new york times

A Concise Anthology of Deadly Advertising Slogans

Marketing has been with us in one guise or another for over two thousand years. In fact, it’s often reckoned to be the world’s eighth oldest profession. (Some wags have commented on its remarkable resemblance to the thirteenth oldest; research marketing. That’s a fair point.) But for all that it has done for the betterment of mankind, there remain those who look upon this profession with distain.

For proof, look no further than the books of Naomi Klein, the comedy of Bill Hicks, the paranoid ramblings of Thom Yorke or any of the host of other more up-to-date pop culture references I will no doubt have come up by the time this article goes to print… Read the rest of this article here.

Published: The Dubliner, June 2010

In case anyone was worried I wasn’t using my break from blogging productively

It’s one o’clock in the afternoon. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. And I’m plonked on the couch in my boxer shorts eating Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes and watching the World Cup. Watching football while everyone else is at work? Christ, it’s good to be alive. If someone had asked me when I was a kid, what kind of life I wanted when I grew up – I gotta tell you, I’d have settled for a lot less than this.

The postman sneaks his nose around the open door. There are a couple of bills for me. Who’s winning, he asks? Serbia, I say. Klose has just been sent off. Postman looks pissed off. Miroslav Klose, he asks? Yup. Shite, I have him on my Fantasy Football team. Read the rest of this entry »

Christ, I’m having that dream again…

A CONCISE ANTHOLOGY OF DEADLY ADVERTISING SLOGANS

Marketing has been with us in one guise or another for over two thousand years. In fact, it’s often reckoned to be the world’s eighth oldest profession. (Some wags have commented on its remarkable resemblance to the thirteenth oldest; research marketing. That’s a fair point.) But for all that it has done for the betterment of mankind, there remain those who look upon this profession with distain.

For proof, look no further than the books of Naomi Klein, the comedy of Bill Hicks, the paranoid ramblings of Thom Yorke or any of the host of other more up-to-date pop culture references I will no doubt have come up by the time this article goes to print… Read the rest of this article here.

THIS MORNING ON THE INTERNET I LEARNED…

1. That 95% of blogs have been abandoned.
2. That the headless torso of a woman discovered in a Berlin hospital is believed to be that of Rosa Luxemburg. So who the hell is buried in Rosa Luxemburg’s grave?
3. That an Australian news anchor has rebuked Gordon Ramsey live on air for calling her a pig and a lesbian. (Ramsey has issued a belated apology, but only after prompting from his own mother: his mother being the sole female whose wishes a misogynistic arsehole like Ramsey can be seen to defer to.)
4. That Nicholas Sarkozy has serious, serious height issues.
5. And finally, they don’t come much smaller than this… That Brian Kerr is just about coping with the pressures of the coveted Faroe Islands job.

SOCK IT TO ME, POPS

Pop quiz: Would you be willing to slap your father in the face, with his permission, as part of a comedy skit? And, secondly: would it disgust you to discover that you had accidentally taken a sip from an acquaintance’s drink?

Your response to these questions, apparently, reveals much about your likely political orientation. Read the rest of this entry »

IF THAT’S A FACT, TELL ME… AM I LYING?

A report in today’s New York Times suggests that Christopher Walken’s Don Vincenzo, in this famous scene from True Romance, may actually have gotten it all wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

“WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD USE THIS? A PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT?”

Oddly heart-warming video from the New York Times today about two Pakistani brothers who chanced their way into a most unlikely business venture. Two working class entrepreneurs in Karachi have amassed a $1m fortune exporting leather fetish and bondage gear to Europe and the U.S. But their employees have absolutely no idea what the products they’re manufacturing are used for.

A CONCISE ANTHOLOGY OF DEADLY ADVERTISING SLOGANS

Marketing has been with us in one guise or another for over two thousand years. In fact, it’s often reckoned to be the world’s eighth oldest profession. (Some wags have commented on its remarkable resemblance to the thirteenth oldest; research marketing. That’s a fair point.) But for all that it has done for the betterment of mankind, there remain those who look upon this profession with distain.

For proof, look no further than the books of Naomi Klein, the comedy of Bill Hicks, the paranoid ramblings of Thom Yorke or any of the host of other more up-to-date pop culture references I will no doubt have come up by the time this article goes to print… Read the rest of this article here.

Published: Mongrel Magazine, April 2006

A concise anthology of deadly advertising slogans

Marketing has been with us in one guise or another for over two thousand years. In fact, it’s often reckoned to be the world’s eighth oldest profession. (Some wags have commented on its remarkable resemblance to the thirteenth oldest; research marketing. That’s a fair point.) But for all that it has done for the betterment of mankind, there remain those who look upon this profession with distain.

For proof, look no further than the books of Naomi Klein, the comedy of Bill Hicks, the paranoid ramblings of Thom Yorke or any of the host of other more up-to-date pop culture references I will no doubt have come up by the time this article goes to print… Read the rest of this entry »