Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Vic.
1. Bing bong bing bong
Bong bong bing bong. That’s right, it’s the sound that Big Ben makes.
Here’s another a fact to kick things off, Big Ben is actually the name of the massive bell, not the clock.
People have been freaking out this week because while maintenance work is being carried out, Big Big will be silenced for four years. The horror!
Aside from everybody in London wandering around having no idea what the time is, the decision to shut Ben up has enraged swathes of people for some reason.
Now it’s going to be debated in the Commons because apparently there is nothing else more important to discuss at the moment.
2. When will people learn?
OK marketing guys, do you not have this thing called a memory anymore?
The National Lottery is the latest in a long line of brands to fall foul after asking the public to Tweet heartfelt messages to the British Athletics Team that would be displayed on a card they held up.
How do you think it went?
If you let social media users caption things or make them into memes, you are probably going to have to pull that campaign sharpish. Unless you want people to be the deviants they are, thus creating extra publicity? Hmm.
3. Help me with my life tiny robot
If you are one of those people that can’t get through the day without having to be reminded to do things like a real human then oh boy are you in for a treat. Facebook has launched its AI personal assistant, known as ‘M’ in the UK.
It’s a bit like a creepy eavesdropper that haunts your Messenger app, chipping in with suggestions to make you do things like tell everyone where you are, make a plan to go down the pub, or even send stickers. That’s right – in case you were like ‘Not sure whether this conversation needs a sticker’, you’ll now have a helper to decide whether or not it’s appropriate to send one. Phew.
4. Total Eclipse of the…
10 points if you say sun, because there is indeed a solar eclipse in the U.S. on the 21 August.
And guess what? You can see Bonnie Tyler sing her 1983 hit Total Eclipse of the Heart while being in an expensive floating hotel as it happens! How about that, eh? Surely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Actually, because the eclipse only lasts for two minutes and 40 seconds, you’ll be treated to ‘solar edit’ of the song. I think it would have been better if she’d upped the tempo and sung faster in a higher key to make it fit with the eclipse instead, but whatever.
Also, she may want to consider changing the lyrics to keep everyone happy.
https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/898140173883637764
5. Billy no mates
And finally, this week Donny T (AKA Easy D) threw yet another tantrum, making the decision to effectively fire everybody who was a member of both the Manufacturing Council and Strategy & Policy Forums after CEOs began resigning in droves over the fact that there is a pretty good chance he doesn’t entirely disagree with Nazis. Yikes.
It’s all been pretty bleak this week, but what did cheer me up was ‘Sassy Trump’. It’s just Peter Serafinowicz doing a silly voice dubbed over the top of his speeches, but I hope you enjoy it before you remember this guy is the actual president of a country that has nukes. Hahahahahahaha – oh no – hahahahahahaha etc.