Every week, we at Ogilvy Australia share ‘What Matters This Week – Your Australian Culture Digest’, a snap-shot of what is happening in culture - locally and globally. This week we look at CGI cats, the internet nonsense about Area 51, the latest app to steal your data and Disney's plans for entertainment domination - check out what should be on your radar this week.

1. What matters this week?
Your Australian culture digest

2. Weird Cats
Based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the
same name, the live-action Cats movie will be released
in December 2019.
Though the film boasts an A-list cast featuring Taylor
Swift, Rebel Wilson, Idris Elba, and Judi Dench, all
anyone’s talking about is how weird the trailer is.
The actors have been transformed through CGI, using
what Universal Pictures are calling “digital fur
technology”. The result is a film that is squarely in the
uncanny valley, with people unsettled by characters that
are very close to being human, but are just that bit too
far removed from us.
Similar outcry over the Sonic The Hedgehog film saw
Paramount pictures literally go back to the drawing
board to redesign the characters. If Universal Pictures
takes similar action, it’ll be a reminder of the power and
influencer of online social communities.

3. The Lion King (2019)
Released on July 17, The Lion King live-action remake
made around $200m (USD) in its opening weekend.
This strong performance is indicative of Disney’s skill in
giving audiences what they want, a capability that bodes
well for their chances of being relevant to a new
generation. Indeed, between the Disney + streaming
service and the Marvel Cinematic Universe phase 4
plans (7 films in the next 2 years!), they look set to re-
establish themselves as an entertainment behemoth.
Separately, the power of nostalgia is something they are
banking on for the next little while; we’ve had remakes of
Aladdin and Dumbo this year already.
It’s no secret that nostalgia is a powerful motivator, and
we’ll continue to see brands use it. Indeed, the question
for marketers isn’t “is nostalgia relevant?”, it’s “how do we
execute with distinctiveness?”.

4. Storm Area 51
A Facebook event that started off as a joke has gained
enough real world attention that the US Airforce has
confirmed they are aware of it.
The 1.8m attendees are planning to storm Area 51 - the
top-secret US military facility - on September 20.
In addition to an official website, there’s merch, there’s
memes, and there’s even music, with Lil Nas X tweeting
to say he’s ready to perform at the event.
If this all sounds to you like Internet nonsense, that’s
because it is. But it presents a very real opportunity for
the various motels, museums and restaurants in the
area.
We all know that culture impacts business. We shouldn’t
forget that Internet nonsense is part of culture.

5. The #AgeChallenge
Have you ever wondered what you’ll look like in 30 years? Now
you can find out, without having to wait 30 years, thanks to
FaceApp. Launched in 2017, it uses neural network technology
to transform faces, changing gender or age, and making them
smile.
The ageing feature went viral due to the #AgeChallenge which
saw everyone from Elon Musk to Justin Bieber post their
pictures.
But it may not all be harmless fun - the app’s terms and
conditions read like something from a Black Mirror episode.
People who’ve used the app have granted the company “a
perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide,
fully-paid, transferable sub-licensable license to use,
reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative
works from, distribute, publicly perform and display user
content”. Basically, they own exclusive rights to your face.
Don’t feel too smug if you haven’t used FaceApp. It’s 2019 and
everyone’s put their pictures somewhere on the Internet. It’s
highly likely that you already don’t legally own your face.

6. See ya next week