First Bus Scotland has delivered a first for Glasgow by unveiling the world’s largest ‘model’ bus in the city’s famous George Square. The ‘bus-in-a-box’ experiential stunt was used as the launch pad for First Bus Scotland to announce the arrival of 75 new buses into the city.

The activation was designed, delivered and managed by creative brand and strategy agency MadeBrave, which was appointed in July as First Bus Scotland’s sole creative agency. The eye-catching, interactive ‘bus-in-a-box’ display aims to help the city’s largest bus operator engage with customers and get them on board the new buses, which include free WiFi and USB charging points.

The 16-foot structure was the focal point of a customer awareness day and the first stop for a far-reaching integrated creative marketing programme that runs for the next three months with the aim of changing people’s perception of bus travel in the city.

This latest activity follows the “kids go free” campaign that ran over the summer, with MadeBrave developing a creative campaign to promote the free travel initiative.

Andrew Jarvis, Managing Director for First Scotland, says: “MadeBrave has created an eye-catching campaign that will allow us to communicate to customers the significant investment that we’re making to bus services in Glasgow, and ultimately help us to attract more people on board our services.”

Andrew Dobbie, founder of MadeBrave, adds: “First Bus Scotland appointed MadeBrave to drive a change in customer behaviour and help the business shift its focus more on to the customer, through its creative communications. The bus-in-a-box initiative was designed to enable First Bus Scotland to have some fun with its customers and present the humble bus as a more playful ‘toy’, just like the ones we all had when we were kids.”

The second phase of the multichannel campaign sees a creative programme of activity delivered across outdoor, radio, print, digital and social channels, as well as on and in buses across First Bus Scotland’s fleet.

MadeBrave is an award-winning agency based in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. It works with UK national and international brands across several sectors, including the BBC, Hard Rock Hotels, Naked Grouse, Jacobs Engineering, Vango and Distell. MadeBrave acquired content production agency Campfire in July 2018, creating the BornOriginal Group to further enhance its client service offering and help drive group turnover to a projected £2.3m for 2018.

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Samsung is showcasing its high-tech washing machine, the QuickDrive, in a new campaign targeting men, after research found that 75% of men are suffering from ‘FODA’, a male condition involving Fear Of Domestic Appliances, and 63% admit to being completely stumped when trying to work out washing machine settings and laundry care symbols.

The new Samsung campaign reinterprets famous statues, including Rodin’s The Thinker and Michelangelo’s  David, to incorporate the new QuickDrive machines. Michelangelo’s David has been recreated wearing underpants, with a shirt flung over his back, as he takes charge of the weekly wash, while Rodin’s The Thinker is deep in contemplation of a washing machine.

PR agency Taylor Herring created the new versions of the sculptures, which will be featured across Out Of Home, press, digital, mobile and social media. The creative, which was produced by St Mark’s Studios and directed by Taylor Herring, will be showcased at launch via a full screen take-over at Piccadilly Circus in central London.

The actual statues – “Domestic David” and “The Clean Thinker” – are being installed at high-footfall locations around the capital, including King’s Cross, Russell Square and Battersea Park, as part of the campaign.

Ruth Storey, Head of Marketing for Home Appliances, Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland, says: “We have updated these classic sculptures in a playful bid to remind the public that our home appliances are masterpieces of modern design. Our Home Appliance products are tested thousands of times and come with at least a 5-year warranty, underpinning our confidence in delivering products that – like the iconic statues – are built to last.”

Samsung research found that three quarters (75%) of men admitted to being clueless when it comes to using domestic appliances compared to just 39% of women, and over half of the men surveyed (51%) admitted to having put off a household task because they found the domestic appliance too confusing to use. Apparently, the washing machine instils the most fear in men, with 63% admitting to being completely stumped when trying to work out washing machine settings and laundry care symbols. In fact, when faced with the task of deciphering fabric care label symbols – such as ‘Do Not Tumble Dry’ and ‘Delicate Wet Clean’ – men scored worse than women on 9 out of 10 questions.

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To celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle – which takes place at 5.30am New York Time – Kellogg’s NYC Café, in iconic Union Square, New York, will open its doors for early risers to watch the televised ceremony, enjoy a modern cereal-centric breakfast and even create their own Kellogg’s-inspired fascinator from a cereal box.

