News Snackies: No-go for XT

Nom nom nom! We haven't had any News Snacks for a while, have we? Don't worry – grandma loves you. Here are a couple of entirely snackable hoosiewotsits, along with some links to Square Meal sized things with a side of Food For Thought. Fill yer boots.

No rebrand for XT, says Telecom
A Telecom spokesperson said the company will not be relaunching its XT mobile brand at the end of the month, in spite of claims that Saatchi & Saatchi is working on the project right now to “refresh the brand”. Telecom’s Julia Bell said categorically the company is not rebranding XT “at all.”“We’re doing nothing of the sort,” Ms Bell said. “Especially as I very much doubt that a new picture and colours would endear us or XT to customers. What we are doing though, is working on ways we can re-build trust with New Zealanders –like with our recent print ads that were around thanking our customers for sticking with us.”

Alcohol in our lives ... hic
Last week the Law Commission report on liquor law reforms came out (as if you missed it!) and although we’ve banged on about it significantly, the weekend papers were chockablockbuster full of info about booze, fags, and laws. On the reading list is Martin Johnston’s excellent cover story in the Herald’s Review section, in which he extensively discussed the cost of smoking and the idea of higher taxes on tobacco. Australia is attempting to go to plain packaging – the first country to do so. But it’s been met with massive resistance from the tobacco companies, as you might imagine (read a sidebar by Greg Ainsley on the topic here). Otago University’s George Thompson said plain packaging combined with tax increases and a ban on displays could combine to provide a situation similar to that which resulted in the 1990 changes.

Will sport die?
Going further on the naughty substances front, Derek Cheng penned this piece on alcohol sponsorship of sports. He discusses the potential impact of sponsorship restrictions on the sports events themselves. Heineken, for example, has been a tennis sponsor for 13 years, forking over a good portion of the event’s total revenue (up to $1m). Heineken Open director Richard Palmer reckons the event would die without it. Of course, the same argument was made about tobacco sponsorship back in the day – and other sports events, such as the ANZ netball competition, manage to get by without it.

Go to hell (in your own way)
Herald on Sunday columnist Kerre Woodham also hammered home a few good points, stating that although smoking will more than likely kill you “in a ghastly and painful fashion”, there’s a part of her that thinks “people should be left to go to hell in their own way”. Where does personal responsibility end and governmental interference begin? Take, for example, Malissa Jones, the UK’s fattest teenager, who weighed 215kg before gastric bypass surgery. Malissa ate 16 Mars bars a day (terrible PR for Mars, that). Punters took great exception to the NHS paying for her weight-loss surgery. Should the NHS pay? Should she be answerable to the public for abusing her body and hence in turn the health system and the taxpayer? Anyway, that’s a whooooole other debate to be had. I'm not claiming to have any answers but the questions certainly are thought-provoking.

Two minutes of your time could save a fluffy bunny
More on the political side of life. (Sorry to ram it down your throat.) You may have noticed Forest & Bird has been running some online ads encouraging citizens to make a quick submission around schedule four and the prospect of mining in certain national parks. The ads can be seen on sites such as Scoop.co.nz. And if you feel so inclined, you can make a quick submission (quicker than it’ll take you to put your socks on in the morning – promise) here. Apathy kills, folks. Apathy kills.

Wake up and smell the cookies
Facebook isn’t free. That’s the message from blogger Courtney Lambert, who’s written a post about “scare-mongering around social media websites”. “Collecting accurate data so that people can come up with practical strategies to protect at risk groups such as children is the best way forward,” Ms Lambert writes. “People need to understand that social media websites are not ‘free’. Users are engaged in a transaction with the service providers to share their personal information for loyalty schemes and advertising.” Some 57% of users thought their information on such sites was private. “It’s not how the business model sitting behind sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube work. You get use of their online tools; you share your user data.” To date, Ad Hoc’s minions have been unable to find any local research literature on how consumers feel about their behaviour being tracked (with situations such as OneCard and so on). Yes, we get the argument, but how do your consumers feel? Know of any research literature? Email adhoc@nbr.co.nz.

Thoughts, hopes, dreams. Thought you'd have a hope, dreaming?
On a slightly unrelated note, something from the Ad Hoc typewriter last week got a punter really riled, and the punter took a sledgehammer to Twitter about it. Ad Land is reminded that feedback, thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, and opposing viewpoints are always welcome at adhoc@nbr.co.nz. However, usage of the top 10 BSA Naughty Words is not encouraged. Actually, make that the top 20. Just to be safe.

What's going on in your world? News? Salacious gossip? Jimmy from the mailroom got lucky last night? Tell Ad Hoc. Share the love. Or just watch this video of a guy turning a staircase into an escalator.