2015 has arrived and with it comes a degree of expectation, hope and apprehension. Will those green shoots continue to grow? Are we finally turning that much referenced “corner” (wherever it’s located)? Will Garth Brooks be back? Will Donegal’s footballers go all the way? Combining our imaginations, wishful thinking and a small dose of reality,
After three years, six months and four days in MKC, I’m moving on. My wife, my daughter and I are moving to Washington DC where, for the first time since I bussed tables on a J1 visa in 2000, I’ll work in ‘the capital of the free world’. But before I mosey on – and
You may have heard about the puntastically named ‘Cereal Killer’ café that opened on London’s Brick Lane this week. A haven for cereal connoisseurs, the novelty eaterie is serving up over 100 types of breakfast cereals, twelve types of milk and 20 different toppings, all day long. The Branchild (first pun of many) of bearded Belfast twins Gary and Alan Keery, the café was officially unveiled yesterday with a Snap, Crackle and Pop of excited media and customers.
So what makes a good ad? Generally speaking an advertisement should grab the attention of the viewer, to illustrate the features and benefits of a particular product or service, to ignite a desire in the viewer to choose that product. Simply put it is information, emotion and a call to action. Christmas ads differ in that the emotion takes centre stage – the information and call to action are less obvious than the effort invested in eliciting an emotional response from the viewer which, hopefully, leaves them feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. And ultimately more receptive to the brand.
The world in 1942 was in the midst of a brutal and terrible war, democracy against dictatorship, right against wrong, good versus evil. While the sons of all belligerents were fighting up to their necks in blood and bullets, life at home had to go on. On this day, November 26th 1942, the infamous film
When online media reports broke on Thursday evening about the flight disruption following an Ebola scare, my first impressions were that some silly idiot had declared that he was suffering from Ebola, and had so informed flight personnel as some kind of a joke. It was an Aer Lingus flight from Milan, and resulted in
Since his disastrous interview with Sean O’Rourke on RTE in January, Irish Water’s Managing Director John Tierney has kept such a low media profile that this approach has become a story in its own right, particularly so in recent days. Admittedly it is only one stick with which the new body has been beaten. However,
Anyone who has seen Contagion, the 2011 medical thriller directed by Stephen Soderberg, will not only recall a lot of A-list actors happily lining up to play characters who would be killed off by a deadly virus but that the film presents examples of crowd psychology and mass hysteria. The film demonstrates very well the
I love the Ploughing Championships, and always have. Back in the days when I was a journalist, I covered the event for many years, and I revisited it again about five years ago. Of course, over recent decades it has grown into a monster festival of Irish life, and the ploughing bit is becoming less
The Scottish Independence Referendum caught fire over the last few days with successive opinion polls showing huge gains for the YES side with some putting those seeking independence in the lead. An independent Scotland is firmly in the picture but what will this mean for Ireland? Despite the kinship we feel for our Celtic brethren,