Kellogg’s – which holds a Royal Warrant from the Queen – has teamed up with former royal chef Darren McGrady to create a celebratory, multicourse breakfast that elevates the watch party experience and helps cereal lovers reimagine the breakfast staple. The company has also linked with fashion designer Kelly Dempsey (who came to fame on the US TV show Project Runway, in which she way runner-up in 2014) to host a live demo to show guests how to create a cereal box fascinator hat with a regal twist.

Kellogg’s is also offering US cereal lovers the opportunity to join in the fun, with DIY recipes and tutorials to throw a cereal-inspired watch party of their own.

McGrady, who spent 15 years with the royal household cooking for Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales and Princes William and Harry, and has also cooked for five US Presidents, says: “There are plenty of ways to add regal flair to a meal, and I’m thrilled to demonstrate that with something as fun and exciting as cereal. Whether you’re celebrating this global event with Kellogg’s in NYC or re-creating the menu for your own guests, you’ll be wowed by all of the ways you can reimagine cereal beyond the bowl.”

His menu includes:

• Stately Scones: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Scones with Macerated Strawberries, Basil and Whipped Froot Loops Cream
• Krispy Gems: Rice Krispies-Encrusted Scotch Eggs with Sausage & Bacon
• Bars of Gold: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes English Flapjacks with Seeds
• Special Krown: Kellogg’s Special K Royal Breakfast Bowl
• Imperial Pudding: Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats “Bread and Butter” Chocolate and Banana Pudding
• Majestic Pops: Kellogg’s Froot Loops Caramel Banana Cake Push Pops
• Lemon Luster Wedding Cake: Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Cake with Lemon Elderflower Cream Cheese Frosting, Edible Gold and Fresh Flowers
• Frosted Flakes “Rose Pouchong” and Raisin Bran “Lemon Elderflower” Cereal Milk Teas

For any royal family enthusiasts who oversleep, select menu items will be available for purchase following the early-morning affair.

Kellogg’s NYC is an “immersive cereal experience” which opened in Union Square in December 2017 and covers 5,000 square feet, will be celebrating the upcoming royal nuptials and other exciting announcements on Instagram and Facebook. It replaces an earlier version which opened in Times Square in July 2016.

Kellogg Company brands include Pringles, Cheez-It, Keebler, Special K, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Pop-Tarts, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Eggo, Mini-Wheats, Kashi, RXBAR and more. Net sales in 2017 were approximately $13 billion, comprised principally of snacks and convenience foods like cereal and frozen foods.

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Mobile phone network Three will be running a pop-up ‘All You Can Pug’ brunch to celebrate Puggerfly, the star of its latest ad campaign and, the network claims, the world’s first Augmented Reality (AR) pet.

Three has teamed up with the Pug Café, UK’s leading pop-up event provider for pugs, to create an immersive experience for dog owners and admirers alike. A limited number of tickets are available, priced at £5, which entitles the holder to one 75-minute brunch slot including one main breakfast dish, bottomless pastries, prosecco and coffee or tea, as well as food for their dog, if they bring one.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association.

The pop-up ‘All You Can Pug’ brunch, which will take place on Saturday May 12th, follows the recent announcement that Three has added Snapchat to its range of services offered as part of Go Binge, allowing customers to snap, chat and share without using their data allowance. Three also unveiled the new star of its ad campaign, Puggerfly, a squishy-faced, purple-winged pug, created, according to the network, to embody all things social and fun.

Puggerfly allows users to access different consecutive Snapchat lenses across seven days, letting them nurture and love their Puggerfly as he grows from a ball-chasing, rainbow-pooping puppyfly right through to a fully-fledged flying Puggerfly. Snap’s 12 million UK daily active users can interact with the animated dog, no matter what network they are on. Users can feed Puggerfly treats, play ball with it, enjoy sloppy dog kisses and even watch it twerk to dance music. The seven lenses launched on April 26th, one per day; after the seven days are up, they will be available to Snapchat users via Snapcodes that will be incorporated into Three’s UK wide advertising and media campaign.

The Pug Brunch was created and managed by Three’s PR agency, W Communications.

