Pity the cool

Big brand manipulation, the new positivity, a ride through the streets of London courtsey of Nike, and the latest advancement in robotics that will have you triple locking your door.

Remember that nightmare you had about an organ made of Furbys? That wasn’t a nightmare.

Pierce Brosnan has been left shaken (not stirred) this week after an Indian spit tobacco campaign the James Bond actor starred in could see the actor potentially facing up to two years of jail time in India.

Not all heroes wear capes.

‘One in six queries asked on Google have never been asked in the history of mankind’ says professor of marketing, Scott Galloway as he breaks down how Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions.

A rant of spectacular proportions.

Is this the very end of agencies as we know it? Brands now want streamlined partners who help them build trust – here’s how you go about doing that.

Perfection is boring. The new positivity is here, and the industry best embrace it – warts and all.

Never work with children or animals. Advice repeatedly ignored by advertising director, Dougal Wilson. Discover the tricks he uses to get great performances out of the new kids on the block.

‘Thanks to Unilever we will get fewer stereotypes’ says Mark Ritson, speaking out on the organisation’s good intentions ‘and a gradually improving measurement and delivery infrastructure for digital media’ But are their demands of digital platforms completely futile?

2017 was a funny old year for stumbling-out-of-the-kebab-shop’s favourite, Uber. And despite signs that the company was pulling back from the brink in the latter part of last year, figures showed its losses swelled to $4.5 billion, compared to $2.8 billion in 2016.

71 dead. Still no arrests? How come? Activists in London recreated a scene from film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri this week drawing attention to the lack of progress made in the investigation since the Grenfell Tower fire, in June last year.

If you haven’t fallen for the charms of Nike and Widen+Kennedy’s latest ad spot; take three, kick back and get stuck in.

This is London.

We’ve come a long way from Daleks not being able to get upstairs. Lock all doors immediately.

The Winter Olympics. Like the normal Olympics, except nobody can feel their fingers or toes.

Alongside the athleticism, you’d do well to miss North Korea’s cheerleaders; a display of somewhat unnerving synchronisation that is both highly impressive and disconcertingly hypnotic.

And if your friend thinks curling isn’t cool - pity the fool.

Different era. Different Frank. Same song – sort of. Moon River, but not as you know it.

Not many artists can claim to be known for performing on their front porch - but that is most certainly the case for Mississippi’s R.L. Boyce.

After a lifetime of improvised blues lyrics and guitar riffs, Boyce has brought his music to the world – hear more from the man, the legend in A Two Letter Word.