Coca-Cola is thought to be considering dropping their sponsorship deal with Wayne Rooney, following allegations that he had sex with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant. According to a report in last week’s Sunday Times, executives at the soft drink company’s USA head office have ordered its British wing to axe the England and Manchester United star over concerns that the revelations will taint its image as a family-friendly brand. (more…)

This post is filed under: Brand Marketing, Sponsorship, Sport

In the past ten years Big Brother has been a intrinsic part of our summers, filling the void of the “no man’s land” between the Spring and Autumn TV scheduling. But over that decade, it has become so much more than a stop gap or filler in the TV schedules. Big Brother has become woven into the fabric of the tapestry of our lives, and the public conciousness, as has the bridge between Big Brother housemates and viewers: the indefatigable and incomparable Davina McCall.

Davina McCall’s cheeky irreverence and quick wit, became “must see” viewing on Friday nights for ten years and cemented the foundations of the venerable institution that Big Brother became. Whether by accident or design, she became Big Brother’s Big Sister, dispensing “tea and sympathy”, support and empathy to bewildered, nervous contestants on their eviction; or gently deflating big egos with humour and incisive wit. During the ten year tenure of Big Brother, she has become a mother on three occasions, giving her “Yummy Mummy” status as well. Davina McCall oozes sexuality but imperatively, because she possesses a strong nurturing, maternal streak, this is in no way threatening to female contestants and viewers alike. This was paramount, as the vast majority of Big Brother viewers were women. (more…)

This post is filed under: BBC, Media, Television

A regional daily newspaper has found a new way around the ban on photographers imposed by Southampton Football Club – by using Subbuteo table football figures to recreate a match!! The Swindon Advertiser invented this surreal idea as a way of covering the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy match between Swindon Town and Southampton, as the latter brought in the controversial ban on press photographers at its ground last month, stipulating that newspapers should instead pay for images taken by its own professionals.

Although no longer possessing the power and clout they once had, regional papers have quite rightly refused to buy the club’s photos and many have found alternative ways of covering the game, including using pictures from cartoons.  Anthony Marshall, chief sports writer at the Swindon Advertiser, decided to use the popular football game of the 1970s, Subbuteo, to recreate key moments from the match.  He meticulously painted the plastic football players so they were in the correct colours and set up a pitch in the office of the local newspaper.  He then recreated  the match on the Subbuteo pitch and had photos taken of the key incidents.  Anthony Marshall summed up the farcical situation at St Marys, when he commented: ” Regardless of their history – when a club in the third tier of English football starts talking about image rights then you know something is drastically wrong with the game we all know and love.” (more…)

This post is filed under: Media, Newspapers, Sport