Life’s Biggest Bill
From Australia: online restaurant-reservation service, OpenTable, marked Mother’s Day with a one-of-a-kind receipt.
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Car Chosen
A new spot for automobile brand Cupra finds inspiration in an iconic scene—and an iconic character—from the Harry Potter series.
Firing squad welcome
From Mississippi: the DeSoto County District Attorney’s Office has put out this Facebook post showcasing one of its billboards:
DA Barton welcomes you to Mississippi.
‘The Devil may wear Prada but the Pope wears Nike’
No, that’s not a slogan for Nike. Not yet, anyway. Rather, it’s the headline for a report on a website that tracks brands and campaigns, and which took note of the Pope’s sneakers, as seen in the trailer of a forthcoming documentary.
To quote from the report:
Nike’s most unexpected brand ambassador wears a cassock
A trailer released by Vatican News for Leone a Roma — a documentary marking the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate — has gone viral for a reason its makers almost certainly didn’t anticipate.
In a brief clip from the two-minute video, the Pope is seen wearing a pair of box-fresh white Nike sneakers, the black Swoosh clearly visible beneath his official vestments.
As for what may have led to the Pope’s choice, the report had this to say:
Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, has form as a sports fan: he’s a documented White Sox supporter and a city native who came of age during the Jordan-era Bulls.
The Nike loyalty, in that context, feels less surprising than it perhaps should.
‘Adopt Me’ Dog Kills Pet At Marathon Event
To quote from a report out of Washington state, USA:
The Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County says it is reviewing its policies and taking responsibility after a dog being showcased for adoption at the Tacoma City Marathon fatally attacked another attendee’s pet.
The incident happened Sunday, May 3, near the finish area at Dune Peninsula in Point Defiance Park, according to the Humane Society and witnesses.
The dog involved, identified by witnesses as “Dallas,” was reportedly wearing an “Adopt Me” vest and was accompanied by a Humane Society volunteer at the time of the attack.
The Humane Society later confirmed Dallas was classified as dangerous following the attack and was euthanized.
When a bank rep hung up on the Pope…
It’s a story that was narrated by Rev. Tom McCarthy—a friend of Pope Leo XIV—at a recent talk titled ‘Pope Fiction.’ This is how one report summarized it:
Two months into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV called his bank in South Chicago to change his phone number and address.
The former Robert Prevost answered all his security questions posed by the teller, but there was still a problem.
To change his phone number and address, he was told he’d have to show up in person.
“‘Well, I’m not going to be able to do that,’” said Pope Leo, according to his longtime friend, the Rev. Tom McCarthy, who told the story April 29 to the Fishers of Men at Saints Peter and Paul in Naperville.
“‘We can’t do it over the phone?’” the pope asked, according to McCarthy. “‘I already gave you all the security questions.’”
After that, he tried pulling rank.
“Would it matter to you if I told you I’m Pope Leo?” the pope apparently asked.
Click.
“She hung up on him,” McCarthy said. “Could you imagine being known as the woman who hung up on the pope?”
So, the pope made some more phone calls.
He reached McCarthy’s classmate, the Rev. Bernie Scianna, who “somehow” got someone who reached the bank’s president, McCarthy said. The bank’s president reiterated the bank’s policy: Customers must change their phone number or address in person, not over the phone.
When Scianna threatened to move Pope Leo’s account to a different bank, the president said the bank didn’t want to lose the pope’s account.
Shortly after that, the bank followed through, and changed the information on Pope Leo’s account.
‘Points of view’, 40 years on
The Guardian has brought back its iconic 1986 advert, with added context for the current times.
Dark Mode Ads
It’s an initiative from renewable energy utilities firm Plenitude, launched across Italy, Spain, and France, to reduce energy consumption by transforming LED advertising screens to ‘dark mode’ while “preserving their visual effectiveness”.
Online review of skirt leads to deportation
To quote from a news report:
A court in Russia’s central Tula region has ruled that a foreign national must be deported over a review he left for a leather skirt that he purchased online.
The man was cited for a review he posted in September 2025 on a faux leather skirt sold on the e-commerce site Wildberries. According to the court ruling, which was flagged by Mediazona, he uploaded photos of himself wearing the skirt and wrote: "What a lovely little skirt! It hides not just the flaws in my figure, but also the fact that I'm a guy."
The court described the review as "openly promoting the appeal of non-traditional sexual orientations." The man admitted guilt and asked the court not to deport him. The ruling notes that the review has since been taken down.
He was detained on 23 April. After serving five days of administrative arrest, he was to be transferred to a temporary detention centre for foreign nationals in the town of Kimovsk, where he can be held for up to 90 days pending deportation.
