Credit Where Credit's Due

Plus: FOX bets on free and DOJ takes on Adobe

Happy Monday! For this edition of Out of Scope, we start the week by exploring America’s love affair with the credit card. But first, here are stories from last week with some staying power...

📡ON OUR RADAR

• A who’s-who of advertisers, brands, and influencers assembled in Cannes for the annual Lions International Festival of Creativity last week. AI was a predictably prevalent topic of conversation, as was marketers’ increasing interest in sports. 

• As streamers look to stay competitive and consumers tire of paying multiple subscription fees, FOX’s Tubi service has maintained its stance that free TV can win; and it’s on a PR kick to prove it.

• French President Emmanuel Macron finds himself in a tough spot as the 2024 Paris Olympics near, Parisians go oui-oui in the Seine in protest, and the country’s right-wing faction gains power. 

💡ON OUR MINDS: Credit’s Where Credit’s Due

• Bilt Rewards, a Wells Fargo cobranded credit card designed specifically for a “generation of young, affluent new customers” to pay rent, is now draining the bank.

• The card allowed renters to earn a point for every dollar spent on rent, but Wells Fargo discounted the fact that if millennials love anything, it’s a card points reward program.

• The program operated under the assumption that cardholders would carry a balance month to month. Since not enough users do, the bank is now losing up to $10 million a month on lost interest charges.

• It’s difficult to empathize with Wells Fargo when most Americans are struggling with inflation, credit card delinquency is rising, and credit card debt is at a record of $1.13 trillion.

• This represents a small fraction of the growing discourse around America’s complicated relationship with credit— as recent features in The American Prospect and Vox suggest, consumers may be simultaneously over-reliant and reluctant when it comes to their credit cards.

🥊QUICK HITS:

In case you missed these reads:

• The US Surgeon General says scrolling could be the new smoking as he encourages warning labels for social media platforms’ mental health impact. 

• Adobe is facing charges from the United States DOJ for its too-hard-to-cancel subscription model. 

• Brands are welcoming AI avatars for use in branded content, upending the fragile TikTok dancer labor market.