All the latest Brexit news. Plus: internet TV, product placement, badge colors
Good morning, delegates!
We are waking up in a changed Europe. Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a stunning outcome with vast implications for trade, immigration, finance, politics, and the idea of Europe itself. Voters approved the referendum to leave, 52% to 48%, with strong support for remain in London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland overwhelmed by the leave contingent in the north of England. UKIP leader Nigel Farage called the result “a victory for ordinary people.”
Financial markets, which had bet that Britain would vote to stay, immediately recoiled at the news. The pound fell to its lowest level against the US dollar since 1985, and other asset classes were equally hurt. Traders were bracing for a day akin to Black Wednesday in 1992, when the UK was forced to abandon its currency controls and devalue the pound.
Leaving the EU won’t happen immediately. Prime minister David Cameron, whose own political future is now in doubt, first has to trigger the action, which would then take two years of messy untangling to take effect. In the meantime, there is also a risk that Britain’s vote will inspire other countries to follow Brexit with Quitaly, Fraurevoir, and so on.
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OK, back to the Festival. This daily email from Quartz is your guide to all the news and chatter from Cannes Lions 2016.
We’re expecting more sun and more heat today in Cannes, with a high temperature of 30°C (86°F). All those rays are going to catch up to you, so be careful.
Yesterday’s highlights at the festival
Over-the-top at CBS. Network chief Leslie Moonves said offering CBS and Showtime directly to consumers, without a cable subscription, “is probably the most forward-thinking thing we’ve done.” He noted that CBS’s Star Trek revival will be available exclusively on its streaming service: “We could have sold Star Trek to a Netflix or an Amazon for a fortune, but it shows the world that we’re investing in ourselves.” Asked about the US presidential election, Moonves called it “a bit of a circus” but said, “From a financial point of view, this is a good thing for CBS. Our ratings are up.”
Making the leap to internet TV. Mindy Kaling said moving her show, The Mindy Project, from Fox to Hulu relieved her of a “reactionary environment” based on ratings. But despite her own habits—”I love bingeing, on TV, alcohol, food, whatever”—Kaling said she was happy Hulu decided to release just one episode per week. “I wanted each episode to get its own discussion among fans,” she said. Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said the company “vacillated” on how to release the show but decided on weekly because “it just keeps the show alive for longer.” Later, Kaling, who has a large following on Twitter, asked the crowd if she should join Snapchat. The answer was a resounding yes.
“I think I will die every day, and that makes me feel more alive,” said filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, who has won four Oscars and, earlier in his career, 14 Cannes Lions as a director of ads in Mexico. “Saying a story in a minute is like capturing the essence of the ocean in a drop of water,” he said of that earlier work. Iñárritu was excited about the potential of virtual reality. “Cinema has been stuck for a while,” he said. “There’s a lot to be explored.”
What everyone is talking about
Product placement. Several speakers at Lions Entertainment were bullish on integrating brands into their work, but said it has to be done organically. ”As much as someone might want to rebrand the Batmobile,” said producer Charles Roven, “we can’t let that happen. It has to be a Wayne Industries product.” So he found a way for Bruce Wayne to drive a Jeep, instead. Mindy Kaling said she was happy to do product placement on her show: “At The Office, in the writers’ room, there was this idea that doing integrations was selling out, but I think it’s because a lot of them are done very poorly.” And then there are animals. In a video about sponsored dogs, the owner of a popular Frenchie on Instagram pointed out, “Unlike with human influencers, there’s no risk that they’ll say the wrong thing and embarrass the brand.”
The French air strike. Many flights out of Nice, mostly heading to Paris and London, were cancelled yesterday due to an unexpected labor action by air traffic controllers. The strike is expected to continue into this morning and could lead to residual delays, but most flights appear to be operating on schedule. Here’s the airport’s status board, and here’s a guide to your rights and responsibilities in the EU—such as they are for now—if your travel is affected.
Badges of all stripes and colors. There are seemingly as many badge types as there are delegates at Cannes Lions, so we compiled a quick guide to what they all mean. The most common badge is Classic (blue). Other options include Mini (orange) and Networking (red). There are also special badges for the Health (dark blue), Innovation (grey), and Entertainment (pink) events. Delegates with complete access across the Festival have green badges; some also have a stripe of gold or platinum denoting higher-level service. Officials of the Festival have black badges, and contractors have the coolest-looking badges, with black-and-yellow stripes. The badges are also higher-tech than you may think. Some delegates are wearing fobs, part of a test of iBeacons throughout the Palais, but everyone has an RFID strip inside their badge to track footfall. It’s true! Here’s what it looks like:
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News from around the world
Brexit, of course. In addition to all the links above, here is the BBC’s live blog for the latest news. Over at Quartz, we are live-charting the results.
Volkswagen reportedly reached a settlement with US regulators. The company will pay more than $10 billion to settle claims by nearly 500,000 vehicle owners stemming the emissions scandal, and also fund efforts to offset pollution, sources told Reuters. The settlement doesn’t include suits filed by US states or investors.
A jury cleared Led Zeppelin of plagiarism for “Stairway to Heaven.” A jury ruled for the band in a lawsuit that claimed its rock anthem was copied from a 1968 song by the band Spirit. The long-running dispute highlights the seemingly arbitrary enforcement of US copyright law.
Matters of debate
Millennials love a good side hustle. Thanks to the 2008 financial crisis, second jobs are essential to a younger generation trying to get by.
Selfishness is learned behavior. Humans are intuitively generous and cooperative, but overthinking can override those instincts.
Artificial intelligence suffers from a dude problem. Without more female engineers, AIs will be just as biased as their human creators.
Surprising discoveries
Steve Jobs helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA title. Lebron James played a commencement speech by Jobs to motivate his teammates.
Lightning disproportionately targets the poor. Rural homes don’t have enough plumbing or wiring to divert the electrical shock.
Alphabet’s latest robot can do the chores and shake its booty. The SpotMini looks a little bit like a twerking giraffe.
Our best wishes for an inspiring day at the festival. Please send any news, tips, political uprisings, and deep thoughts by Alejandro González Iñárritu to me, Zach Seward, at [email protected].
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