Ad Age Insider · 2026-07-30 · 8 min
This week on Ad Age Insider's Weekly Report: creators like Alix Earle are increasingly chasing equity stakes instead of traditional brand deals, and what it reveals about creators becoming long-term business partners rather than just marketing assets. Plus, Popeyes names Stagwell's Anomaly as its new U.S. Creative Agency of Record following a sales decline and roster overhaul; Equinox pulls an AI-generated out-of-home ad after Asian creators call out racist and sexist stereotypes; Apple quietly expands its ad terms to run beyond its own properties and rolls out an AI-powered bidding tool; and Lego and Olivia Rodrigo launch a global scavenger hunt built around Lego vinyl records. Host Parker Herren breaks down what each story means for marketers navigating creator ownership models, AI representation risks in campaign production, agency roster overhauls, and the tension between privacy positioning and ad revenue growth. Subscribe for weekly industry news roundups, plus biweekly deep-dive conversations with Ad Age reporters.
The consumer trends marketers can't ignore this fall, with Erika Wheless78 / 100Cannes Lions takeaways: Lessons for marketers to carry through 202643 / 100Weekly Report: McDonald's admits its promotional calendar backfiredSmall Agencies are Winning Business with these 2026 Moves, with Judy Pollack, Brian Bonilla and Ewan LarkinWeekly Report: Taco Bell's trust test during cyclosporiasis crisis