Blogbook

A famous, eccentric rich Brazilian man went viral for announcing that he was going to bury his Bentley — but it turned out to be a publicity stunt for a good cause. Via AdAge:

In Brazil, Count Chiquinho Scarpa is a billionaire known for outrageous acts, such as willing his fortunes to his cockatoo and hinting that he once bedded Princess Caroline of Monaco. Recently on Facebook, he announced his latest larger-than-life plan — putting his $500,000 Bentley six feet under. The count posted that after he was finished with his expensive vehicle, he would bury it in his yard, just as pharoahs did with their precious possessions. The announcement riled the masses in Brazil, leading to tons of buzz in social media and the press, including the U.K.’s Metro and Daily Mail.

On the day of the burial, Mr. Scarpa’s real intentions were revealed. As the press gathered around Mr. Scarpa, the Bentley and a big hole in the ground, it was announced that the event marked the opening of “National Organ Donation Week,” and Scarpa’s stunt turned out to be the launching pad of a campaign by Leo Burnett Tailor Made. “I didn’t bury my car, but everyone thought it absurd when I said I would,” he said. “What’s absurd is burying your organs, which can save you many lives. Nothing is more valuable. Be a donor and tell your family.”

Aviation Gin celebrates a Leap Year Birthday — technically, this lady is 21 years old. Ryan Reynolds is turning out to be a genius at guerilla marketing, though it helps that he himself is personally very famous. Via USAToday:

Arlene Manko may be 84 years old, but she’s just now celebrating her first “legal” drink.

Thanks to Leap Year, Manko has only had a true birthday every four years, making her one of the world’s eldest 21-year-olds.

And to celebrate her “legal drinking age,” Manko stars in a new ad for actor Ryan Reynold’s liquor brand, Aviation Gin.

“I was technically 5 years old when I got married,” she says in the ad. “I had seven kids in 10 years, did you think sometimes I didn’t want a drink?”

Now, she’s finally at “legal drinking age.”

In spite of her resolve to follow rules and avoid trouble, Manko says in the ad that she’s “no angel” over footage of her showing her ID to cashiers as she tried to purchase alcohol – at one point she has on a fake mustache.”That’s OK, I’m ready to party.”

“We wanted her first legal drink to be Aviation Gin,” Reynolds says.

CNN has launched a coronavirus fact check show, covering topics like whether you can catch it from your pets / how effective masks are. You can also follow it in podcast form here.

This fake influencer Bali trip stunt was pulled by Natalia Taylor in an IKEA, to bring awareness to how some travel influencers are actually faking. Via Traveller:

Taylor, herself, was surprised so many were fooled.

“Maybe it’s just me but it seems, like, painfully obvious that I’m not in Bali. I’m not even posting any of the iconic Bali photos of me on the beach or in exotic locations and I’m getting away with it. That’s insane.”

Taylor thought the third set of photos were the most obviously fake, but said a few minutes after posting that “no one is questioning it. All of the comments are people asking me to come visit them in their home country. Am I jerk for doing this? I feel like a jerk. Why do I feel like a bad person? This was supposed to be an experiment.”

She concludes by saying “I think this video has a lesson, doesn’t it? It has a lesson. Don’t trust everything you see on the internet. Sometimes people want to lie about who they are as a person, and it’s not hard to do apparently. So I have to say this prank on my Instagram followers… was a success.”

Milk-Bone makes the case for dogs being the best pets, in an adorable series of ads. TBH though, there’s nothing wrong with tortoises, as long as they’re not endangered species. This brand of dog treats doesn’t appear to be available in Australia, or our office dog would’ve been able to provide her personal review of its products on this post.

This mouldy whopper ad from Burger King is everywhere online… we think it’s something about removing preservatives, but we’re too busy being grossed out. Via Marketwatch:

Early reaction to the campaign Wednesday was a mix of applause for the shift away from preservatives, to disgust.

The restaurant, based in Miami, Florida, says it has removed artificial preservatives from the Whopper in several European countries — including France, Sweden and Spain — and around 400 of its 7,346 U.S. restaurants. It plans to remove preservatives from Whoppers served in all of its restaurants this year.

The Whopper is topped with onions, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and pickles, all of which will contain no artificial preservatives.

By the end of this year, Burger King said all food items — including sandwiches, sides and desserts — will be free from artificial colors, artificial flavors and artificial preservatives in the U.S. and select European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom.

London rapper Dave performed a new rendition of his song Black at the Brit Awards, stunning audiences with his message and visuals. Via the Guardian:

In an extended version of his song, with new verses written for the night, south London’s hottest star demanded justice for the Windrush generation and the victims of Grenfell, called the media to account for the treatment of Meghan Markle and declared Boris Johnson “a real racist”. The O2 arena gave him a standing ovation and the performance immediately began trending online. But how did it all come together?

“With five minutes of adrenaline and two months’ planning and rehearsals,” jokes Rimell, a former choreographer, who helped head a team of 16. She and Bronski run Tawbox, the studio behind Stormzy’s headline set at Glastonbury last year and Rita Ora’s Phoenix arena tour. She watched Dave from the side of the stage.

“We had two camera rehearsals. In the second one there were about 30 people in the room and at the end you could hear a pin drop,” she says. “I knew what was coming but it was still so emotional on the night – especially seeing how much it connected with all the young kids at the front and how much it meant to them.

“It wasn’t a typical Brits performance, there wasn’t a huge cheer at the end. People were stunned. They couldn’t believe what they saw.”

BTS, also known as Bangtan Sonyeondan, or Bangtan Boys, or Beyond the Scene, has debuted their new kinetic manifesto MTV for “On”. Via Rolling Stone:

BTS has released a “kinetic manifesto film” (a.k.a. music video) for their single “On.” In the stark video, the seven-piece group leads a dancing army of warriors inside a canal.

According to the press release, the “Kinetic Manifesto Film is an expression that best depicts the concept of the lead single.” The clip follows the band’s previously released art film for the single “Black Swan,” which featured an elaborate performance from the MN Dance Company. The group also released a comeback trailer (a.k.a. another music video) for “Outro : Ego,” which highlighted band member J-hope.

BTS member RM talked about the single in a new interview with Zane Lowe, noting, “It’s like a big diary for our past seven years. … It’s kind of about [how] we could stumble from time to time but we got back up. … When we say ‘On,’ it’s like, ‘We on,’ or like, ‘On air.’ It’s like, ‘Bring it on.’ We could imagine it [as] many things.”

Balenciaga has a new ad to follow its latest collection, and it’s a weird dystopia. Not sure if this is self-referential or good timing, or whether the message is meant to be that in the future, only people rich enough to wear Balenciaga survive? It’s an unsettling watch. Nice clothes though.

Making a Murderer is one of our favourite Netflix series. It tells the story of Steven Avery, who served 18 years in prison after a wrongful conviction.