Good morning. Tactics in the recent battle over same-sex wedding ads on the Hallmark Channel included phone calls to Hallmark executives’ families on one side, and warnings about a planned media blitz on the other.

Hallmark pulled some commercials under pressure last week because they included brides kissing each other, then reinstated the ads and apologized when it came under pressure again. All along, advocates leaned on the network every way they knew, Suzanne Vranica reports for the Journal.

Gay-rights group Glaad, for example, told Hallmark about its plan to contact every advertiser on the network—and about its slate of pending media appearances. It also emailed Hallmark a case study on Delta Air Lines, which faced an outcry last month when two of its in-flight films were edited to remove scenes involving same-sex couples.

Hallmark insiders also were concerned after talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres tweeted in part, “Isn’t it almost 2020?... What are you thinking? Please explain. We’re are all ears.”

Amazon updated its policy to prohibit selling items taken from the trash, following a Wall Street Journal investigation into dumpster divers who sell their finds on Amazon.

Wade Coggins, near Beaverton, Ore., said he finds items to sell on Amazon and eBay in store clearance sections, abandoned storage units and dumpsters. He said he has salvaged cardboard boxes, bubble wrap and peanuts from trash bins to package his orders.

Blemishes need to be cleaned off, he said, adding that some people shrink-wrap items to make them look more legitimate. “When you send stuff in to Amazon,” he said, “it needs to look brand new.”

Journal reporters even tried it themselves—fishing a stencil set, scrapbook paper and a sealed jar of Trader Joe’s lemon curd from the trash, then listing them for sale on Amazon. It turned out to be easy.

Providence Equity Partners is taking a majority stake in social video ad tech firm Smartly.io.

As part of the investment, former Publicis Groupe executive and Adobe Inc. and DoubleVerify Inc. board member Laura Desmond will chair Smartly.io’s board.

Providence’s investment comes as marketers are directing more advertising dollars into Facebook, YouTube and other mobile and social video environments, which have demonstrated a relatively strong ability to drive users to perform actions such as installing apps, visiting websites or making purchases.

“Marketers need to be where consumers are, and social channels are where they are spending their time,” Ms. Desmond told Sahil Patel for CMO Today.

Unilever surprised investors by warning it would miss its sales target for the year, the Journal reports.

The owner of Dove and Ben & Jerry’s has struggled partly with intense competition in the U.S. P&G has been spending on product quality, packaging, marketing and retail execution. And nimble new marketers are thriving online: It said in February that 6,000 new brands had cropped up across six of its markets for beauty and personal care over two years.

CEO Alan Jope, a “classic marketeer” who took over in January,  said Unilever was working to attract new consumers to its brands and come up with new products.

One such attempt, eco-friendly subscription laundry detergent service Homey, shut down in November.

Fiat Chrysler and rival Peugeot agreed to merge into a $50 billion auto giant. [WSJ]

Joe Marchese’s Attention Capital bought Sophia Amoruso’s Girlboss Media. [Axios]

H&M now will tell consumers exactly where just about anything it sells was made. [NYT] 

How to build a company culture to match your brand. [HBR] 

Fashion marketers and PR agencies are rethinking their holiday gifting strategies amid a backlash over waste. [Business of Fashion]

The ad agency behind the Eco Six Pack Ring—an environmentally friendly version of the plastic packaging for beer and soda—wants the fictional Duff beer on “The Simpsons” to adopt its product. [Creativity]

Five logo design trends for 2020. [Creative Bloq]