Three’s ‘All You Can Pug Brunch’ will take place simultaneously in London and Liverpool, with dog owners and admirers invited to head to Covent Garden Grind in London and Love Thy Neighbour in Liverpool for bottomless brunch dishes and the chance to pet pugs. Guests also have the opportunity to capture photos of themselves with Puggerfly’s giant rainbow poo statue (recently seen roaming London’s capital’s streets), dress up their pampered pooches as Puggerfly, or sample all seven Puggerfly Snap codes.

Consumers can book tickets for the one day pop-up pug cafes via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/Liverpool/ and https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/London/.

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Eco-cleaning pioneers Ecover is opening London’s first Rubbish Café Thursday 3rd May in Covent Garden. The Ecover Rubbish Café is currency free, only accepting recyclable plastic as payment, and will serve a zero-waste menu from eco-chef Tom Hunt.

It will be kitted out with a stylish upcycled décor inspired by eco-designer Max McMurdo and consumers will be invited to learn how to #LiveClean while they lunch in sumptuously upcycled surroundings. The two-day pop-up will serve up inspiration and ideas for simple swaps everyone can make to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic.

The Rubbish Café celebrates the arrival of Ecover’s new washing-up liquid range which comes in a new 100% recycled and 100% recyclable bottle. Free re-fills of washing-up liquid will be available – consumers simply have to bring along any old bottle.

The menu created by Tom Hunt, eco-chef and author of The Natural Cook includes:

• The Revolution Bowl – Spelt and rye grains with red kale, cranberries, hazelnuts, beetroot soya-yoghurt, roasted rhubarb and a pickled hen’s egg;
• The Mother Nature Bowl – Wild turmeric rice, cauliflower and leaves, golden sultanas, coriander, chaat masala, coconut (vegan);
• The Rubbish Bowl – Puy lentil salad with sprouting broccoli, dried apple, wild garlic pesto, pink peppercorns, feta and seaweed;
• Banana bread – made from saved bananas.

The vegetarian and vegan bowl food options will be served on a first come, first serve basis to ensure nothing goes to waste.

Consumers will also be able to swap their plastic for a coffee provided by Over Under.

Ecover says it is waging a war against plastic pollution. It believes that using plastic for a single-use is fundamentally wrong. In 2016 less than half of all plastic bottles were collected for recycling and only 7% of those were turned into new bottles. The resulting impact on waterways and marine life is horrifying with an estimated 12.7 million tonnes ending up in oceans each year.

Ecover’s mission is to challenge the perception that ‘rubbish’ has no value, encouraging people to consider their own plastic use and how they can make small positive changes to reduce their impact on the environment.

Ecover also leads by example – the Rubbish Café marks the launch of Ecover’s first 100% post-consumer recycled and 100% recyclable plastic washing-up liquid bottle, which has a 70% lower carbon footprint than a virgin plastic bottle.

Tom Domen, Global Innovation Lead at Ecover says: “We’ve been fighting for a greener clean at Ecover for the past 40 years. We believe that single-use, throwaway plastic culture has had its day. So, we’ve given our plastic packaging a serious rethink. Our new washing-up liquid bottle is 100% recycled and 100% recyclable – with a commitment that all our bottles will go this way by 2020. The Rubbish Café is part of our Clean World Revolution… to show the public the incredible value of putting plastics back into the recycling system to help close the loop on plastic production, minimising the amount of new plastic that is created. So besides serving up fantastic sustainable food at The Rubbish Cafe, we’ll be revealing small steps we can all make to benefit our environment so more can pledge to #LiveClean”.

Ecover is one of the largest producers of ecological cleaning products in Europe. Founded 39 years ago in Malle, Belgium, Ecover was among the first to put phosphate-free washing powder on the market which were only banned in 2013. With a rebellious spirit, experience and clever science, Ecover has developed vegan-friendly cleaning products with plant-based and mineral ingredients that help consumers clean their homes with great efficiency and minimal impact on our environment. These products are available in around 40 countries and Ecover’s contribution to the environment over time has been recognised by Time Magazine and the United Nations Environment Programme.

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Benefit Cosmetics ran an activation at London’s Southbank Centre earlier this week featuring an Extreme Brow Bar – a cosmetics counter experience on a scissor lift truck which gave consumers the chance of a complementary brow wax, style and pamper brow 65 feet up in the air, with views over the River Thames and London skyline.

The Extreme Brow Bar was open for one day only as part of a promotional experiential activation to support the launch of GimmeBrow+.

