants double as sales channels.

UK to penalise less healthy food brands up to £250,000 for using influencers

From October 1, the UK’s new “less healthy food” (LHF) advertising restrictions will significantly change how brands and influencers promote products, with full enforcement by the ASA from January 5 and penalties of up to £250,000 or 5% of turnover for breaches.

The new rules will ban influencers with commercial ties from naming, showing, or gifting listed products across 13 categories, though brands under 250 employees are exempt and organic posting remains a grey area. Agencies and trade bodies are scrambling to raise awareness and guide compliance, warning that mistakes could damage influencers’ careers and brand reputations. Many marketers are adapting by avoiding product shots, working with creators outside the food category, and focusing on brand sentiment or cultural collaborations to navigate the toughest regulatory shake-up in influencer marketing in years.

Paramount choke ESPN for media rights to UFC

Paramount has secured a seven-year, $7.7 billion exclusive U.S. media rights deal with the UFC, replacing ESPN and nearly doubling their annual broadcast fees to $1.1 billion. Starting next year, Paramount+ will stream 13 marquee UFC events and 30 “Fight Nights,” with select bouts simulcast on CBS, marking a shift away from pay-per-view.

The deal is designed to boost Paramount+ subscriber engagement and growth, and Paramount also plans to pursue international rights. UFC executives praised the exposure on CBS and no-charge premium access, while ESPN, which recently signed a $1.6 billion WWE deal, acknowledged its past UFC partnership.

Google says AI is improving click quality

In a blog post by google’s head of search, they say AI is powering the biggest upgrade to Search in its history, with features like AI Overviews and AI Mode enabling more complex queries and driving increased user satisfaction and engagement.

Contrary to some third-party claims of declining website traffic, Google reports that overall organic clicks have remained stable year-over-year, with click quality improving as AI encourages deeper exploration. While traffic patterns are shifting, Google sees AI not as a replacement for the web but as a catalyst for more questions, higher-quality clicks and new opportunities for creators and businesses.

Over half of Pinterest’s users are Gen Z

Pinterest posted strong second-quarter results, with revenue rising to $998 million – above Wall Street expectations. The image-based social media channels reported that monthly active users grew 11% to 578 million, with Gen Z now making up half of the platform’s audience, creating inspiration and mood boards for interests and shopping. Pinterest has introduced personalisation algorithms and is using AI to power e-commerce on the site.

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