Personal care brand EOS, probably best known for its offerings for ladies, and its out-of-the-box campaigns (see this and this), is now making a pitch at “male-identifying” consumers with a shaving cream that takes aim at the stereotypes trotted out by the competition.
To quote from an AP report:
Northern Mexico has developed such a habit of exotic animals and violence, that people not only keep tigers as pets, they steal them.
Prosecutors in the violent northern state of Sonora said Tuesday they are searching for a full-grown Bengal tiger named Baluma. They said the 5-year-old male tiger was stolen Monday from a home in the state capital, Hermosillo.
Prosecutors distributed photos of the big cat resting in its cage alongside a dog, hoping residents will phone police if they see the tiger.
Mexico has long had a problem with people keeping — and occasionally losing control of — large cats, which are sometimes found at drug traffickers’ residences and are occasionally seen wandering loose.
A new spot for Barilla brilliantly reimagines what is possibly the most iconic pasta-centered movie scene ever.
A couple of recent tweets from the US Transportation Security Administration that have attracted some attention:
From an opinion piece arguing for leniency for Filippo Bernardini, who gained widespread attention after his arrest—and subsequent trial—for impersonating literary agents and book publishers.
Your honor, if you’re reading this, please turn the poor guy loose.
There are crimes and there are crimes, and this…isn’t really a crime. Right? A lonely fantasist tricking a handful of agents into leaking manuscripts so that he can feel the illicit thrill of reading them a few months early is as close to a victimless offense as I can imagine.
We didn’t send any bankers to jail after the financial collapse. No Sacklers will serve time for their part in the American opioid epidemic. Surely we can’t condemn this meek Italian bookworm to the depravity of the US prison system? (We really shouldn’t be condemning anyone to the depravity of the US prison system, but that’s an op-ed for another day).
Turn Filippo loose. He’s agreed to a hefty fine ($88,000, or two years’ pre-tax entry-level publishing salary), been threatened by the FBI, held in custody for over a year, and publicly humiliated. That’s enough. Let him diminish and go into the west (Sardinia), where he can sit by the water and read his beloved books in peace…on or after their official publication dates, of course.
Whether the judge actually read this opinion piece may never be known. What is known is that Bernardini was sentenced on Thursday to time served, thus avoiding prison on a charge that carried up to 20 years in prison.
You can stop over at no extra cost, but you’re going to find it hard to leave. That may sound rather ominous but it is the basis of a fun campaign for Icelandair, and Iceland.
That’s how an AP report is describing a bear that, last month, escaped twice from St. Louis Zoo. To quote:
An escape-artist bear from Missouri is headed to a Texas zoo with a moat in hopes that it will put an end to his wandering.
The St. Louis Zoo cited the “specific and unique personality” of the Andean bear named Ben in announcing the move Tuesday. His soon-to-be home at the Gladys Porter Zoo near South Padre Island in Brownsville, Texas, has a long history of working with Andean bears. But it’s still adding some extra security measures.
“We’re confident it’s going to be good for Ben,” said Walter Dupree, the Texas zoo’s curator of mammals.
Ben gained notoriety in February by busting out of his habitat twice.
From France: men’s health association CerHom shares how it decided on a rather unusual way to get men to have a medical examination of their private parts.
Earlier this month, cereal brand Surreal launched this tongue-in-cheek outdoor campaign.
And then there was a fresh set of billboards, explained by this tweet:
OUR LAWYERS WROTE THESE ADS
They had some “feedback” about the last ones, so we figured we'd let them write the next ones.
As you can see, they’ve really nailed it.
To quote from a news report:
Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided Barron v. Kolenda, a case in which a resident of Southborough was ordered to leave a town meeting after (correctly) accusing the board of selectmen of violating open meeting laws, characterizing them as spending like “drunken sailors,” and describing one of the members as “a Hitler.” The state supreme court declared unconstitutional the town’s public comment policy, which requires remarks in public meetings to be “respectful and courteous, free of rude, personal, or slanderous remarks.” Civility, the court held, can’t be required in a public comment session of a governmental meeting.
From Northern Ireland: a delightful series of spots for fruit drink brand Fulla Juice.
To quote from a news report about a short-lived recruitment drive by Russian mercenary group Wagner:
The video ad proclaimed: "We are the f*cking greatest private military company in the world, stop masturbating and go to the front!"
Another tagline read: “Take the other barrel in your hand.”
The mercenary group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said the idea was ‘excellent’ but Porn Hub is already reported to have taken down the highly controversial ads.
Excerpt from a WSJ opinion piece on the fall of Silicon Valley Bank:
Was there regulatory failure? Perhaps. SVB was regulated like a bank but looked more like a money-market fund. Then there’s this: In its proxy statement, SVB notes that besides 91% of their board being independent and 45% women, they also have “1 Black,” “1 LGBTQ+” and “2 Veterans.” I’m not saying 12 white men would have avoided this mess, but the company may have been distracted by diversity demands.
To quote from the Škoda website:
Many dogs struggle with travelling in the car and get stressed in and around automobiles. To celebrate its sponsorship of Crufts 2023, Škoda is working with canine behavioural expert Anna Webb to help relieve this stress by creating a Spotify playlist, named Happy Hounds, specifically curated to soothe anxious dogs on car journeys.
The music on this playlist will be scientifically proven to relieve a dog’s anxiety in the car, thanks to its slow BPM (beats per minute), calming tones and repetition. It will be supported by science and Anna’s expertise after 20 years in the business.
