Fishy business

A great advert for Britain, the welcome return of Ray’s boxer shorts, a fish who ain’t going down without a fight and a tiny panda in a tiny jumper.

Reaffirming what we all already knew, rich people really are tight.

It ain’t all London, baby.

In partnership with LinkedIn, the Advertising Association published its latest report this week, revealing about 43% of our industry work in the capital, with the other 57% scattered across our beloved lands.

‘The UK’s creative crown is in jeopardy’ according to the AA, who alongside the report, launched the campaign ‘A Great Advert for Britain’ to celebrate the role of foreign workers in the game. But how will we keep off-shore talent with us in a post-Brexit age?

Talking talent: faces to watch this year.

Screens. Just look at you, drinking one in right this very second. How have these four sided beasts come to shape our existence?

On the big screen, Marvel have unleashed a new king to set goose pimples a-pimpling with their latest trailer for Black Panther. A revolutionary step forward for film, fans will have to wait until February 2018 to see the newest hero in town in all his badass glory.

Nobody panic, but the French are in charge of Christmas.

With the agency landscape under scrutiny like never before, is this the beginning of the end for the big five agency holding groups? Following Mark Ritson’s take on media buying’s crisis, Marketing Week’s Thomas Hobbs explores the benefits of taking things in-house, where the industry bodies stand and whether these are souls, who can in fact, be saved.

Remember the nineties?

Oh Ray, how we’ve missed thee.

In a stereotypically nineties cliché, the ad debuted during Channel 4’s TFI Friday on October 17 1997. Airing only 10 times before the media budget was used up, the ad proved so popular that Ray and his fuschia under-carriage became a fixture of the show.

On its 20^th anniversary, one of its copywriters, Chas Bayfield speaks of its origins and what the industry can learn from its legacy.

Elsewhere, fishy business. And by business we mean attempted murder.

Sunseeker’s favourite, Thompson is no more. After two years of slowly shedding the household name, the company have rebranded as TUI. Launching their latest ad campaign, an all-singing, all-dancing musical manifestation by the brand’s long-standing partner, Y&R.

At the news that women don’t produce the nectar of smurf village from their bodies once a month; Bodyform are tackling the period taboo in their latest digital ad.

Breast cancer health and education charity, CoppaFeel! has been given permission to show full-frontal breasts on daytime TV for the first time ever, with the aim of encouraging women to check themselves for unusual changes.

The #TrustYourTouch campaign, created in partnership with Fold7, looks to highlight the importance of using your touch to ensure early detection of lumps or bumps.

Netflix have had a good week. Or make that a good year, as the streaming service announced record subscriber growth – with the company now on track to exceed $11 billion in revenue for 2017 according to their Q3 earning report.

If you think 48 hours of happy hardcore would be enough to destroy any man’s soul, then you’d be right.

David and Goliath. Blur and Oasis. Alan Sugar and Piers Morgan.

Lest we forget IKEA monkey. The lost, meandering soul of 2012 that captured hearts across the world, with no true explanation as to why it was found pacing the aisles of IKEA in a tiny sheepskin jacket.

In a similar vein - Tile, the Bluetooth-enabled tracking system, have released their first major ad campaign. A story inspired by an actual Tile customer, a young girl who lost her stuffed animal, the two-minute tear-jerker tells the sad, sweet saga of Ernie, the lost panda.

Look, he's got a little knitted jumper and everything.