BP's bullshit Solar Power claims

BP are currently running an advertising campaign entitled 'talk stopped long ago' in attempt to, after polluting the world since 1908, to assert its green credentials. One of these billboards runs the hook 'the biggest manufacturer of solar panels in the world', with the campaign tagline across the bottom.

'Wow,' you think when seeing this and the other adverts. BP have been doing a lot to save our planet.

Here's an alternative opinion:

Only in Feb 2007 did BP grant $8 billion over ten years to research alternative fuel sources. $8 billion is less than 3% of the company's revenue in 2006. Over 10 years it will be 0.3% of their revenue.

Further to this, they have owned solar panel company Lucas Energy Systems since 1980, but waited 27 years to grant further research into solar power. How many break-through developments in solar have BP made in that time?

BP was named one of the "ten worst corporations" in both 2001 and 2006 based on its environmental and human rights records. (http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2006/112006/mokhiber.html)

BP started a scheme for car owners to purchase carbon offsets called Target Neutral. By 2007 it was running in a huge number of countries around the world - 2.

In March 2007, BP unveiled its Helios fuel station on Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles.The station has radical architecture for a fuel station, and is a "living lab" for green technologies. Five months after the launch the solar panels were still nonoperational.

I could go on. But I think that's the point made.

Get Out Of My Pool!

Outside of what this advert is implying about the female climbing out of the pool, here is another genius advert from a company called OB. I doubt anyone is going to need any explanation about what OB specialise in making for women, but I'm sure if you do, you can Google it.

Click on the section above to see the full advert.

The 13th Post: Welcome Mr. Billy Ocean

Better get this one out of the way as quickly as possible.

Been downloading music off iTunes today - rumours are iTunes is going to go wireless soon, which will mean you'll be able to download music anywhere there is a wireless network - and that iPods will be set-up to download the music themselves. Exciting stuff. Anyone hoping to catch-up and compete with Apple in this department has a LONG way to go...

I spent the morning downloading random tunes that I haven't heard for ages, or things that are sitting in the UK and US charts that Australia hasn't seen yet. I got the following:

'The Longest Time' - Billy Joel
'Tell Her About It' - Billy Joel
'When The GoinG Gets Tough' - Billy Ocean
'Get Out Of My Dreams' - Billy Ocean
'Carribean Queen' - Bill Ocean

And then one a more modern and less tragic note:

'With Every HEartbeat' - Robyn feat. Kleerup
'I Found You' - Axwell


Axwell: Not a twat

I made the mistake of buying the last one off a 'mix' CD on iTunes, which I should have realised means the song stops half-way through as it's mixed into the next song, which makes it sound ridiculous. I'm going to complain to iTunes and see if I can get a credit for it. Should be interesting to see what they say...


Ocean: Salty & Very Deep

And what is it with Billy Ocean? I realised after downloading them that all three songs I bought have sub-titles next to the main title of the song:

When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going)
Get Out Of My Dreams (Get Into My Car)
Carribean Queen (No More Love On The Run)

Maybe Mr. OCean was in two minds when he was thinking about a title for these songs? Maybe he was writing them with someone else, and they were arguing so much that this was the compromise? Maybe he suffered from an accute case of duel personality and each of the people in his head kept re-writing the titles?

He actually had an accute habit of it. Other songs included 'I Sleep So Much Better (In Someone Else's Bed)' and 'On The Run (Hold On Brother)' and 'Stop Me (If You've Heard It All Before)'.

The man was obsessed. Maybe his name wasn't Billy Ocean, but actually Billy (Ocean). Or maybe it was Billy Ocean (From Fyzabad In Trinidad)? Actually his real name was Leslie, so maybe some extreme 'your first name makes you sound like a GIRL' name-calling at school had left him with severe pyschological damage, causing him to name everything he created with specific and descriptive titles to avoid ANY confusion?

Still, I'm sure he was a nice man. According to Wikipedia he is now a teacher. I bet the students all write 'Leslie' in big letters on the blackboard before he comes in to class.

Chupa Chups no longer suck?

