Wow! - Unfunny pranks

Shortly after a 3-year old boy was thrown into a crocodile enclosure by a man with learning difficulties, voucher site Wowcher thought it  would be funny to send out a marketing email titled, "Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!"

The boy received critical injuries after being attacked by the reptiles.  He is no longer critical.

Wowcher had no choice but to apologise and stated that they were instigating an urgent review of their processes.

The BBC story is here.

Today's BBC story is more car related and shows the same lack of insight/common sense of two other companies.

Both indoor golf venue Golf Fang Liverpool, and car parking app Parc, decided to use fake parking tickets to advertise themselves.

I don't think that's very funny and neither did the Advertising Standards Authority, the ASA.

The ASA ruled the adverts, which were all wrapped in yellow and black plastic and placed on windscreens in Liverpool and Manchester, risked causing "unjustifiable distress".

I know if someone put one on my windscreen I would be very annoyed.  I'd probably report them to the ASA and also do what I do if I get electioneering letters from Reform and send them back where they came from with no stamp on the envelope.  Did you know Reform Wirral are based in Millbank in London?

Anyway, while looking for a suitable picture of a parking ticket I found this one:

Apparently Diggerland Theme Parks sell them in packs of 5 including the cellophane packaging so that you can prank people.

What lovely people must visit Diggerland.

And no - I have never ever received a parking ticket.

Unregistered

After yesterdays rather depressing post, this is another one.

Today is September 7th - the UK new car registrations came out last Monday on September 1st.

That's not the depressing bit.

I still haven't seen one.

That's also not the depressing bit - I haven't always remembered to look out for them so they are probably out there.  But when I have remembered to look this week, I'm seeing lots of 25s and 74s but no 75s.

Maybe everyone who buys a car in September usually buys a Land Rover vehicle.

The depressing bit is that nobody cares any more.

When I was a child, albeit a car-mad child, there was much excitement on August 1st when the new registration letter came out.

Wish I could claim the credit for finding that but it was in this other Blog talking about the same thing.  He does it a lot more eloquently than me and garners quite a few comments from like-minded people.

Now we have a system that you have to be a registration plate nerd to understand - at least for the September registrations.  The March ones are not too bad as nowadays, instead of a letter, the new registrations are the actual year - so people could get excited about that, especially if it was the ONLY new registration in the year.  There hasn't been an exciting September one since 2019 - and even then not everyone got the joke.

And, given that September car sales are always lower than March ones, maybe it is time to go back to once a year only - March 1st.

It might put a Spring back into car sales.

Twits

I enjoy a Twix.

And I enjoy driving.

Doubt if I've ever enjoyed both at the same time.

Like the chap in this German advert from a couple of months ago.

Silly but fun.

And I don't have the slightest urge to try that for real (even assuming it was possible - which it isn't)

So Mars decided to show if in the UK.

And it was banned - BBC story here.

Who says the Germans have no sense of humour?

Take a Seat

Or a Cupra - same thing really.

So, if you've got a new boring electric cross-over SUV that needs marketing, how do you make it stand out from all of the other new boring electric cross-over SUVs?

Well, to start with, give it a memorable name - like Tavascan.

Hmm - makes me think Gaviscon - or maybe some Computed Tomography you may require if the Gaviscon isn't doing the trick.

So once you've chosen the name, you  need some sort of pretentious TV ad to try to make people believe that they actually need this particular boring electric cross-over SUV.  I guess there must be enough gullible people out there to make it work - the perfume industry has been doing this for longer than I care to remember.

Here is the Cupra one:

Vomit inducing.  They've also mangled "Everybody wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears.

It is so mangled that at first I decided it was "Walls Come Tumbling Down" by The Style Council (that lyric is included in the bit of the Tears for Fears song that they are mangling)

Shame it wasn't the Style Council one really because then it would make more sense if I said...

You don't have to take this crap.

You don't have to sit back and relax.

Just go out and buy a non-pretentious, non-boring saloon or estate car.