A Holiday Cheaper than Staying at Home

That was the essence of a new promotion by easyJet Holidays this week, that sold out the day it was announced.

To quote from a report:

The budget airline and travel company launched the month-long trip to Hurghada, Egypt, with much fanfare on 24 October.

With departures from early January costing £650 per person on an all-inclusive basis, easyJet Holidays said it could “confirm that yes, comparably, our new 28-day winter escape is cheaper than staying at home this year” due to soaring energy bills and inflation rates.

The package includes all accommodation and taxes at Stella Gardens Resort Hurghada, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and drinks, drinking water, wifi, flights and airport transfers, plus a 23kg hold bag per person.

Holidaymakers were clearly enticed by the low-cost deal, with the “Escape The UK Package” completely selling out on the day of release.

Team Love

From New Zealand: a new spot for not-for-profit health insurer Southern Cross features vignettes of leadership, team spirit, and a heart-warming rendition of a Neil Diamond classic.

Link to video

Middle Seat Lottery

Excerpts from a Business Traveller report:

Virgin Australia has launched a new initiative to entice customers to book middle seats on its aircraft.

The airline’s ‘Middle Seat Lottery’ gives those sat in middle seats on Virgin Australia-operated domestic flights the chance to win one of 26 prizes, which add up to a value of more than US$230,000.

The lottery will run until April 23, 2023, with a winner randomly selected every week and notified by email.

To mark the launch Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka surprised each guest in a middle seat on flight VA219 from Melbourne to Adelaide on Monday with a Virgin Voyages sailing trip valued at up to US$5,999.

Rishi Sunak… in one word

The results of a poll, as tweeted by market research consultancy Savanta ComRes:

‘Don’t Die Before You Try It’

A couple of darkly funny spots for fast casual restaurant chain Dave’s Hot Chicken.

-Sunroof
-Time Machine

Chocolate Calm

Snickers makes a compelling case for carrying a few bars whenever you take a flight.

Link to video

Blame it on Human Traffickers

Excerpts from a news report out of Iowa:

On October 15th, Dubuque Police were dispatched to the 900 block of Rhomberg Avenue for a report of a car accident.

Officers arrived on scene to find a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan belonging to 42-year-old Joanna Hanson had struck a 2016 Kia Sorento, causing $7000 worth of damage.

Hanson reportedly fled the scene before officers arrived.

She was later located and questioned by police. Hanson reportedly advised officers that she intentionally caused the accident in an attempt to get human traffickers to come take her, and that she had “back up” in the area that was waiting to save her after she was taken. She then advised that after her “back up” didn’t show, she got scared and fled the area.

Sneakers for Horses

As reported on the Sneaker Freaker website:

Sneaker customiser and The Shoe Surgeon SRGN Academy alumni Marcus Floyd is making literal ‘Horse Kicks’ – yes, sneakers for horses.

Floyd has reworked popular models, including the Air Jordan 1, New Balance 650 and Yeezy BOOST 350 V2, for equestrian use, using deconstruction and reconstruction techniques studied at the SRGN Academy. These sneakers’ familiar silhouettes have been retained while also meeting the unique ergonomics of horse hooves.

Lidl’s Lettuce Tweet

Self-explanatory, assuming you’ve been following the lettuce developments (pardon that weak attempt at punning).

Lettuce at 58p – a good buy

Liz Truss at Number 10 – a goodbye

— @LidlGB (@LidlGB) October 20, 2022

‘Posthumous Justice’ for Extinct Birds

Another day, another newsworthy development in the New Zealand Bird of the Year contest.  The organisers have posted a letter that they received, calling upon them to include a certain extinct bird as a candidate failing which the petitioner threatened “a class action on behalf of all the extinct birds of New Zealand, which will allege discrimination on the basis of conservation status.”

Musings on Mosquito Magnets

A new study on what makes some people “mosquito magnets” is making news.  The study indicates that it may have to do with skin odour differences, and the level of carboxylic acid on one’s skin.  The importance of that aside, the reporting makes for interesting reading.

