📌 Friday Five #115

#Ad fines, accessibility lawsuits, business photography, opting out of Mother’s Day, and calendar blocks

“Whoever said there are no bad ideas in brainstorming never had access to Elon Musk’s phone.” —Charlie Warzel, contributing writer, The Atlantic

1. When #ad isn’t enough

Earlier this week, Kim K paid a fine five times as big as what she was paid to promote EthereumMax. The lesson? Simply adding #ad to a post isn’t enough if you’re promoting cryptocurrencies and tokens, which the SEC considers securities. You can read the agency’s statement regarding celebrity-promoted initial coin offerings (ICOs) here.  

2. Friends don’t let friends use bad stock photos

This conversation with Bloomberg Businessweek’s photo director proves that stories about business don’t have to be boring. 

“I gathered these photos when we did our special “What is Code” issue. When we were publishing Emily Chang’s book excerpt (Brotopia) I pushed to have these used for the story." —Jane Yeoman, Bloomberg Businessweek’s photo editor

3. Thanks, but no thanks

Mother’s Day can be painful for people who’ve struggled with infertility or lost a parent or a child. So when Honeywell Biscuit Company gave their customers the ability to opt out of promotions celebrating the holiday, they expected some people would appreciate the gesture. What they didn’t expect was a powerful lesson in empathy. “It turns out that as human beings, we’re far more complex about why we do or don't want to receive content,” explains the company’s marketing coordinator.

4. Blockstars

Using calendar blocks is an incredibly easy — and effective — time management tool. Read about the five calendar blocks you need to preserve in this practical piece. (And let me know if I’m reading this right: is the author, who waxes poetic about “the invincibility of the Google Calendar,” really an undergraduate at Auburn?!). 

5. Accessibility from the ground up

We do everything on the internet. Which is why making the web accessible to everyone is so important. Wondering where to get started? Here’s your answer.