notes |
A blog on advertising, trends, marketing, music, fashion and technology in Ireland and beyond. In my spare time, I look after consumer insights, research and trends at a Dublin marketing agency |
-
text
It's time to admit it: rugby is better!
Why did we care so much about Henrygate? The handball incident which changed the world! French football star Henry has been at the top of Irish Google searches since this moment, but why?
Irish football has been in a state for months, even years. It’s a game full of egos, lack of passion (of some) and politics. The Irish football team did play with conviction during the recent World Cup qualifier, but nothing like the Irish rugby team.
Upfront, I’m not from South Dublin. I went to a public school. I don’t wear my collar up and if I played rugby I’d have splinters in my arse from sitting on the bench. However Im a fan of rugby, not only as a technical sport but for it’s heart, professionalism and positivity.
We need this today more so than the recent past. In particular young man. Men in their 20s need something to aspire to, give them hope and positivity. 1 in 3 Irish guys in their 20s are unemployed but have plenty of skills. Organisations like the GAA and IRFU do a great job in funneling these skills and fair play.
However it’s not the sole purpose of these organisations to keep lads on the straight and narrow. We need to look at other channels. Arts, music, film. There’s a lot out there which can provide outlets that provide upbeat outlooks to the boring doom and gloom out there.
Well done Declan Kidney on world coach of the year - a modest leader who has brought not only a bunch of 20 year olds through a fantastic year of rugby but given a good news story to a bunch of 20 year old fans.
-
photo
My new favourite site - Learn Something New Every Day - provides a bucket of great facts to wow your friends with. Learn and have fun!
-
text
Twilight Saga: I have a confession
Last weekend was a saga of vampires, warewolfs, grizzly bears and sexual tension. I had two reasons why I watched bought Twilight and it’s sequel New Moon this weekend. 1. There’s been a lot of talk about them bout and didn’t want to be prejudice. 2. It was on telly on Friday night and a compromise for a cinema visit on Saturday night.
After watching the first film, I reached somewhat of a conclusion, but waited for the second for confirmation. I’ll get to that in a moment. Before that, who is this film aimed at? I assumed 16 year olds girls, but based on the cinema I was in, a few different groups. There were the 20 something girls who either disappointed with their single life or expecting more from their relationship sought a little romance. The indie type who were intrigued by the vampire genre. Then there was two large groups of 16/17 year old lads who looked more at home on a rugby pitch than at a romantic fantasy film.
If this film is aimed at teenagers, one certain theme stood out. The obvious one being a love story between an older guy and a girl was not enough. This film series is clearly a propaganda piece for a conservative (possibly Christian) group promoting abstinece to teenagers. Themes of sexual tension and evil if the two lead characters got close clearly represented a view on how da yout should be courting.
The film was digestable. Nothing amazing. The graphics, scenery and green landscape of mid-America made me want to trip. But despite the soundtrack (on repeat since with Thom Yorke, Bon Iver and Grizzly Bear) I won’t be getting the DVD.
-
link
Commuting by Bike Up in NYC
PSFK reports a StreetsBlog report on how cycling in NYC has increased by 26 percent in a year. When I recently visited the city, I noticed that many avenues have reduced the number of lanes to accommodate bike lanes as well as closely much of Broadway, including Times Square off to traffic. As a result people are free to cycle around the city with more ease and safety.
As I’ve been enjoying the Dublin Bikes scheme, I would love to see Dublin city designing the traffic system and streets more for safe cycling to give people more confidence to get on their bike.
-
photo
Jedward inflatables found new home waving farewell to Irish football team last week
-
photo
Traffic light building. Following on from post about lighting up empty buildings in NYC to get retail eyes, this Dublin office follows.
-
video
YouTube announced today they’d be releasing 1080p HD. Now not too sure what this means technically, but standard YouTube is 360p - so its bound to be good. This means watching vids on your TV will look great. Check out the Toy Story video in HD above
-
quote
"Adidas, the German sports giant, is to make €1 trainers for millions of people around the world who cannot afford to buy shoes, with pilot production to begin next year in Bangladesh"
And how will these €1 trainers be made? Will those who make the trainers earn more than a €1?!?
-
quote
"One company that harnessed the power of social media during the recent collections was the Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana. The designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, even moved some buyers out of their usual front row seats to give the spots to four fashion bloggers — Tommy Ton, Garance Doré, Scott Schuman and Bryan Yambao — and installed laptops so the writers could blog and tweet during the show."
-
video
Following the success of Playhouse, it seems the idea has spread (or at least happened) in NYC. Empty buildings (granted to be sold) downtown are being lit up in lovely colours. Check out the video
(via floydhayes)
