Send in the clowns

Vodafone's shiny new look, clowning around with Audi, Theresa May's especially extended coughing fit and a typeface that has sent Ryan Gosling off the rails.

The future. The unknown. The inevitability of it all.

We hear you.

Enter: Vodafone. Rebranding globally, the company have announced their new logo, strapline and campaign. With the aim of addressing growing concerns around the unforeseeable, their latest direction repositions the brand on the theme of ‘future optimism’.

Their minute long film ‘The story of hello’ is produced by Ridley Scott Associates and directed by Caspar Balslev; centring around human interaction as technologies evolve over time.

The bright city lights of New York, New York played host to Advertising Week last week. Searching for a sense of clarity amongst a sea of digital-lead talks, Mark Ritson was one of those in attendance. Championing the words of CEO of MDC Media Partners and Assembly, Martin Cass – Ritson breaks down media buying’s deadly sins and why agencies are too late to save their souls.

With the news that viewability of online ads are reported to be below 50% and the noticeably adverse attitude towards the world of digital growing, one might expect the upward trajectory of it to level off, right? Not quite. Despite the issues that exist, brands are still increasing their investment in all-things-digital, with eMarketer’s stats revealing digital ad spends will increase 15.9 percent in 2017, hitting $83 billion.

Is it all a case of answering questions that nobody ever even asked? Have we all just turned into a bunch of digitally consumed clowns?

Audi’s latest fantasia-like ad from BBH London follows a host of harlequins as they steer themselves silly through the streets, accompanied by the dreamy tones of singer-songwriter, Lisa Hannigan.

In France, a win for authenticity in advertising. Cracking down on photoshopped bodies, a new law states any photo used in a commerical context must be labeled if a model's body has been digitally altered, with 30% of an ad's budget fine in place for those who refuse to declare their modified models.

Elsewhere, all you need is love. Oh, and socks. You really need socks.

Design. Dropbox has had a facelift. The biggest change to their look in their 10-year history, the brand have gone big, bold and expressive – with a shiny new typeface too.

NB: that typeface is not Papyrus.

Following Gosling’s skit surrounding the use of Papyrus font in the film, Avatar on Saturday Night Live last weekend, the original designer of the font, Chris Costello has spoken out, revealing ‘I had no idea it would end up on every computer in the world.’

Back on home soil - a runaway F, a P45 prank that made its way front and centre and an especially extended coughing fit to round things off. It hasn’t been the best week for Theresa May.

A third of Brits don’t like speaking to voice assistants, but then a third of Brits don’t like speaking to anyone.

A spot of elegance to end proceedings - when art forms collide. Treat yourself to this visual feast with the unexpected beauty of ballet rotoscope.