In an environmental-awareness campaign, Heinz created a shrinking island inside Fortnite where players can fight each other while learning about soil degradation. (AdAge)

Mercedes-Benz launched a series of “Pop-up Motor Shows" and parked their latest models in A19 parking lots of various high-traffic shopping malls in the lead-up to the event. (Adweek)

A deepfake-based MTV News segment made for Showtime's Yellowjackets features a de-aged Kurt Loder detailing the latest on search efforts for the Yellowjackets. (Twitter)

In a new ad, Heinz pays tribute to Absolut's advertising for the brands' new vodka pasta sauce collaboration. (MuseBYCL)

Guinness launched its biggest-ever responsible drinking campaign—supported by singing pints of its Guinness 0.0 non-alcoholic beer. (Adage)

Roughly three-quarters of Americans think it’s important for brands to regularly update the public on their progress toward sustainability goals, regardless of whether the news is good or bad. (Adweek)

Over a quarter of Americans say they couldn’t live without their phones, and 41% check their phones first thing in the morning and last thing at night. (Twitter)

US TV viewers are most likely to watch videos that are a few minutes long, rather than short or full-episode-length ones. (Insider)

Nearly 3 in 5 US Gen Alpha parents support their children engaging in the metaverse when they’re older. (Morning Consult)

Most Americans won't pay for social media, but those who would pay would want a badge and improved security. (Morning Consult)

Last year, 589M people worldwide paid for a music streaming subscription, up from 523M in 2021. (BBC)

Meta launched paid verification on Instagram and Facebook in the US, with prices starting at $11.99/mo. (Tech Crunch)

Twitch announced plans to reduce its workforce, letting go of 400 employees. (Tech Crunch)

Warner Bros. Discovery is partnering with Comscore and VideoAmp to enable alternative currencies for national advertisers transacting across its linear inventory and advertising solutions. (Adweek)

Podcast network Maximum Fun is becoming a worker-owned co-op. (Tech Crunch)

Duolingo is working on a music product that will teach basic concepts in music theory using popular songs and teachers. (Tech Crunch)

Amazon will lay off 9K more employees in the coming weeks. (CNBC)

Twitter is testing a new verification process for Twitter Blue subscribers that would involve submitting a government ID. (Tech Crunch)

Instagram is bringing ads to search results and is launching "Reminder Ads." (Tech Crunch)

Spotify has launched its audiobooks service in Canada. (Tech Crunch)

FuboTV rebranded as Fubo with assistance from Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Garnett and Mark Sanchez. (Variety)

Global streaming services are set to ramp up their investment in original titles to surpass $26B in 2023. (Ampere)

Twitter is working on text formatting, letting users bold, italicize, and underline words in their tweets. (Social Media Today)

Instagram is testing a new Top 3 sticker for stories, letting users list out their favorite accounts, brands, places, and more. (Social Media Today)

TikTok and Major League Soccer entered a multiyear partnership to deepen the league’s presence on the app. (Tech Crunch)

The Men’s NCAA Tournament had its most-watched first round on record, with CBS, truTV, TBS and TNT averaging 9.2M viewers. (Sports Business Journal)

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” opened with $30.5M from 4,071 theaters, falling short of expectations. (AP)

India will not tolerate use of abusive language and display of obscene content in movies and TV shows on video streaming services. (Tech Crunch)

Netflix has 40 games slated for launch this year and has 70 in development with its partners. (Tech Crunch)

Putting marketing muscle behind a theatrical release helps films get noticed once they land on a streaming platform. (Financial Times)

Korean drama "The Glory" has become Netflix's seventh most popular non-English series of all time. (Variety)

Japan’s World Baseball Classic win over Korea drew 62M viewers in Japan alone. (NBC)

For the first time ever, a new movie, Flamin' Hot, will debut simultaneously on Hulu and Disney+. (Tech Radar)

Apple is interested in bidding for the rights to broadcast English soccer games. (Deadline)

Apple plans to spend $1B a year to produce movies that will be released in theaters. (Bloomberg)

About 40% of web3 games being built will go live in next 12 to 18 months, and it's estimated that these games will onboard 10M to 100M gamers within the next year or two. (Tech Crunch)

Coca-Cola launched a new AI platform called “Create Real Magic,” where people can use Coca-Cola visual assets to create their own works of art. (Media Post)

Adobe's enterprise subscription will let organizations access Adobe Firefly — the company’s suite of newly launched generative AI tools. (Tech Crunch)

Roblox has launched its first generative AI game creation tools. (Engadget)

Google opened early access to its ChatGPT rival, Bard, and users in the US and UK can join the waitlist. (The Verge)

Amazon’s palm-reading payment tech is coming to Panera Bread. (Tech Crunch)

Levi's will experiment with supplementing its human models with AI-generated models later this year. (Business of Fashion)

The Writers Guild of America has proposed allowing AI to write scripts, as long as it does not affect writers’ credits or residuals. (Variety)

Taylor Swift kicked off the first concert of the 52-date Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (AP)

The 2023 Lollapalooza lineup in Chicago includes headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, and Kendrick Lamar. (NBC)

Maroon 5's fan pop-up experience opened at Area 15 in Las Vegas, featuring interactive exhibits and photo opportunities. (Attractions Mag)

The Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago has announced its 2023 lineup, featuring headliners The 1975, Erykah Badu, and St. Vincent, among others. (ABC)

This year's Cannes Film Festival is set to open with the Pedro Pascal & Ethan Hawke-led "Strange Way of Life." (Collider)

COVID has permanently changed shopping and restaurants. (Axios)

Clark county approved replacing the Mirage volcano with a Hard Rock guitar tower. (Casino.org)

Australia's Star Entertainment has pleaded guilty to illegal practices after it allowed the purchase of gambling chips with a credit card. (News)

Alicia Keys added 2023 Latin America dates to her Alicia + Keys World Tour. (Rocnation)

44% of Danish youth are feeling burned out, so to bring awareness to mental health, a new campaign in Denmark works to illustrate the effects of burnout using human candle statues. The candles will take approximately two months to completely burn out—serving as a very real countdown. (AdAge)

30 health and wellness professionals were asked how they avoid burnout—there are 4 things they all do. (CNBC)

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a psychiatrist who specializes in women’s health, describes how to escape "faux self care." (NYT)