A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

 

Thought for the week

“The political climate is very much worse than 2005. We are living in a climate of very nasty and angry politics on issues like immigration and welfare at the moment, and it is building. We have to be very careful to make sure this does not tip over into something much more dangerous.” Former Home Secretary David Blunkett, discussing the current atmosphere on Britain’s streets and in the corridors of Westminster following the recent atrocity in Woolwich.

Weekly high

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.

Weekly low

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!