For Fuks Saké

PR Case Studies ref: McClaren '08

When you start a new job, don't pretend to be someone you're not. Like pretend to be Dutch. Or simply be a twat. Full marks to the Mirror for bringing this to our attention.

You Don't Get This Kind Of Stuff On ITV

BBC Sport have unveiled their Gorillaz work for the Beijing games. There's all sorts of widgets, gizmos and irritants around the main characters Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy.

Have a look at this though....the 2 minute movie that will form the basis of their opening titles for the Olympic Games.

15 days to go - personally, can't wait. The sanctimonious whining of anyone from Spielberg to Konnie Huq can be parked to one side. Seeing China have its well deserved moment in the sun will be captivating, breathtaking and awe-inspiring. Londoners are about to get a big wake-up call.

PR Case Studies ref: Mosley '08/Davies '03

The High Court is currently deciding whether this was a 'sick Nazi sex orgy' or not. Best leave that for them to decide - but you can draw your own conclusions by reviewing the News of the World's footage here.

Nevertheless, if my memory serves me correctly Mosley's original defence was that he was speaking German because the prostitutes were "native German speakers." Very plausible - and for those of us in PR, an outstanding piece of crisis management.

For PR students visiting 4 Fuks Saké for some industry learning, I recommend you dig into the archives and have a look into the defence of former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies, back in 2003. We all learnt a lot from Ron.

Despite a "moment of madness" on Clapham Common back in 1998, Ron was under the spotlight again one Monday morning some five years later. The Sun published a story reporting that Davies had pulled off the M4, visited a notorious cottaging spot outside Bath and had "gay sex in the woods" with a man. Ron was able to clarify his actions, claiming that he had merely been stretching his legs in an area where he regularly indulged his hobby of "badger spotting."

I hear it said sometimes that PR lacks creativity. Mosley and Davies categorically answer those critics.

Eat Fat & Love It

You could never accuse Burger King of being sanctimonious. Whilst McDonald's take the flak for forcefeeding fat down kids throats, BK crack on regardless. It's quite simple - give 'em what they want.

Heavy drinkers and fat boys have a new challenge with the news that Burger King is to launch 'the 6 Pack,' a burger designed for sharing. That's what they say - the real challenge is whether you can eat one yourself.  It's one burger in six rolls which the fat eater is expected to tear off portions. £4.49 for the burger. £5.69 for a meal. Good luck to them.

As for McDonald's, they disgust me.

The Day There Was No News

Beautiful. Will Luke the sourcer. Wyld Stallions the talent. 

Sex, City, Loads Of Cash

Is there any point in actually going to see Sex And The City? If you were to cut out all the pictures that have appeared in Heat, londonpaper and London Lite  over the past 12 months, you could arrange them to spell out the entire 2 hour plot.

There's also a barrage of product placement coming your way - 8 brands in total - which didn't go unnoticed to the BBC News reporter at the premiere the other night.  Hollywood isn't noticed for its subtlety in this area - but it will be sad to see Mercedes Benz getting the same treatment from Sarah Jessica Parker that Alan Partridge gave his Rover (courtesy of Norfolk Rover Group).

Sex And The City has a huge, and loyal fanbase, which quite clearly I don't fall into. (I'm knocking this post out before heading up to Lord's to watch cricket for fuck's sake). Nevertheless, I do feel slightly protective of all the female 30-somethings heading into cinemas across the globe this weekend. Hold on tight to your purse girls - your sistas are gunning for your cash. 

Mental Disintegration

Whoever said sport and politics don't mix, was talking bollocks. They mix so well together they're practically the same thing.

Now the football's done, the only spectator sport worth watching is how long Gordon Brown can last without going completely spastic.  Like the great psychological sporting feasts: the back 9 at Augusta on Sunday, the ebb and flow of Test match, 9 months of Ferguson vs Mourinho/Wenger/Keegan mental warfare - there is joy to be had in watching the mental disintegration of the PM. It's as though Steve Waugh, not Andy Coulson, is running the Tory media machine.

Mental disintegration  - usually in the school playground - currently in Westminster follows a simple path:

1. If someone has pretensions - reveal them to empty and then laugh at them so they feel small.
(Global? Big thinker? How come you have all that time to scheme and plot? You're not very decisive are you for someone so clever...)

2. If they feel vulnerable in a certain area - bring it to everyone's attention, and point at him.
(You're a control freak. You send emails at 4am. Why do you bite your nails?  You're surrounded by  a cabinet of droids.)

3. Use insignificant irritants to convey your message...
(Cherie, the blow-dryed Lord Levy, scrotes from the back bench, Cameron)

4. Sit back and wait.

In time your victim will either burst into tears, lash out wildly, or both. You then close the deal by laughing in their face.

Let's aim to have him committed by August. Match of the Day will be back by then.

Guys

The market for men's toiletries has risen by 800% in seven years, according to a not very interesting news piece in today's Observer. This isn't surprising. Pre-Beckham, anyone who rubbed anything other than mud, coal or Brut into their faces was obviously gay; or a 'poof,' a word you don't hear too often these days.

Let's be clear. This growth isn't driven by men. It's driven by 'guys.'

Who deemed it socially acceptable to use the word 'guy' or 'guys' to describe men? 

'Guys definitely want to look younger and they're interested in having the tools to do so,' said Brian Boye of Men's Health, offering up a cheap quote in the piece. It's an utterly offensive term, applied to the most inoffensive of people. 'Guys.' The Lynx brand managers always used to refer to them, implying sophistication, a clutch of Coldplay albums, skinny lattes and a flat in Battersea. The sort that think it's acceptable to write 'hey,' to another man in an email.

In 100 years time they'll be no genitals left on the planet.

Another Culture Lesson

Throughout Asia, an 'instant noodle meal solution,' is an efficient, tasty and wholesome snack. Here in the UK we have Pot Noodle. Our and AKQA's latest work for them, with more than just a nod to Guinness...

Lineker: Business As Usual

The Surrey-based millionaire divorcee's on the sniff again. This time he's learnt how to use Facebook....