Can you drink your way out of Scottish nationalism?

This spot for Scotland's Irn Bru was named "Ad of The Day" by Scottish ad blog The Drum. Created by The Leith Agency in Edinburgh, it features a proud Scot trying to get through meeting his daughter's obnoxious English boyfriend.



I had assumed that this was an ad for beer. It's not. Irn Bru is actually a soft drink. With the day Dad's having, facing his worst ethnocentric fears, I might have recommended something a wee bit stronger...

Canadian radio station offers "No Nickelback Guarantee"

Just saw this on the cover of today's Ottawa edition on Metro. Live 88.5 also promises to be "Katy Free" and "Kardashian Free", but the Nickelback hate is particularly poignant in their home country.

Hijacking Katy Perry's breasts for a cause?

FCKH8.com is one of the many causes I follow on Facebook. They're a pretty in-your-face LGBT advocacy group, originally formed to fight California's homophobic Prop 8 with joyful profanity.

I was a little disappointed at this tactic, however.

The topless pic was nicked from a 2010 photoshoot by Yu Tsai for Esquire UK.

The Facebook post reads:

KATY PERRY: "I am a gay activist & I say that proudly. I voted no on Prop 8, of course. I definitely believe in equality."
♥ 10% Off "STR8 Against H8" & "Chicks Marry Chicks" Tees, Tanks & Hoodies w/ Code "LOVE" @ http://FCKH8.com/"LIKE" the Cause on FB FCKH8.com

Here's the thing. FCKH8 are fighting the good fight. But using other people's work — and other people's likenesses — without permission is not cool. Especially when you're using their sexuality to sell your own t-shirts.

Second, using a woman's breasts to get attention is not exactly progressive marketing. Even if she says she's an ally.

You can do better, folks. You're too big for this.

Finally! A tablet dumbed down for the ladies!

Via Il Corriere

Last Christmas, I surprised my significant other with a new-generation iPad. Silly me, I should have bought her a tablet that was dumbed down for women.

According to Ars Technica, the device was introduced in the Middle East last fall, by Eurostar of Dubai.

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, Eurostar associate vice president of marketing Mani Nair said that the tablet comes with the preloaded womanly applications so the user can “just turn it on and log in to cooking recipes or yoga.” He went on to state that the ePad Femme “makes a perfect gadget for a woman who might find difficulties in terms of downloading these applications and it is a quick reference.” 

The tablet has a 1.5GHz processor, 16GB of internal storage, and an SD card slot, but how a woman will ever work out either of those last two things are or what to do with them, one can’t be sure. She shouldn’t even need to—that clothing size converter app she was going to download? Already installed. Pregnancy app? Look no further. 

Nair maintains that the intent of the ePad Femme tablet was not sexist. He compared it to another tablet the company offers, ePad Gamer, but those gamers are targeted by their interest, not their biological makeup. That seems like a pretty substantial difference.

Here's a look at the apps that come preloaded:

Shopping, yoga, yoga, weight loss, perfume, menstruation, shopping,
shopping, cooking, cooking, cooking.

Jezebel summed it up nicely: ‘Tablet for Women’ Is Like a Regular Tablet, But More Fucking Bullshitty

Do these weird SPCA ads send the wrong message?

These Malaysian SPCA ads by M&C Saatchi are easy enough to understand: Pets are more fun than toys.

But should the SPCA be pushing pet adoption in this way? Dogs and cats are not at all like the toys in these ads; they're a long-term commitment that can't be tossed aside like a gumball machine trinket.

Tip via Ads of The World.