A weekly roundup of media news and talking points, sans effort

 

Thought for the Week

“We can do no great things- only small things with great love.” Mother Theresa offering inspirational words, which, although spoken many years ago, seemed fitting considering it’s Valentine’s Day.

Weekly High

The BrewDog brand is no stranger to eyebrow raising campaigns, as such the company’s latest effort didn’t surprise us that much. Nevertheless, we love the idea of Hello, My Name Is Vladimir- ‘the world’s first protest beer’. Putin’s face adorns the rainbow coloured label, with the satirical tagline reading ‘This beer is definitely not for gays’ in an attempt to send a message to Russia about the country’s so-called anti-gay propaganda laws. Apparently, the witty marketing team also sent a box of the tipple to The Kremlin, although they are still waiting for a reply.

 

Weekly Low

Now we’re definitely not trying to say UK politicians and the Environment Agency are capable of beating back nature and putting an end to the seemingly perpetual bad weather the South West England has endured for months now. But what we are saying is that the way in which the issue has been handled has been close to catastrophic, and amounts to a disastrous PR fail for the government and shadow ministers alike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drwL4MjHmoU

Stories to keep an eye on… 

*A petition for UK drug law reform could be debated in the House of Commons after signatures surpassed the 100,000 mark. Russell Brand’s support may have also contributed to the obvious appeal. Or not. 
*NME- once Britain’s bi-weekly music bible- has now dropped below the 20,000 circulation mark, yet publisher’s claim revenue and reach is growing. 

*The Guardian has officially launched a new branded content division, Guardian Labs, with Unilever signing a reported seven-figure-contract to begin using the service.  

Just in case you missed it…

Facebook has introduced a series of new gender identity based option changes, allowing people to choose from some 50 terms to describe themselves, with words and phrases such as androgynous, bi-gender, intersex, gender fluid and transsexual also available to use. Read the full 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!