Here’s a thought from the coverage in Scientific American:

If you find yourself covered in more bites than all of your friends, you can take solace in the idea that mosquitoes love your scent profile because it’s so distinctly human.

Here are a couple of statements attributed to one of the authors of the study:

This property of being a mosquito magnet sticks with you for your whole life—which is either good news or bad news, depending on who you are.

Mosquitoes are resilient. They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us.

Disbarred for Charisma

The New Zealand Bird of the Year competition is underway and, once again, things have got a bit delightfully heated, if you don’t mind my saying so.  This time it’s over the exclusion of a two-time winner from the ballot, on grounds of charisma (read: giving other birds a chance). 

Excerpts from a report in The Guardian:

New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition could usher in another round of controversy, with perennial favourite the kākāpō struck from the ballot after twice winning the competition.

The fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot is the only species to reign twice as New Zealand’s favourite bird, in 2020 and 2008. This year, however, it will be conspicuously absent, amid concerns that its continued dominance could divert the spotlight from less charismatic candidates.

A spokesperson for Forest and Bird, the election’s organisers, rejected claims that the kākāpō had been banned for good.

“No, not banned from entry. It’s a hiatus. It’s definitely not a lifetime ban,” Forest & Bird spokesperson Ellen Rykers said. “You know, if the same bird keeps winning every year, that might make it not so interesting.”

Rykers said that this year, 40 people had taken up roles as “campaign managers” for individual birds. Organisers are attempting to boost the profile of less glamorous birds – dubbed “underbirds” – that usually get negligible votes. Candidates in this category, including the grey duck and shore plover will be highlighted on the online ballot, in an attempt to spark underdog sympathies among voters.

A ‘Speed-dating Plant Event’

From the event description:

Is your current plantner too delicate, needy, prickly, or drinking too much?

Maybe they’re giving you the silent treatment, they don’t get on with your beloved pet, or you’ve simply outgrown each other?

If you've answered 'yes' to any of the above, join TV houseplant guru Mr Plant Geek and plant inspiration site The Joy of Plants this October for a free speed-dating event - with a difference.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show winner Ian Drummond will oversee the transformation of Mayfair’s The Lucky Club into a lush and sexy jungle while TV houseplant guru Mr Plant Geek will host plant match-making sessions – finding you the perfect connection whether you’re a hopeless romantic, a quiet intellectual, an animal lover, or an adventurer.

Attendees can enjoy one-on-one advice whilst sipping on complimentary plant-themed drinks and snacks… before heading home with their free, perfectly matched plant partner - for more than just a one-night stand.

Phantasmal Metaverse

A tongue-in-cheek spot for Archer Roose Wines has Elizabeth Banks taking a dig at the metaverse.

Link to video

RIP Robbie Coltrane

The World is Not Enough (1999)
  -“I’m looking for a submarine”

Prime Cracker (with Helen Mirren, for Comic Relief 1997)

RIP Angela Lansbury

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
  -“I wanted a killer”

One tribute described this as “the greatest villain monologue in film history” by “the most evil movie mother ever”.

Ads That Save You

From Thailand: a couple of wacky spots for Roojai insurance that extend the idea of ‘saving’- which is central to insurance- to the design of the ads. 

Save Your Emotions

Save Your Ears

When Fun Met Efficiency

Imagine two trucks rolling over each other.  Except that this is not an accident, they are- believe it or not- in love with each other.  That’s the surreal premise driving a new spot for Volvo Trucks.

Link to video

Bill it to Bezos

From Canada: an innovative idea to fund an impoverished community centre via a little-known option (“loophole”) available to Amazon Prime members (at no additional cost).

Link to the cheeky explainer video

Link to detailed report

Vegetarian Vampire PSA

For its Halloween promotion this year, Heinz has once again announced the release of a limited edition Tomato Blood Ketchup.  At the heart of the campaign is an ‘informational PSA’ fronted by a ‘vegetarian vampire’.

Link to video