A film buff could probably rattle off their favorite movie trailers without much effort—but could they name their top movie theater trailer? And no, the in-theater AMC ad starring Nicole Kidman doesn’t count!

Outside of the physical cinema itself, where perks of membership or a message about the theater chain may be promoted to theatergoers during the previews, it’s rare for theater brands to advertise much. That seems to be changing: Cinemark recently unveiled its first-ever brand campaign, in an effort that Global Chief Marketing and Content Officer Wanda Gierhart Fearing said aimed to show off the “unique value proposition” that the brand offers.

“Historically, exhibitors have always marketed the film,” Gierhart Fearing told Marketing Brew. “Consumers have been somewhat brand-agnostic in the past, in movie heyday time. Now, we believe, because we’ve been really working on our differentiated experience at Cinemark, we want to promote overall moviegoing and the joy of all of that experience that you get for a great night out.”

The main spot in the campaign, called “It’s Show Time,” shows off Cinemark staff putting together the moviegoing experience while highlighting amenities like cushy seats, big screens, and unexpected concession combos. The ad, which comes in at just under a minute, is part of a broader campaign rolling out in test markets across linear television, CTV, social media, and OOH, with plans to bring it national in 2026. Gierhart Fearing said that she’s hoping the campaign will underscore the emotional experience of moviegoing as audiences continue to look for reasons to leave their living rooms.

“Coming out of Covid, we really watched people wanting to get back out of the home,” she said. “Knowing that that was part of what was coming back to culture, [we wanted to] bring that to life in a big way.”

Continue reading here.—JN

Netflix acquiring one of its foremost entertainment rivals? Stranger things have happened.

The largest subscription streaming service in the world announced Friday that it had reached an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studio, streaming business (including HBO Max), and HBO, in a deal valued at $82.7 billion.

The deal, which is expected to close sometime after the third quarter of 2026, is set to create a Hollywood Goliath and will bring lucrative entertainment franchises under one roof as Netflix looks to continue to cement itself as a must-have subscription, build out its advertising business, and engage consumers through consumer products and IRL experiences.

It is also poised to create a streaming advertising behemoth.

Netflix has been steadily building out its advertising platform since it first debuted in November 2022 and last reported 94 million monthly active users on its ads tier worldwide. Last quarter, the streamer said it was on track to more than double its revenue from advertising.

WBD has also been steadily building out advertising on HBO Max, including with new ad formats and higher ad loads. Last month, the company reported that its total streaming advertising revenue increased 14%, which was primarily driven by an increase in subscribers to its ad-supported tier; those gains, though, were overshadowed by steep declines to the company’s linear TV business.

Will the deal go through, though? Beyond potential regulatory hurdles, Paramount mounted a hostile takeover bid Monday morning, bypassing Warner Bros. Discovery’s board and appealing to shareholders directly with an offer to acquire the entirety of WBD in a deal that it claims is “superior” to Netflix’s.

Read more here.—KS

As talk of social media platform bans mount for various reasons, social media marketers may be wondering where they—or their audiences—will soon be able to post or not post. Here’s the latest.

What’s going on with the US TikTok ban? It’s been a couple of months since President Trump ordered the sale of TikTok’s US operations via executive order to a group of investors that includes Oracle, Silver Lake private equity, and Abu Dhabi tech investment company MGX. Since then, talk of progress has been largely nonexistent, with no updates on approvals from US or Chinese government officials to seal the brokered deal. The fourth deadline for the app to be sold to US partners or be banned is set to expire on Dec. 16.

Many US lawmakers who led the charge to ban TikTok have essentially stood down amid Trump’s multiple enforcement delays, and some of them seem to have no idea where the deal currently stands, The Verge recently reported. As the one-year anniversary of the original divest-or-ban deadline approaches, it seems TikTok will still continue to operate as usual in the US.

Meanwhile, in Australia: Gen Alpha social media marketing may soon be a thing of the past. Beginning December 10, people younger than 16 in Australia are poised to lose access to social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, YouTube, and Australian livestreaming platform Kick. Some platforms, like Discord, Roblox, Messenger, Lemon8, and WhatsApp, will remain accessible to the below-16 crowd. Of those included in the ban, platforms that do not take action to remove underage accounts could be subject to multimillion-dollar fines.

Meta has said it will begin deactivating and blocking the creation of under-16 accounts on December 4.

Continue reading here.—KH

Executive moves across the industry.

• Loewe Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Charlie Smith exited the luxury fashion house to join tech firm Nothing as chief creative officer.
• Outfront Media tapped Epic Games alum Stacy Minero as its chief marketing and experience officer.
• IPG Mediabrands CEO Eileen Kiernan announced that she is leaving the company as part of executive changes and layoffs following the completion of its merger with Omnicom.