‘An insult to the Irish’

That was what a pubgoer had to say after being served a pint of Guinness in a Coors glass at a bar in Galway, Ireland- which was enough to make news headlines. 

To quote from a local report:

Paying a visit to the bar last week, the pubgoer recounted that everything was going smoothly until they were served their pint of black stuff.

To their horror, the pub had served them their Guinness in a Coors glass.

They said: “This is a sin...any good Irish person knows the unspoken civil law to respect the Guinness and its glass.”

It was insult to injury from there, however, as they complained to staff about the issue but say they did not receive the sympathy they felt they deserved.

They continued: “They then tried to charge me for the rectification of the issue and after I refused to pay they gave me a Guinness glass and forced me to pour the Guinness into it, absolutely destroying the pint.”

Genuinely Close

From Germany: a stunning new spot for haircare brand Guhl places the iconic 90s song ‘What is Love’ amidst moments of tender intimacy and vulnerability.

Link to video

2022 Ig Nobels

A few of the winner citations:

Literature Prize
“for analyzing what makes legal documents unnecessarily difficult to understand.”

Biology Prize
“for studying whether and how constipation affects the mating prospects of scorpions.”

Engineering Prize
“for trying to discover the most efficient way for people to use their fingers when turning a knob.”

Peace Prize
“for developing an algorithm to help gossipers decide when to tell the truth and when to lie.”

Applied Cardiology Prize
“for seeking and finding evidence that when new romantic partners meet for the first time and feel attracted to each other, their heart rates synchronize.”

Economics Prize
“for explaining mathematically why success most often goes not to the most talented people but instead to the luckiest.”

Link to full report

RIP Henry Silva

To quote from one tribute:

American movie villain royalty… Such a striking look, so much screen presence.

As the hitman in Sharky’s Machine (1981)

Offended Hiring

A Manchester-based small creative agency has put out recruitment posters that walk a thin line between candour, and risking offending applicants as well as potential clients. To quote the co-founder:

Some people aren’t going to like these job ads.

Which is kind of the point

As it happens, the firm goes by the name of Offended.

 

World’s Stinkiest Sock

Some context:

To showcase the benefits of Lysol Laundry Sanitizer, Lysol scientists worked tirelessly to create what they believe to be the World’s Stinkiest Sock – using a synthetic formula that represents the worst foot stink, inspired by every day, odor-causing bacteria.

Link to video

Trapped (Season 3)

The first season of Trapped is one of the finest pieces of long-form crime drama.  The second season was a respectable follow-up that was marred by some questionable writing. 

Season 3 has two immediately noticeable differences.  One, Netflix prefers to call it Entrapped (the Icelandic title remains the same).  Two, it is much shorter- just over half the running time of the first two seasons.

It starts off on a somewhat underwhelming note.  For the first three of the six episodes it follows a watchable but meandering narrative.  It is only at the end of the fourth episode that it picks up pace.  But it is the final reveal that is the real standout.  It elevates all that has happened before.  It also brings protagonist Andri’s personal story to a satisfying conclusion. 

You need to have watched Season 1 to fully understand Andri’s character arc.  Moreover, there are narrative threads that connect to events that happened in the first season. 

Link to trailer

‘Interspecies innovation arms race’

As reported in The Guardian:

Cockatoos and humans are locked in what Australian researchers have described as “an interspecies innovation arms race”.

Sydney residents are resorting to increasingly sophisticated measures to prevent sulphur-crested cockatoos from opening and raiding household wheelie bins, detailed in new research published in the journal Current Biology.

The study, led by Dr Barbara Klump of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, documented 52 combinations of techniques used by humans to deter the birds from their bin-raiding antics.

The challenge for humans is to secure the bins in a way that still allows them to be opened and emptied by automated garbage trucks.

The most basic cockatoo deterrent was the use of a brick or other heavy item to weigh down a lid. “We have definitely seen cockatoos frequently pushing those off,” said Dr Richard Major, a senior fellow at the Australian Museum and one of the study’s co-authors. “It’s a lot of fun watching a cockatoo pushing a brick off – you almost sense the satisfaction it gets as it does it.”

Undergarment Reminder for Witnessing Execution

The visitation rules of the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) include a clause that states that visitors must wear “a complete set of undergarments”.  Prison officials, it seems, are finding it necessary to reiterate this requirement to journalists who are planning to witness a forthcoming execution. 

