The 10 ADWEEK Stories Readers Loved Most

8. Molly Baz and Formula Maker Bobbie Bring Breastfeeding to Times Square

In May, cookbook author Molly Baz appeared on a Times Square billboard for breastfeeding brand Swehl, holding two cookies over a rhinestone bikini covering her breasts. That image was too titillating for billboard owner Clear Channel, who flagged the ad for review. So Swehl’s media partner, Brex, replaced the ad with a more anodyne image — and leaned hard into the controversy. 

Cut to October, when baby formula maker Bobbie launched a 45-foot-long billboard featuring Baz breastfeeding her baby. It was a first: never before had a Times Square ad featured a breastfeeding mother, ADWEEK’s T.L. Stanley reported. Bobbie worked with Outfront Media to execute the billboard, swiftly getting approval for the imagery, and nipping a potential takedown notice in the bud.

7. Google Is Paying Publishers to Test an Unreleased Gen AI Platform

This was truly the year gen AI companies started paying publishers to be guinea pigs. Google also got into the mix, as ADWEEK’s Mark Stenberg reported in February. 

Google started paying pubs “a monthly stipend amounting to a five-figure sum annually, as well as the means to produce content relevant to their readership at no cost.”