Great characters, with you forever
The staying power of movies is delightfully visualised in this new spot for Vue Cinemas, directed by Taika Waititi.
Adidas unveils World Cup jerseys for dogs
To quote from the press release:
adidas today unveils the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Home Jerseys Pet Collection, bringing the iconic tournament looks to four selected federations for the first time – and ensuring that fans’ most loyal companions can now join the matchday lineup.
Launching across North America, Latin America and selected markets in Asia, the new collection allows football fans to kit out their favourite furry companions in matching federation colours and celebrate their love for the game together. The range features pet jerseys inspired by the home kits of Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Japan.
This is how ESPN headlined its reporting of this news:
Dress your dog like Messi with 2026 World Cup kits for pets!
This is how SportsLogos.net headlined its coverage:
Adidas Goes to the Dogs With Launch of World Cup Kits for Pets
Also of note is this comment by a co-founder of the Scottish Football Supporters Association, as quoted by The Daily Star:
We are really disappointed that there is no Scotland kits for dogs.
We have rich history of dogs following many of our teams and feel that Adidas should maybe rethink things before the World Cup kicks off.
S. Africa withdraws AI policy… because of AI
South Africa has withdrawn its first draft national AI policy after revelations that it contained fictitious sources in its reference list which appeared to have been AI-generated.
“The most plausible explanation is that AI-generated citations were included without proper verification. This should not have happened,” Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi said.
“This failure is not a mere technical issue but has compromised the integrity and credibility of the draft policy,” he wrote in a post on X on Sunday.
‘Test’ foot forward
In a new spot for Decathlon, a robot ends up getting first-hand experience of the MH900 hiking shoes.
Sam Peckinpah, as immortalised on IMDb
IMDb biographies can be expected to be formally worded and loaded (or overloaded) with praise. Consider, then, the bio of Sam Peckinpah, which starts with this unconventional introduction:
“If they move”, commands stern-eyed William Holden, “kill ’em”. So begins The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah’s bloody, high-body-count eulogy to the mythologized Old West. “Pouring new wine into the bottle of the Western, Peckinpah explodes the bottle”, observed critic Pauline Kael. That exploding bottle also christened the director with the nickname that would forever define his films and reputation: “Bloody Sam”.
And this is how it concludes:
Peckinpah lived life to its fullest. He drank hard and abused drugs, producers and collaborators. At the end of his life he was considering a number of projects including the Stephen King-scripted “The Shotgunners”. He was returning from Mexico in December 1984 when he died from heart failure in a hospital in Inglewood, California, at age 59. At a standing-room-only gathering that held at the Directors Guild the following month, [James] Coburn remembered the director as a man “who pushed me over the abyss and then jumped in after me. He took me on some great adventures”. To which Robert Culp added that what is surprising is not that Sam only made fourteen pictures, but that given the way he went about it, he managed to make any at all.
Lovehoney wants you to read closely
The sex toys retailer has a new campaign that uses the format of an optician’s eye test to plant its message.
As explained in an elaborate piece (that also details the challenges that the campaign faced):
We recognise that sexual wellness advertising operates within stricter guidelines. This campaign wasn’t designed to be immediately explicit; its meaning reveals itself on closer reading. This raises questions about which expressions of sexuality are allowed space in public view and in short, a campaign about visibility was hidden.
As explained on social media:
Maybe it’s time for an eye test
Because le$bian pl3asure is still misunderstood, reduced, and rejected by mainstream and social media.
Even the word “le$bian” needs censoring. That says enough.
To travel is to live
A new spot for luxury hospitality group Beaumier Hotels presents a soothing montage of “unfiltered moments” across its property locations in France, Spain, and Switzerland.
Accented Charm
British Airways has a new campaign to celebrate “how a distinctly British accent can elevate even the most everyday moments.”
Links to videos:
Creatively apologetic
From Germany: in a new spot for flower delivery network Fleurop, a young man goes to absurd lengths to say ‘sorry’ before opting for something rather simple.
‘Naturalists… not Naturists’
To quote a post by the Cumbria Nature Festival:
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION
After a recent enquiry we need to clarify - Cumbria Nature Festival is primarily aimed at NATURALISTS… not NATURISTS. Whilst we aim to be as inclusive as possible, and certainly do not judge anyone, we are aiming the event at wildlife enthusiasts. Please do dress appropriately.
And if anyone else has booked in error, please contact us immediately for a full refund.
To quote one of the comments posted:
Both look at tits but for different reasons
A spa day from hell, literally
A sauna with a magnifying-glass roof, set up in a desert no less, is the setting for the latest spot in Columbia Sportswear’s ‘Engineered for Whatever’ campaign.