In perhaps one of THE most bizarre match-ups, Chupa Chups - those people of lolly fame - are offering a Tooheys Extra Dry 'UncharTED'-style prize experience for you to take your unsigned band from nothing to everything.



This confuses me a lot. Where are Chupa Chups taking this? The prize pack is a bad TED copy, but probably for any aspiring band, hardly a fame-breaking moment. All-in-all other than the average publicity, the band is winning 2000 pressings of an EP and a new guitar. Everyone forgets about the drummer.

And more importantly, where is the link between Chupa Chups and live music? The main area for purchase of Chupa Chups is the petrol station cash desk - the main area for unsigned live bands are dark and sweaty nightclubs. The distance is a stretch. Even if the primary aim of this promotion is to be some sort of Uncharted Lite, there's still a big gap to overcome. The winning band get to play at Odyssey NYE festival - what if they're not let in because they're underage??

This smacks of a comms company selling this to Chupa Chups as an innovative and great brand-building exercise - two things it will fail to be. Maybe it is purely a branding exercise, using the simple concept that bands will promote the site for you because they want to win. But how many will really try that hard for 2000 EPs and a one-off gig?

Whilst I haven't checked, it will be interesting to see if as part of this promotion Chupa Chups develop new and innovative ways of selling their lollies, or there is additional point of purchase in those venues where it sells well.

If they haven't done either of those, they've missed a massive trick. If they have, I could be eating my words. And their lollies.

Western Digital MyBook

I'm about to smash it up.

I am trying to back-up huge amounts of data from my computer to the external USB hard-drive and I keep getting the message 'cannot copy:path too deep' when I reach certain files.

All of the searches I have done on Google suggest that the problem is one of a number of things - all of which I have checked. I've even swapped the drive out and got a new one. So really the problem is probably elsewhere, but it makes it far more satisfying blaming it on the little black box rather than the big black box.

Just emailed the manufacturers to see if they can shed some light on it. If they can't, I'm taking a hammer to it. Or taking it back to Hardley Normal. The latter option would probably be more constructive and save me $200, but the former option would FEEL SOOOOO GOOD.

Can one book change your life?

Well, there's obvious testimony that throughout history, one book can change your life. The Bible and the Koran for example. I'd probably say Harry Potter changed JK and Daniel Radcliffe's life a little. Then there's such greats as Homer's 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey', Plato's 'The Republic', Aristotle, Dante and so on. And not to forget Viz's Roger Mellie's 'Profanasaurus'.



Roger Mellie: 'Hello, good evening and bollocks'

I read a book by a guy called Justin Herald over the last couple of days entitled 'How To Grow Your Business Without Spending A Single Cent'. Justin is an Australian 'entrepenuer' who made his fortune on the back of his clothing label Attitude Inc (something he feels the need to keep putting (R) after just in case after having spent $20 buying his book, we feel the need to rip-off his idea and copy his logo), a label I can honestly say I'd never heard of before reading the book.


Anyway, the book is fairly lightweight in its content and depth, but does help you channel your efforts into concentrating on...well...doing exactly what the title of the book says.

The point of this post is that it has triggered me into action into another area I've been looking at for a couple of years - a clothing label - that could be used to demostrate and boost my efforts with my own marketing company. After all, what better testimony for clients than actually putting your money where your mouth is?

I believe I already have the name and ideas behind it, and I registered the web name last night. I'm also putting plans in place for the first designs, which may take a few weeks. I've looked at some other places/websites for inspiration and so far, haven't found anyone anywhere near anything I have planned. But I still need to look some more. I have also found a potential manufacturer too and I will hopefully go and see them today and brief them with what I want.

The point of this post, which I'm rapidly running away from, is that sometimes it's the strangest of places that you find inspiration. As I said before, some people have life changing experiences via religion or family. I find an added direction and boost from a $20 book I bought randomly in the airport on a Tuesday because my flight was delayed for two hours. Go figure.

Either way, I'll hopefully have an update sooner rather than later.

First Post

So really this is just the first post to test out my page...I don't have a great deal else to add other than that. Other than I didn't sleep much last night. That has nothing to do with marketing or communications but so what? Neither do fags hanging from chains but they're in there.