Be Yourself Always Story: To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (9-15 May) Channel 4 has created a new channel ident, which features its giant mascot speaking about his experiences with loneliness. Created by 4Creative, the 40- and 20-second spots will air on Channel 4 throughout the week as well as appearing on Twitter and Instagram. Voiced by actor Tuwaine Barrett, the friendly and relatable giant points out how he rarely speaks because “man keeps to himself and that". The sentient tower of metal then explains the benefits of opening up about this feeling: “But that’s it, fam. We all feel it sometimes. So just reaching out, talking about it, meeting up with mates like this, it helps big time.” The eye-opening idents are part of a larger campaign by Channel 4 to get people talking about their mental health this week (Source: CampaignLive).

Salaries rise for the majority of creative staff but women earn £9,000 less than men: The recruitment firm Major Players has recently made a survey to measure the salaries gap according to gender, sexuality and different role types, and the results haven’t been the expected. Despite the big boost by some of the tops agencies to reduce the gap, it has been seen that women earn £9,000 less than men. This survey also shows a difference between white men and black women; while the first one earns an average of £59,647 the second one earns £17,000 less than the white men. Likewise, they found that LGBT+ workers were paid an average of 5% less in permanent roles, however in freelance jobs they earned 6% more. It is true that the gap has improved compared to last year (a slight improvement on the £10,405 gap from last year), but there is still a big difference that must be closed. (Source: CampaignLive)

How Grey Goose, Patron turn NFTS into real-life perks: Bacardi group is a company who have been dipping their toes into the NFT world and had some good feedback. Grey Goose for example partnered with Swarovski to create a Martini shaped handbag for Paris Hilton to wear to the Grammys. Following the show, they turned an image of the bag into a NFT which acted as a token into New York Fashion Week. This created a buzz as Grey Goose drew in free media from outlets such as Vogue. Bacardi also ran a campaign with Patron which involved launching their Chairman's reserve, a high-end patron blend never released before. Those who purchased the NFT got an actual bottle of the alcohol which was limited to only 150 bottles. It shows that NFT's can be combined alongside OOH and can also be used to drive demand. Is this the future of alcohol brands? (Source: Adage)

Controversial Adidas ads banned for 'explicit nudity': Adverts by Adidas promoting its inclusive range of sports bras have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on the basis of “explicit nudity”. The ruling relates to two poster ads and one tweet seen in February of this year. The tweet and one of the posters feature a photo gallery of bare breasts covering a range of skin colours, shapes and sizes. The second poster featured similar images, except with the nipples obscured by pixels. According to Adidas, the ads were intended to promote its wider range of sports bras by demonstrating that breasts come in all shapes and sizes, and the importance of having a tailored sports bra. In a statement shared with Marketing Week in response to the ban, Adidas explains: “That is why we have re-engineered our entire portfolio, catering to more bodies and workouts than ever before. “The gallery creative was designed to show just how diverse breasts are, featuring different shapes and sizes that highlight why tailored support is paramount.” However, the ads proved highly controversial. The ASA received 24 complaints, amid further tweets and articles debating whether the brand was guilty of sexism and objectification. (Source: MarketingWeek)

Tinder launches pop-up pub experience to connect dog lovers: Tinder is launching a pop-up pub experience to help spark romance between dog lovers. Young Brits are big dog fans, with 91% saying it would be a deal-breaker if their dog doesn't like someone. So to avoid any awkwardness further down the line, at "The Bark & Spark" dogs will accompany their humans on dates. Tinder will be taking over three public houses on 14 and 15 May to host first dates accompanied by pets. Singles are invited to visit The Dog House, London, The Dog and Partridge, Manchester, and Hare of the Dog, Edinburgh where they can enjoy a Tinder-inspired menu. To find a date, Tinder users can head to the Animal Parent tile in Explore, the interactive space on Tinder that allows members to view profiles based on interests. They can then search for other animal lovers looking for a match. The experience was inspired by the fact that members who feature their pooch in their profile photos get 5% more matches and 29% of people admit that they've added a picture with a dog to their dating profiles to improve their chances of success. (Source: CampaignLive)