Consumers with a problem with heights were offered the same treatment from the ‘BrowMobile’ brow bar on wheels, parked alongside the scissor truck.

Benefit is also running a 15% discount offer off any brow service or product for consumers who trade in their tweezers at any standalone Benefit Boutique until 22nd April 2018.

Benefit Cosmetics was founded in San Francisco in the 1970s, It now has 2,000 BrowBars in 41 countries worldwide and claims to be the world’s number one brow brand.

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Burger King has launched a new ‘Mystery Burger’ promotion in France, which offers consumers the chance to get a random product from the fast food chain’s 10 burgers for a flat €2 cost.

Created by Paris-based agency Buzzman, the offer has launched in all 160 Burger King restaurants across France.

The burgers are hidden inside an unbranded white box with a large question mark on, to indicate that there is no way to know which burger is inside until the box is opened. An integrated campaign includes a video ad showing a pregnant French woman and her husband at an ultrasound scan – but they’re using the scan to find out what’s in their mystery Burger King box. The campaign is running on TV, online, OOH and in-store.

Meanwhile, in America Burger King is offering free burgers to anyone who publicly admits to having been fired. The creative idea is that BK uses fire to grill its burgers, so getting fired can be a good thing…

The ‘Own your fire!’ campaign asks people to go to LinkedIn and post the following public message: “I got fired. I want a free Whopper. #WhopperSeverance.” Those who post will receive a personalized link to get registered and receive a Whopper Severance package in the mail complete with a Burger King restaurant gift card.

Burger King has also partnered with career satisfaction experts, The Muse, to offer 30-minute one-on-one Q+A sessions to the first 100 participants who post and register.

Burger King points out that it has created over 50,000 new jobs globally over the past three years, the brand has. It also stresses that LinkedIn is not involved with the activation.

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The UK’s best-selling thin and crispy frozen pizza brand, Dr. Oetker Ristorante, booked out the First Class carriage on First Great Western’s 15.36 service from London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa on Wednesday April 26 and created a Silver Service pizzeria experience for 32 lucky commuters.

The 32 commuters were given ‘golden tickets’ to upgrade their standard train tickets as they boarded the train at London Paddington. Impeccably-dressed servers greeted the passengers as they transformed an entire First Great Western carriage with white linen tablecloths set with real crockery and glassware, serving a selection of fine wines.

Then, as the train pulled into Didcot Parkway station at 16:16, 16 more waiters boarded the train, each carrying two individual pizzas under silver cloches. In just 60 seconds they boarded, served the 32 passengers and exited before the train doors closed for its onward journey.

The Dr.Oetker team ensured 32 full sized Dr. Oetker Ristorante Mozzarella pizzas were simultaneously prepared just outside Didcot Parkway station in time for the train. Waiters then used a private-access route through the station to ensure the pizzas were plated and served in less than two minutes from being cooked.

Lucy Hurrell-Morgan, Brand Manager at Dr. Oetker Ristorante, says: “Commuting to and from work is something that for most simply needs to be endured rather than enjoyed. It’s understandable that by the time you make it home – you won’t feel like making an evening feel special or exciting. We wanted to surprise commuters and give people some inspiration to make their midweek evenings a little more special with a simple change – by serving our signature thin and crispy pizzas with extra-special pizzeria-style service – in a place and a time you’d never expect. If your commute can be this exciting, there is no end to the possibilities.”

Throughout April and May, the Dr. Oetker Ristorante brand is giving consumers the chance to win up to £10 off their next shop when you buy a promoitonal Ristorante pack and enter the unique code from it online at pizzaristorante.co.uk/midweek. In addition, all entrants will automatically receive a £1 off coupon towards their next pizza.

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The UK’s No. 1 frozen pizza brand, Chicago Town, has just given residents of the UK’s most remote community, the Scottish village of Inverie on the Knoydart Peninsula, “the ultimate takeaway taste” in a stunt which saw a crate containing a fully-stocked freezer cabinet packed full of Chicago Town’s ‘The Takeaway’ pizza flown in by helicopter and landed in a local field.

Chicago Town admits that the epic ‘takeaway’ delivery might seem a over-the-top but Inverie is so remote it is only accessible by helicopter or ferry, so helicopter was the only real way to ensure the villagers got their first taste of ‘takeaway’ pizza.

