President David Cohen kicked off last week's IAB NewFronts by promising
they would not be your parent's prime-time upfront presentations and the Interactive Advertising Bureau's members didn't let him down.
You needed to look new further than Revry's presentation
to realize these ad pitches definitely were not in Kansas anymore.
Like it's programming, Revry's newfront presentation was a campy, drag queen-filled send-up that leaned heavily into the
queer culture its audience represents. And in case you weren't there, check out these pictures and you can see just how transcendent if truly was.
Meta's newfront, meanwhile, might have been mistaken for Netflix's,
given how much it leaned into the streaming service's hit "Emily In Paris."
The presentation was hosted and emceed by "Emily" co-star Ashley Park, and had numerous plugs to the series,
including a mock-up of Meta ad chief Nicola Mendelsohn as "Nicola in New York."
Meta's newfront was replete with lots of world-shattering stats, deep dive panel
discussions, etc., but there was also a genuine moment when Ashley Park turned from star to fangirl gushing over her love of Oreos cookies to Mondelez's Jennifer Mennes (below).
While the newfronts didn't have quite the star power advertisers and
media buyers might expect to see at a network TV upfront, there were still plenty on hand, including actor James Marsden pitching for Amazon's "Jury Duty" series.
While the biggest start at Conde Nast's newfront was likely its own editorial team, especially
Chief Content Officer Anna Wintour, there was a heartfelt interview with women's world featherweight boxing champion Amanda Serrano by Conde Nast Entertainment President Agnes Chu.
The funniest celebrity appearance goes to Weird Al Yankovic's hand-off to Roku
chief Charlie Collier at the start of its newfront.
The worst presentation has to go to Vizio, which inexplicably showcased
cheesy computer renderings of a "powering transformation together" living room image for nearly half its presentation, with actual presenters squeezed into a little thumbnail portion of the
screen.
