This wonderful old song line came to mind when I read a story in Malaysia’s Advertising and Marketing magazine about a pitch for the Tourism Malaysia account. The mag – which is excellent, by the way – comments that “Half …
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Antediluvian antics at Barclays Bank. Stumbling across a good idea they make their staff’s jobs impossible. What else is new?
How can one single out a particular bank in for incompetence, rapacity and all round folly? It is hard; but I have always had a soft spot for Barclays. They had a series of loopy marketing directors, all of whom …
Read MoreNeither Spick Nor Span – Just rather sloppy like my spelling, but more infuriating
I’m sorry, but this is all going to be rather tedious, so let’s start with one of my favourites: “We can always bear with equanimity the misfortunes of our friends” – De la Rochefoucauld. Since it takes weeks to get …
Read MoreMy night with Sir Les Patterson – and my other most embarassing moment
If you don’t know who this great man is, well, what a cultural experience you’ve missed. He has been described as obese, lecherous and offensive, which goes to show that in the world of politics John Prescott has competition. But …
Read MoreStudents leader talks bollocks – as usual – plus a new free video coming up
Since 1975 every President of the National Union of Students has gone on to become a politician, almost invariably in the Labour Party. The best (or worst) example is Jack Straw who went on to become one of The Great …
Read MoreYour bloody nightmare, as promised, Sir! Plus my Shit List
Well. moving home has lived down to its billing. The majestic new couch wouldn’t go through the door at the new place so we had to put it in storage; the cleaners hadn’t cleaned properly; the man who brought the …
Read MoreCan making ice cream lead to an orgasm? – And other thoughts on leaving home
We’re moving home this week. As we all know this experience is supposed to be the third worst after bereavement and divorce, but my mood has been lightened today by a few glimpses 0f lunacy. First I saw across the …
Read MoreFinancial syphilis: “Give me your old, your gullible, your desperate” – Short of saying ‘this is all a pack of lies’ what could beat this?
If you’re a connoisseur of the great rip-off, “The League of Power” is always good for a laugh. I’ve been following their stuff since they first started promising me freedom by the weekend. Today they say “Life could be very …
Read MoreNew book and course coming up – plus a good joke that’s unfair to Americans
I have some new stuff for you soon – a new book, no less, which is really not new at all. (Yes: all marketers ARE liars). Plus a new course, which you may like. First, though, what is unfair to …
Read MoreTrue or false? And some thoughts on writing
“Be so true to thyself as thou be not false to others” – Francis Bacon, who many thought was the “real” Shakespeare. No wonder. Among my favourite quotations is Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet: “This above all: …
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