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PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Target sponsors 4-minute video during Grammys
MAE ANDERSON
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Target
has its bullseye on the “Hol-
laback Girl” singer.
Target is sponsoring a four-
minute live video by Gwen
Stefani during The Grammy
Awards on CBS on Mon-
day, an unprecedented
move that capitalizes on
the current vogue for live
TV events. She’ll perform
the song “Make Me Like
You,” which is being re-
leased Friday.
It’s a gamble for Target,
since four minutes of prime-
time ad time costs millions.
And most TV ads are only
about 30 or 60 seconds.
It is unclear how much Tar-
get spent on the video,
but a 30-second spot cost
$952,000 in the Grammys in
2014, according to Kantar
Media.
Ad experts say the mon-
ey could be well spent in
an age of short attention
spans, with more people
shifting to watching TV
on demand and on their
New adaptation of ‘To Kill a
Mockingbird’ heads to Broadway
MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Harper
Lee’s classic novel “To Kill
a Mockingbird” — and its
now-somewhat sullied hero
Atticus Finch — are head-
ing to Broadway in a new
adaptation written by Aar-
on Sorkin.
Producer Scott Rudin said
Wednesday the play will
land during the 2017-2018
season under the direc-
tion of Tony Award winner
Bartlett Sher, who is repre-
sented on Broadway now
with the brilliant revivals of will mark the story’s Broad- through the eyes of a child
“The King and I” and “Fid-
dler on the Roof.” No cast-
ing was revealed.
Sorkin’s plays include “A
Few Good Men” and “The
Farnsworth Invention.” He
won an Academy Award
and a Golden Globe
Award for his screenplay
for “The Social Network,”
which Rudin produced,
along with Sorkin’s other
films “Steve Jobs” and
“Moneyball.”
In this Oct. 17, 2015 file photo, Gwen Stefani performs during
an exclusive concert in New York. Target is sponsoring a four-
minute live video by Gwen Stefani during The Grammy Awards
on CBS on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, an unprecedented move that
capitalizes on the current vogue for live TV events.
smartphones, capturing
people’s attention dur-
ing big live events like The leased a video mentioning
Grammys is crucial. And
attaching a star’s name
to a company can have
huge returns: For instance,
Red Lobster said sales rose
The book has been made
the leap to the stage be-
fore, including a 1991 ad-
aptation by Christopher
Sergel which premiered
at New Jersey’s Paper Mill
Playhouse. There also was
a production in 2013 that
had a run at London’s Bar-
bican Theatre with Robert
Sean Leonard in the role of
Finch, the noble widower
and lawyer called upon to
defend a black man ac-
cused of raping a white
woman in Depression-era
Alabama. This new version
way debut.
“To Kill a Mockingbird,”
published in 1960, intro-
duced Finch, Scout, Boo
Radley and other beloved
literary characters. The
book was adapted into an
Oscar-winning movie star-
ring Gregory Peck as Atticus
and has become standard
reading in schools and oth-
er reading programs, with
worldwide sales topping 40
million copies. q
Thursday 11 February 2016
“The Wiz Live!” in Decem-
ber both scored huge rat-
ings and much chatter on
social media sites like Face-
book and Twitter.
“These days, people can
Associated Press double click and delete
you, so advertisers are un-
33 percent the day after der pressure to make their
megastar Beyonce re- content more engaging
and relevant to their au-
the restaurant chain. dience,” said brand con-
Live musical TV events, in sultant Allen Adamson,
particular, recently have founder of Brand Simple
been a hit. Fox’s “Grease Consulting. “I think it’s a
Live” on Jan. 31 and NBC’s gamble that will pay off.”
Of course, there’s no guar-
antee that people will sit
through the video, said
VCU Brandcenter market-
ing professor Kelly O’Keefe.
“It’s definitely risky, but the on groceries instead of the
upside is you really create
a stir,” he said. “Whether or
not they get that upside will
depend on how good the
music segment is.”
Additionally, the reach of
the Grammys is fading.
Grammys had an audi-
Eagles band members
to honor Glenn
Frey at Grammys
- In this Oct. 20, 2015 file In this April 10, 2014 file photo, Glenn Frey appears at the 2014
photo, screenwriter Aaron Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York.
Sorkin poses for a photo while
promoting his movie “Steve
Jobs,” in Toronto. Harper Lee’s
classic novel “To Kill a Mock- NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)
ingbird” - and it’s classic hero — Singer and songwriter
Atticus Finch - are heading to Jackson Browne will join
Broadway in a new adapta- members of the Eagles
tion written by Sorkin. in a tribute to the band’s
founding member Glenn
Associated Press Frey during Monday’s 58th
annual Grammy Awards.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Frey died Jan. 18 of com-
in 1961, and widely praised plications from rheumatoid
as a sensitive portrait of arthritis, acute ulcerative
racial tension as seen colitis and pneumonia at
the age of 67. Browne will
in 1930s Alabama, it also join the Eagles’ Don Hen-
has been criticized as sen- ley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B.
timental and paternalistic.
Last year saw the publi-
cation of Lee’s recently
discovered manuscript,
ence of 25.3 million last
year, its lowest turnout
since 2009, according to
Nielsen.
But Target is betting on Ste-
fani, which collaborated
with the company on the
Harajuku Mini clothing line
for several years starting
in 2011. Her third studio al-
bum, “This Is What the Truth
Feels Like,” which will be re-
leased March 18.
Target has been trying to
stage a comeback after
some major setbacks in re-
cent years, including a ma-
jor debit and credit card
hack that impacted sales
for several months and a
misstep that led it to focus
cheap chic fashions its cus-
tomers craved.
But it has been turning itself
around, with five consecu-
tive quarters of increases
in stores open at least one
year, a key sales measure.
q

Associated Press
Schmit and Bernie Leadon
during a special perfor-
mance during the show at
the Staples Center in Los
Angeles.
Browne and Frey wrote to-
gether early on in their ca-
reers, including the Eagles’
first single in 1972 and one
of their signature songs,
“Take It Easy.”
The Grammy Awards will
be broadcast live from Los
Angeles on CBS at 8 p.m.
EST.q