As Labour conference fades away and the Tories’ own outing cranks into gear, I begin to long for silly season. After a month-long balm of survey stories and rubbish stunts, followed by a month of stultifying wonkish mumbo jumbo, I have found myself not hailing the return of ‘real news,’ but instead feeling mystified as…
I like a good story as much as anyone, and I can’t claim to always be obsessive in my pursuit of the truth, but coverage of the so-called ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite on Friday and over the weekend has put the British media to shame. Unsubstantiated claims that she was linked to the Westgate Mall…
A theatre on the back of a bike, runaway taxmen turned circus performers, Hitler’s nephew, a human exhibit in London Zoo, and a man intent on eating an entire bus: roll up for Mark Borkowski’s rollercoaster ride through the weird and wonderful world of “the maverick”. Read more: http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/capitalism.html
After ballroom dancing, ice-skating, singing, cooking and sending them to live in a jungle, viewers could be forgiven for thinking there was nothing television executives had not asked celebrities to do. Think again. ITV1 is hoping to make a splash with a new reality show in which celebrities learn how to dive under the expert…
The Rothschilds, the Murdochs… and now the Bransons. Virgin could become the next great business dynasty after Sir Richard asked his well-connected children to help run his £2.5bn business empire. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/who-will-take-the-branson-crown-8212502.html
Hats off at Borkowski towers to the pixies behind the GTA V launch, one of the most staggering, captivating launches I’ve laid eyes on for years. The game has shifted £500m worth of units in 24 hours, and analysts are putting good money on its hitting a billion within the year. The petty crime ‘em…
Following recent reports into Ketchum PR’s involvement with Russia, we thought we would take a deeper look into how the PR giant works its magic worldwide. This is not the first time that the PR behemoth has struck controversy, yet they continue to go from strength to strength. What is their secret? First and foremost,…
News of Google and Nestle’s KitKat/Android partnership has been met with a wealth of delighted puns in the tech community, but brand managers and business writers have been left with a bitter aftertaste in their mouths at the announcement of this unusual pairing. Though the press release has been widely parroted, and for the most…
Another late summer morning, another punning sport scandal headline graces the front page of the Sun. ‘L.Pee.W’ screamed the red top from Newstands across the country, as news broke that England’s victorious Cricket squad had celebrated their triumph with not so much a sticky wicket as a wet one. This would have been a big…
Last week, the first ever synthetic beef hamburger was served to a panel of experts. It was a Promethean feat of human ingenuity, involving weeks of intensive lab work, hand weaving of microscopic fibres, and the expenditure of a cool £215,000. Despite all this, however, the achievements of Dr Mark Post and his team pale…