From a Crikey tipster today: Well-sourced rumour is that David Jones are mightily displeased that their advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi dumped them in it by making pre-teen girls in its ads look sexy.
June, 2009
Tips and rumours: David Jones unhappy with ad agency?
Nick Xenophon: why I won’t vote for the ETS
In the first in a Crikey series, Senator Nick Xenophon explains why he won’t be voting for the government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
Guy Rundle: The neocon project is nearly dead
Will the unity of a reactionary old guard survive the current protests in Iran?
Obama toughens cigarette laws, but is he still puffin’?
The president has signed an anti-smoking bill that gives the FDA more authority to regulate cigarette sales and advertising. But the press corps had one question: are you still smoking?
PETA — a fly in anyone’s ointment
PETA is suggesting that fly-slaying ninja President Obama use more humane means to get rid of insects in future. This isn’t their first plea to Obama. Then again, at least they are non-partisan in their pestering.
Crackdown on ads making fun of mental illness
The Advertising Standards Bureau are cracking down on ads that make light of people with mental health problems, finding Rivers clothing and car insurance company Youi both guilty of breaching their code of ethics. What will happen to poor Ken Bruce?
Peter Lloyd released from Changi
Former ABC correspondent Peter Lloyd has been released early from Singapore’s Changi Prison, following his arrest and detention for drug possession last year.
Iran’s tensions foreshadowed at the movies
In the 1990s, Iran’s historically rich movie culture, largely dormant during the Islamic revolution and the long war with Iraq, was rejuvenated, writes A O Scott.
Leaked: AP’s staff social media guidelines
Reading companies’ social media guidelines is always fun (and no, we don’t have any beyond using it constantly and gratuitously). Valleywag got their mitts on the Associated Press’ slightly “paranoid” rules for their staff.
Forget Utegate, what about Doubledissolutiongate?
While “Utegate” and “babygate” (in the Senate at least) will soak up media attention this week, a likely failed emissions trading scheme bill could take us into much more interesting waters, says Andrew Bartlett.
Gawker founder: “We may inadvertently commit journalism”
Try as he might, Gawker founder Nick Denton’s attempts to run a snarky media gossip site often results in real journalism.
The illustrated story of Twitter
Huffington Post: cheap, trashy and parasitic
The Huffington Post “likes to masquerade as a forward-thinking, paradigm-shifting journalistic institution”, says Simon Dumenco, but they don’t pay most of their writers, and leech most of their content from “real” journalists.
Victoria Secret’s double D-size legal problems
A rash of lawsuits against Victoria’s Secret alleging defectively manufactured underwear is continuing with eight new cases filed in the past two months.
Shepard Smith: the black sheep of Fox News
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith has drawn in thousands of hate letters and death threats to the network — but he also draws in the viewers. The NY Times profiles the presenter Fox viewers love to hate.
Five cities that show off their green
From Texas to Germany, do a world tour of Tree Hugger’s pick of the greenest cities. Oh, but you might have to take a plane.
Is the burqa a prison?
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has declared the Islamic burqua a sign of the “subjugation” and “submission of women”. But what if a woman chooses to wear it of her own accord? asks Salon’s Broadsheet.
Video of the Day: When toys go bad
Transformers, Terminator, Batman… There are only so many action movies to recycle. Time for a new source of inspiration: toys
A whale of a compromise
At an International Whaling Commission meeting in Madeira this week, a compromise to Japan’s whaling will be sought — one that could produce a win-win situation, says Remi Parmentier.
Meg McCabe: Letter from Tehran
Wonkette presents a dispatch from Iran by “Meg McCabe” — who bears a striking similarity to The Daily Beast’s Meghan McCain.
From Chanel to punk: the history of the Little Black Dress
Coco Chanel is often credited with inventing the little black dress, but its roots go far deeper into a very radical history.
Gitmo Uighurs to Palau: “Er, we’d rather not…”
Five of 13 Uighur Guantanamo Bay detainees set for resettlement in Palau don’t want to go there, according to the country’s president.
Federer’s fashion faux pas
Federer’s clothing line, all showy embossed gold, is at odds with the understated nature of the man until, that is, the game begins.
Iran’s Supreme Leader: from reformer to provocateur
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni has shown himself to be moderate and flexible. So his provocative backing of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is out of character. Meir Javedanfar asks why.