Inverie in Western Scotland is described by experts as “Britain’s Last Wilderness”. It has just 120 residents and is officially home to the UK’s most remote public house, The Old Forge. The whole community is so small that it shares a single postcode, PH41 4PL. The UK road network doesn’t extend to the peninsula. It is only reachable by a 17-mile hike over very rough terrain or by a regular ferry from Mallaig, seven miles away, giving the place a Guinness National Record for remoteness.

The community has just two shops and a post office to keep the Old Forge pub company. The nearest police station and doctor’s surgery are in Mallaig and the nearest hospital is in Fort William, 26 miles away. The Mallaig lifeboat acts as the community’s emergency response unit. The community is completely separated from the National Grid and acquires all its electricity from renewable energies – the primary source of power for the village is a unique hydro-electric system.

To reach the nearest takeaway would take a minimum of two hours, travelling by boat and car.

So Chicago Town decided to step in and prove there is a need for a high street takeout in the village because Chicago Town’s Takeaway “delivers the ultimate takeaway taste, straight from the freezer.”

The brand chartered a special helicopter to fly in the crate of its best-selling The Takeaway pizza range from a base in Inverness. The helicopter hovered above a field outside the village before lowering down the crate full of pizza. A Chicago Town brand ambassador squad then exited the helicopter to make sure the pizzas were in perfect condition before handing them out to the residents.

Inverie resident Ian Robertson, aged 70, said: “We’ve heard all about takeaway food being delivered elsewhere in the UK. We’ve never actually been able to enjoy one ourselves because we’re so remote no-one would ever deliver here. So to see Chicago Town make such a fuss of us today – and to get our first takeaway delivery by special helicopter – makes the wait well worthwhile. It’s definitely not something we’ll forget in a hurry. And the pizza was lovely.”

A Chicago Town spokesperson said: “We were determined that after years of doing without, we’d go the extra mile to make sure this community was able to enjoy a real takeaway experience with our ‘The Takeaway’ pizza. They all agreed the taste was so good straight out of the freezer that there was actually no need for a takeout in the village after all. It was a bold operation that took months of planning but everyone involved was determined to make it happen.”

Chicago Town has committed to ensuring that Inverie gets regular deliveries of Chicago Town The Takeaway from now on.

The Knoydart peninsula is owned by the Knoydart Foundation, set up in 1997 to buy the old Knoydart Estate and subsequently manage the land on behalf of the community and its thousands of visitors. The community controls 17,500 acres, residential properties, a hydro-electric scheme and many old buildings. All these assets were in very poor condition and it has taken many years of hard work to bring them back into working condition.

The Chicago Town brand is owned by German food group, Dr. Oetker.

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Meat snack brand Peperami is running a spoof promotional campaign encouraging consumers in London and the South East of England to report potholes that they think need filling in, with backing from YouTube comedy star Jack Jones.

To kickstart the campaign, Peperami sent its brand character Animal onto the streets on London at the start of March to highlight potholes with flags and special warning tape.

The brand is inviting fans to join the ‘Peper-army’ by Tweeting pictures of potholes to its @Peperami account using the hashtag #HangryHole. They will be entered into a prize draw to win kits containing flags and cordon tape which they can use to highlight holes in their own neighbourhoods.

A spokesperson for Peperami said: “Peperami’s mission in life is to fill hungry stomach holes. However, there’s nothing we find more annoying than empty holes in the street and London is plagued with annoying craters. We reckoned it was about time something was done so we sent Animal out on the street to give the potholes a good porking!”

YouTube comedy star Jack Jones also got involved by going out on the streets of London offering the public “a good porking” – viewers can watch the reactions to him feeding their #HangryHole here.

The pothole activity was sparked off by a report from cycling campaign group Fill That Hole, which claimed 1,860 potholes have been reported across London in the last 12 months.

Peperami was acquired from Unilever by US meat snacking giant Jack Link’s for an undisclosed sum in May 2015. The brand is well-known for running a variety of promotional stunts over the years, including its 1998 ‘Fanimal’ campaign where consumers could win a talking, wriggling toy Animal that spouted rude football slogans, in reference to the World Cup being held in France that year. The campaign went on to win the Grand Prix at the ISP Awards in 1999 (now the IPM Awards).

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