Marketing winners and losers of the week

 The sportswear giantdebuted its first global maternity training program, which is meant to help women continue to exercise and train throughout their pregnancies. Called Nike (Move) Like a Mother, the program is available via an app. Nike has come under fire in recent years for its treatment of its own pregnant athletes. Three years ago, Olympian Allyson Felix publicized how the brand disrespected her during her pregnancy; Nike subsequently rolled out a maternity policy for its sponsored athletes.

 No, Voodoo Ranger IPA is not building a beer theme park in Napa Valley. And sure, the stunt seemed fake from the start. But the prank from the New Belgium-owned beer did draw plenty of media attention, which we suppose can be considered a win (barely) for a craft beer brand without a huge marketing budget. Of course, not everyone was amused. The San Francisco Chronicle called the whole thing a "cruel and mean-spirited, designed to portray Napa residents as snobby NIMBYs," reports sfgate.com, summarizing some of the criticism. DCX Growth Accelerator is the agency behind the stunt.

The movie of the summer scored another win this week, surpassing “Jurassic World” and “Titanic” to claim No. 7 on the list of the highest-grossing films of all time, CNBC reports. 

The fashion dolls, made by Moose Toys and sold at retailers such as Walmart, came under fire this week for not complying with advertising guidelines set by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, which is part of BBB National Programs. Fail Fix’s advertising, including TV spots, packaging  and social media posts, reinforced negative stereotypes, CARU found. It cited packaging that included the message, “Nope. No way. Nuh-uh. I can’t be seen like this!” for a doll in need of improvement. “CARU determined that these advertisements characterize a girl with imperfect makeup and messy hair as a failure and worthy of public embarrassment, which is likely to perpetuate negative and harmful stereotypes about girls, specifically that they must look perfect to feel good about themselves,” a statement from the organization read. CARU also cited Fail Fix for spreading racial and cultural stereotypes with the dolls. Moose Toys has discontinued the collection.

 The rift between the company and its purpose-driven Ben & Jerry's brand continues. At issue is a move by the parent company to sell the ice cream’s business interests in Israel to a local operator so that the brand can be sold in Israel and the West Bank. Ben & Jerry’s in 2021 said it would stop sales in the  Occupied Palestinian Territory because it is “inconsistent with our values.” In a court hearing this week, lawyers for the ice cream brand sought to block the asset transfer, according to the Wall Street Journal. Reported the newspaper: “Ben & Jerry’s typically promotes its social causes by creating new products like Peace Pops and Anti-Trump Pecan Resist. Without an injunction, the brand’s lawyers said, the local licensee in Israel could launch a product taking an opposing view while using the same recipe, look and feel.”

 The fast feeder mistakenly emailed blank receipts to people who never made orders. The chain blamed an “internal processing error,” according to Fast Company and other reports. The blunder drew plenty of mockery on social media.

 The footwear brand is cutting costs after it lowered its financial forecast for fiscal 2022. Such cuts include shrinking its corporate real estate footprint, laying off 8% of staffers and slowing the pace of new hires. Like many retailers, Allbirds is anticipating sluggish consumer spending amid economic turmoil.

 The number of monthly media impressions reached by Volta’s media network. Volta, which operates vehicle charging stations, formally launched the network nine months ago.

Read more: No more gas stations? This electric vehicle charging provider is ramping up ad sales in anticipation of fuel-less economy

“We have now seen a drop in travelers that say they have finances available to travel. That tells me that you’re starting to have a segment of travelers who say, ‘We are circling the wagons, we have to start protecting our income with a potential downturn on the horizon.’" –Craig Compagnone, chief operating officer at travel marketing agency MMGY, on how the economy is beginning to affect the travel sector.

Planet Fitness promoted Jamie Medeiros to chief brand officer. She had been VP of national marketing. Her new role follows the exit earlier this year of Chief Marketing Officer Jeremy Tucker.

WalkMe, a software company, hired Adriel Sanchez as chief marketing officer. He had been CMO at Newsela, an online education platform.

Natural foods brand GT’s Living Foods has hired Kim Bates as CMO. Previous stints include CMO at the Common Good agency and chief futurist at Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve.