This week’s successful public relations move is a bit different to the usual highlights we select. Capcom, the developer behind the successful Resident Evil video game franchise, had announced it would fill a swimming pool with fake blood and human limbs, before inviting people to swim in it as a stunt to promote the new instalment. Following events in Woolwich the company has cancelled the event, which is a good example of respect and sensitivity taking precedent over business, something many of our weekly fails could do with taking onboard.
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You may not know it, but in 2007 a lady called Sara Rosso set up a fake international holiday, World Nutella Day. Dedicated to the spreading recipes and ideas for the chocolate and hazelnut stuff, it grew from a few hundred people to thousands, and had followers everywhere from Facebook to Pinterest. That is until this now, as the company behind the brand has issued her with a cease and desist order, rather than taking advantage of the sizeable fan base she has established, begging the question: “sorry, they did what?”
Things that might happen in the next week…
The UEFA Champions League final will take place in London tomorrow, with Dortmund taking on Bayern. More company’s could pull adverts from Facebook amid the ‘revelations’ that sponsored links are appearing on some decidedly dodgy groups and pages. The Queen will make a King’s Troop visit to Woolwich barracks.
Just in case you missed it…
The Guardian has announced a brand new digital platform, guardian.com. In the news giant’s own words, it will involve “amalgamating the main entry point Guardian.co.uk, mobile site m.guardian.co.uk, US homepage guardiannews.com and the soon-to-launch Australian digital edition – into one core web destination.” Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
There’s nothing we like more than a socially responsible PR stunt, and as such this week Brazilian beer manufacturer Antarctica wins our top spot. In a bid to reduce the number of drink driving incidents, revellers attending the Rio de Janeiro carnival (which the drink brand sponsors) were allowed to use their empties as tickets on the city’s metro system, making public transport preferable to a boozy car journey.
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It wasn’t that long ago when the news was filled with horrific reports following a mass shooting inside an American cinema. As such, when a mastermind at Capital 8 Theatres decided to employ fake gunmen to storm its screens in Missouri as a promotion for Iron Man 3, it’s understandable people were outraged. Despite the obvious issue, amazingly manager Bob Wilkins doesn’t seem to think there’s a problem.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The Castlefield Hotel hosts the Manchester Internet Meeting tonight, open for anyone even remotely interested in Internet marketing. Tuesday sees the Liverpool Dot-Art: Design Your Own Marketing Materials event take place at The Bluecoat, showing attendees how to create flyers, posters and more with free software (and their own laptops). On Wednesday the Leeds Enterprise Network meets at the city’s Metropolitan University, where graduate Anna Moss will discuss opening her own marketing company.
Just in case you missed it…
The Sun is to introduce a paywall from August 1st. Users signing up to the new service, dubbed Sun+, will receive seven day per week access to the website via any device they own, in addition to extras including Premier League football highlights. Read more on the story here, or watch this space for the Smoking Gun analysis next week.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
After Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from the job of Manchester United manager several companies were quick off the mark with PR and marketing stunts. Unsurprisingly, Paddy Power went the furthest with scant regard for causing offence by putting this advertising hoarding up in Liverpool city centre. Still, there’s nothing like making a big impression.
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Charles Ramsey, the American guy who rescued two imprisoned women and a child from his neighbour’s house in Cleveland, Ohio, should be commended for his efforts. As he explains in the interview below, before hearing cries for help he was eating McDonalds. Less admirable is the fast food chain’s ‘sensitive’ tweet (also below), seen by some as using the horrific event for marketing. Worse still, according to Time magazine, the hero of the hour actually has previous domestic violence convictions, proving brands need to look before they leap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCn04iXkBg
Things that might happen in the next week…
The F.A. Cup Final will be played at Wembley stadium tomorrow, with Wigan taking on the might of Manchester City, and as a result don’t expect seats on the Piccadilly Euston service until around midday. Many teenagers will begin their GCSE examinations on Monday, following news grades should be set higher as of autumn (hardly encouraging for those imminently sitting tests). UK Government departments will look to advertising partners and sponsors to help fund campaigns following a change to legislation.
Just in case you missed it…
Samsung has won Brand of the Year at The Drum marketing awards, whilst UM London- the firm behind Royal Mail’s Gold Medal Winner Stamps for last the 2012 Olympics, has bagged the Grand Prix. Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
“Facebook is populated by mums and PR staff. No self-respecting young person would be on Facebook.” Radio 1 Newsbeat and 1Xtra editor Rod McKenzie, who instead suggests that Tumblr, Snapchat, Vine and Keek are the networks of choice those in the prime of their lives. Whether he believes those same young people want the kind of content produced by the two stations he works at remains to be seen.
Weekly high
Everybody loves being in bed. As a species we spend most of our time either at work or asleep, and having a good spot to rest your head is important. Or at least that’s what the latest advert from IKEA Sweden thinks, which manages to chronicle a baby becoming a man, with the real focus being on his relationship with mattress and frame.
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PespiCo commissioned American rapper and video producer Tyler The Creator for a new serialised online ad campaign. His idea was a Mountain Dew-addicted goat getting in trouble with the law, but the latest instalment (now removed by the company amid accusations of being the ‘most racist commercial ever’) caused a furore in the U.S. thanks to its apparent stereotyping and promotion of violence towards women.
Things that might happen in the next week…
Both Liverpool and Salford are hosting similarly named but unrelated new music showcases over the next few days, respectively industry crowd puller Sound City and the more intimate but still impressive Sounds From The Other City. On Monday the Chartered Institute of Marketing will host Meet & Mingle for members, a free event which will be held at The Leeds Club (3 Albion Place, Leeds, LS1 6JL). Ukip representatives will continue to celebrate a marked rise in popularity following a second place result in the South Shields by-election, whist Conservatives blame anti-coalition sentiment for the right wing populists’ increase in support.
Just in case you missed it…
Instagram has developed a brand new picture editing application, Photos Of You, with the idea being to make it easier for users to add people and objects to images. Read more on the story here, or watch the video below.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
London design consultancy Berg has brought the digital and physical worlds even closer together this week with the announcement of #Flock. In short, these cuckoo clocks contain the company’s own wireless interface technology, which (when linked to your Twitter account) makes the birds inside chirp on the hour, and whenever someone in your timeline retweets or replies to one of your posts. Here’s a video to prove it.
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The world is on the bring of environmental catastrophe. You don’t need to tell us that. The need to lower the carbon output from vehicles has never been more urgent, and any car manufacturer trying to reduce its impact on the planet should be rewarded. Apart from Hyundai, a firm that decided the best way to show off their “100% water emission” model by launching a viral video depicting a man trying to kill himself. Far too far.
Things that might happen in the next week…
On Wednesday Switzerland will begin to enforce a new immigration cap to limit the number of workers that can move to the country from other EU nations in search of a job; several newspaper groups including News International, Telegraph Media Group, and Associated Newspapers will prepare documentation ahead of taking their own non-government sponsored press regulation reform bill to the Privy Council; and the editor of a free London paper may be asked to apologise (at least) for comments in print suggesting some people should be ‘banned from breeding’.
Just in case you missed it…
Twitter is set to expand its advertising offering significantly following a new deal with Starcom Media Vest Group, a division of Publicis, one of the biggest of the U.S. industry players, with the latter’s clients having access to the most preferential commercial space on the network. The social media giant’s revenue is expected to leap from as a result. Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
Video games have come a long way since the Amiga. But, despite the advent of Grand Theft Auto and interactive, immersive 3D environments, many people still carry a torch for the old school legends. Pac-Man being one of the most popular. Don’t believe us? Take a look at this building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which was transformed into a giant version of several retro titles to encourage people to play via their iPads.
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We’ve definitely been here before. Which is a huge shame, and an indictment on marketing and PR morality. Following the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon this week food website Epicurious decided to suggest recipes in honour of the horrific event. Needless to say, it’s not exactly in good taste, with the decision coming under fire amid accusations of exploiting the devastation. An apology was quickly issued.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The London Marathon will go ahead as planned on Sunday, with an increased police presence following the terrorist attacks in Boston, Russian President Vladimir Putin will engage in a live Q&A with the public on Thursday, and the European Court will begin a ‘clarification’ process after the UK Supreme Court ruled browsing articles online should not put the user at risk of breaching copyright law.
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The Mail On Sunday’s new culture supplement, Event, launched last weekend. Doubling the newspaper’s capacity for arts and entertainment content, it’s a rare new start in an increasingly sedentary print world. Take a look at our review of the magazine pull-out here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
If you’re unfamiliar with the book Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, or the Francois Truffaut cinematic adaptation, then it’s a dystopian vision of a future wherein the fire brigade breaks into people’s homes to incinerate literature, the traditional source of knowledge. An outright classic, despite owning a copy we’ve also ordered this new U.S. edition, which comes with match and striking strip on the side so it can be burnt. How daring.
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OK, so you need to be patient with this one. The video below shows a brave Swedish journalist embarking on a taste experiment whilst visiting the headquarters of international brewing giant AB InBev, based in Belgium (responsible for the likes of Stella Artois). He hits the streets of the surrounding town, and collars the marketing chief in order to ascertain if anyone can actually tell the difference between the aforementioned brand and other common lagers. Hands up if you can guess the conclusion?
Things that might happen in the next week…
David Cameron flies out to Germany today for a rare visit to Chancellor Angela Merke’s country residence, Margaret Thatcher will received a state funeral on Wednesday, with full military honours- angering many members of the public- and the EC competition commission will consider Google’s proposals to label results that link to its own services, an offer that follows a year of negotiations and perpetual criticism aimed at the tech giant.