To quote from one news report:

Alabama prison officials are reminding members of the media to “wear a complete set of undergarments” if they plan to witness the execution of Alan Eugene Miller scheduled for later this month.

In a media advisory sent ahead of Miller’s scheduled execution by lethal injection, the Alabama Department of Corrections wrote that reporters would be required to adhere to a dress code outlined in the agency’s administrative regulations. That policy, which applies to visitors of the prison and has no specific guidelines for journalists or executions, includes a requirement that “visitor(s) must wear a complete set of undergarments.”

Several sections of the policy attached to ADOC’s media advisory were highlighted in yellow by the agency, including the regulation on undergarments.

Every Moment is a Bet

An amusing new spot for betting site FanDuel Sportsbook makes the case that betting is an inseparable aspect of our lives.

Link to video

Cocaine Discounts… in Honour of the Queen

Excerpts from a Vice report:

Drug dealers are marking Queen Elizabeth II’s death by messaging customers with their condolences alongside specially discounted products including cocaine, weed and ketamine.

In a screenshot attached to a viral tweet, one seller sent out a mail shot text 13 minutes after the Queen’s death at the age of 96 was announced on Thursday with a list of drugs and prices, including an ounce of weed for £150 and £30 grams of ketamine. Then they told their customers they were offering “a queen’s dead discount on everything ask me for details”.

It’s not the first time dealers have stepped up selling gack on the back of the Queen. In June one crew told its customers during the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations marking 70 years on the throne: “Next 4 days of party with queeny if you want to get higher than her highness, call me, jubilee deals.”

Consent Classification

From Australia: a campaign to spotlight movie scenes demonstrating lack of sexual consent, and to push for their classification.

Link to introduction video

Link to supercut of movie clips

A Case for Avoiding Synthetic Fabrics

Every 25 minutes, an Olympic-sized pool of oil is used to make synthetic clothing.

I can’t comment to the truth of this statement but it sure sounds scary.  Set against some stunning but equally scary imagery, it’s at the heart of a new spot to promote the use of wool. 

Link to video

Second Chance

From Germany: a splendidly crafted commercial for eBay Motors that blends brand messaging with wonderful storytelling.  It’s been helmed by Swedish/Brazilian director Joanna Nordahl.

Link to video (Director’s cut, 5 minutes)

Alternative link

Anything for the taste

From South Africa: a delightful spot for KFC that is based on “real fake news stories”.

Link to video

Game Scent Match

Sports betting and gaming company DraftKings joins a growing list of brands launching unusual, one-off, limited-edition fragrances. To quote from the announcement tweet:

Do you want to smell like fresh tennis balls? Of course you do.

Place a bet on the NY Tennis Major for your chance to win a bottle of our new fragrance, Love Love.

The oddness of the initiative is perfectly captured by the tongue-in-cheek promotional video.

Beauty Insecurity

From Sweden: a series of spots for beauty and hair care chain Lyko that mine our insecurities for humour, and test the limits of what is acceptable to show or say in commercials.

-Indie or Army?
-MILF or MILC?
-Right or Left?

Ice-cream to make you feel like a millionaire

From Canada: the Government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has tied up with a Toronto-based ice-cream shop and some food scientists to create a range ice-cream bars, intended to give a taste of the “millionaire life”.  To quote from one report:

The Rare Oil Painting flavour tastes like a modern masterpiece that incorporates olive oil, fresh mid-tannins and a hint of oil paint

The Private Island flavour includes delicious notes of seawater: salty, sandy and fresh with Pacific Ocean Konbu seaweed, rounded out with lingering hints of lychee and orange blossom, giving the taste of owning your own tropical island

The Designer Handbag tastes like rich leather, tannins of smoky notes throughout and finishes with a vibrant floral note which one can find at designer boutiques

What’s more, each purchase comes with a chance to win a lottery jackpot.

Link to video

Goose Flight

This new spot for Emirates airline meshes a great idea with solid execution and chucklesome little touches.

Link to video

Larry for Leader

A spoof campaign to add some colour to the contest for the leadership of the UK Conservative Party.  For more context, you could look up Larry’s Wikipedia page and Twitter profile.