Blair, Durex, BBC Weather... Quotes of the Week
BBC Weatherman causes a storm, Tony Blair takes a press hammering and Durex asks for home-made footage. It's thedrum.co.uk's quotes of the week.
“No matter what spin Tony Blair tried to put on it he would be attacked by the Conservative media like The Mail, The Telegraph and The Sun. They all seem to forget that at the time they all were supporting him and his decision to go in and attack."
Publicist Max Clifford tells The Drum that no amount of PR spin would have prevented the press outcry over Tony Blair donating the £4.6m advance for his memoirs to a charity for wounded soldiers.
"This hasn't been an easy decision, or a sudden one, but we've always been firm believers in doing the right thing. We've seen too many people owed wages by an employer that goes bust, we've met clients who were left in the lurch in similar circumstances, and we've experienced the pain of a supplier that finds they're not going to get paid. That's not the way we have ever done business, so we took the decision to close down in a controlled and dignified fashion."
If you're going to go, then go in style. Leeds's oldest digital agency, Sense Internet, announces its closure after 15 years in business in a frank and at times funny and poignant open letter posted online.
"The speed of change in the digital era is not about to slow down, and the next few years will be tumultuous to say the least."
Tony Foggett, the CEO of digital agency Code Computerlove, says clients are still coming to terms with newly-empowered consumers and the ever-changing technology they have at their disposal.
"For the first time we can see just how central media and communications are to our lives."
It's the rise of the robots as Ofcom's Peter Phillips spells out just how much technology is taking over our lives. Almost half of our waking hours are spent on media and gadgets, according to new data.
"We regularly receive sample adverts from members of the public – safer sex is something everyone has an opinion on. We decided to consolidate and reward the talent out there with this new campaign.”
If there's one thing the internet needs more of, it's condom-based user-generated content. Durex senior brand manager Neal Woods invites home-made footage [not that kind - ed] for the sheath suppliers' new ad campaign.
"I worry that with infrastructure such as ONE North East being dismantled – let’s wait and see what happens to the likes of Codeworks and Northern Film & Media – the North East commercial creative industries will be left without a voice and will go unheard. And then where will we be? A brain drain to London and Manchester? Or simple good old fashioned unemployment?
FuseBox Design's James Hails still has unanswered questions about what the coalition government will do to the creative industries - despite listening to a "persuasive" talk from Nick Clegg in Newcastle.
"With your help, my skills and a bit of luck I could be the first person to beat this country's employment crisis via the medium of Facebook."
Unemployed graphic designer Mark J Winter pledges - on Facebook - to give 10 percent of his first wage to anyone who can help find him a job.
"The News Channel presenter in the studio acknowledged a mistake had been made, and we apologise for any offence caused."
A BBC spokesperson is forced to give an apology after gaffe-prone weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker was caught doing this live on air.