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Last Friday we attended the launch of a brand new culture magazine aimed specifically at the North West, or perhaps more accurately Manchester and Liverpool. The Skinny lays claim to 91 issues to date in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with the well-respected regional newsprint title looking to establish a similarly good name for itself in this area of England. Take a look at the website here, or pick up a copy in city centre shops, bars and venues next time you’re in one of our two biggest towns.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
Although the temperature hasn’t changed much, April landed on Monday, bringing with it the most amusing morning of the year. On April Fools’ Day everyone loves a good prank, like this viral chart topper from YouTube announcing the site’s imminent closure. Lucky nobody believed it.
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Florida baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays fell foul of media rule number one- look before you leap (or hold up a sign for someone) this week. The mascot, appropriately a furry Manta Ray, was handed this placard for a photo opportunity, which suggests the death of Steve Irwin, crocodile hunter, in 2006, may not have been an accident at all. Pointless, and terribly distasteful, out question is ‘what was the point?’
Things that might happen in the next week…
The funeral of revered American film critic Roger Ebert, arguably the most respected cinema journalist of his time, is expected to take place after he lost his battle with cancer aged 70, 25 jobs will be saved at the Independent following tense negotiations with the NUJ, and the News International owned Sun On Sunday will increase its cover price from 50p to 60p on April 6th.
Just in case you missed it…
Last night Facebook unveiled Home, a new application available for Android phones set to afford users a more enhanced level of integration between the social network and mobile operating system. Rumours of a Zuckerberg phone proved to be untrue, although a new handset designed by HTC will be the first to sport the software pre-installed. Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
“Google and Facebook get away with things other companies wouldn’t.” Evgeny Morozov- author of To Save Everything, Click Here: Technology, Solutionism, and the Urge to Fix Problems that Don’t Exist- commenting on the rise of Silicon Valley, interestingly in the same week Google slammed China’s government for its attempts to control the Internet.
Weekly high
Whether we participate ourselves, or it’s one of our friends, ‘social smoking’ is rife across the world. Some blame the booze, others dangerously weak willpower. Either way, it’s a very bad habit considering the health consequences, and as this Canadian Ministry of Health advert proves, the whole concept is ludicrous and rather pointless.
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Key reasons behind Apple’s success are reliability and after-purchase cover. At least that’s true for most of the world, whereas in China customers have to put up with reduced warranties and limited repair services once they buy one of the luxury computers. When the story broke Apple U.S. referred critics to the Beijing PR office, but so far no statement has been made. Maybe silence really does speak louder than words.
Things that might happen in the next week…
The petition to make online retail giant Amazon pay its fair share of UK income tax could well reach 100,000 signatures, Cypriot MPs will vote on bank reforms and capital control as the island becomes the latest insolvent European country, and on Thursday an NUJ-organised BBC strike will see staff leave their posts for a 12 hour walkout to protest compulsory redundancies, excessive workloads, bullying and harassment at the broadcaster.
Just in case you missed it…
Following the epic Leveson inquiry and subsequent report, Britain’s highly respected weekly news magazine sector, including New Statesman and The Spectator, has slammed the new press regulation reforms, with The Economist condemning the agreed deal as ‘a shameful hash’. Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
On Wednesday the world’s largest message in a bottle was put to sea from Marina San Miguel, Tenerife. The stunt, which is to promote Norway’s Solo soda (spreading the ‘greatest drink on Earth’ across the planet), took months to prepare, featured in newspapers across the globe, and the oceanic odyssey can now be followed by logging onto Facebook (clue- change the language settings on the app to English first). Nice job.
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Before the new Pope was chosen ignorance caused Twitter chaos. A British MP accused the BBC of racism after it asked whether smoke above the Vatican would be black or white- referencing the centuries old method of declaring a new church leader, rather than speculating over his race. Elsewhere, thousands of social media users- including self-proclaimed ‘gurus’ and journalists- followed @JMBergoglio, a fake account set up under the name of the man now in charge of Catholicism, despite the content being blatantly sarcastic. Evidently translating Spanish to English for accuracy is too much effort…
Things that might happen in the next week…
The House of Commons will vote on David Cameron’s own proposals for press regulation following the Leveson inquiry on Monday, Tuesday sees the inauguration ceremony for the new Catholic chief Pope Francis, meanwhile Vogue Editor and ‘most powerful woman in fashion’, British born Anna Wintour- the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada, will prepare for her new post as Artistic Director of luxury publishing behemoth Conde Naste.
Just in case you missed it…
Twitter is abandoning many versions of its subsidiary application TweetDeck, bought for $40million just two years ago. Chrome, browser-based, Mac and Windows versions will continue to be developed. Read more on the story here.
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!
