Abstract
After another exciting Super Bowl, I reminisce about the days of dissecting the event’s advertisements with colleagues, eager to share our reflections with students in the classroom the next day. During my time at Michigan State University, the Super Bowl Rating party—organized by the Department of Advertising and Public Relations—was an event full of anticipation. The familiar chatter would stop at the onset of each ad break, replaced by eager discussions on creativity and strategy that often opaqued the game.
This year’s Super Bowl found me in an airport in Abilene, Texas, where every screen played the game. Though far from the Midwest, witnessing travelers’ reactions to the ads reminded me of the power of creativity and storytelling, which made my trip unforgettable. Today, I invite you to join me on a journey through this issue that is equally exciting.
Robin Spring and Shanshan Lou share a review of this year’s Advertising Division Teaching Preconference, held at Arizona State University in Washington, D.C. If you are looking for resources and innovative tips to incorporate data visualization and storytelling, AI and generative tools into your class, you simply cannot miss this article.
Michael Devlin dives into the relationship between personality traits and careers in creative advertising. He highlights the predictors of a person’s role in agencies. Doing a layover in Spain, Erika Fernandez and colleagues investigate the need for influencer education. Their results show that influencers are looking to universities to help take this emerging field to the next level. Furthermore, reflecting on lessons learned in teaching cultural diversity in advertising and public relations courses, Sung Eun Park, Yeojin Kim, and Eunyoung Kim offer guidelines for post-pandemic instruction.
Still, readers should fasten their seatbelts for exciting news. I’m pleased to announce that Tricia Farwell, who has transitioned into the role of associate editor, will be editing a special JAE issue dedicated to case studies for classroom use. The Call for Papers can be found in this issue; more information can be found on our website.
Thank you for your support.