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 Joe.
1. We are all doomed! (or maybe not)
Have you heard of Nibiru or Planet X?
If not, you have done a good job of avoiding the internet this week and you are probably not aware of our impending (and fairly immediate) demise. I am sorry to tell you that the world is going to end tomorrow in a massive bang as Planet X (Nibiru) smashes into earth. If you don’t believe me, just Google it – you will see that armageddon is upon us and it is happening tomorrow.
Whilst I don’t want to tempt fate about massive bangs ending the world, with the alarming escalation of the willy waving between Trump and Kim Jong Un, you will be pleased to know that NASA has officially reassured us that Nibiru doesn’t actually exist and we are not about to be smashed into oblivion tomorrow.
Fake news!
2. The rocket man
Speaking of fake news and willy waving, president Trump (the maestro of both?) spoke this week at the UN and upped the ante in terms of the threats to the Kim Jong Un regime, threatening to ‘totally destroy’ the country and he branded the N Korean leader a ‘rocket man’.
You can always rely on the internet to have some fun with what is really a very worrying situation and this week saw a raft of excellent #RocketMan tweets.
The Huffington Post has a good selection and is worth a look, but here is a taster:
https://twitter.com/NewRightMemes/status/909779139103559680
3. The dangers of ad placement
I was interested to see a direct challenge to Evans cycles about their ads appearing next to fairly unpalatable content this week. This is a real problem and the grim truth is that it can be very difficult to police where your ads are appearing and build a black list of sites that you wish to avoid.
After being challenged, via Twitter, about some of their placements, Evans Cycles promptly removed their advertising from the Daily Mail, Sun and Express websites:
Hi Stu, we’ve now blacklisted any advertising placements on Daily Mail, Sun and Express. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
— Evans Cycles (@EvansCycles) September 18, 2017
@StopFundingHate is clearly on a mission and it is fairly easy to target individual advertisers. What is interesting, in this example, is to see such a prompt decision by Evans Cycles and to see how that decision can lead to a very positive response from the online community. Judging by some of the comments on the thread, it would appear that they have won new customers by deciding to remove the advertisements.
The power of (non) advertising?
4. Now that’s what I call sporting commitment
I am conscious that my My Five this week is risking being far too political. I normally find that sport is a good antidote to politics. This is clearly not always true and politics can mar all sports, but this week saw an example of sporting greatness that I want to share.
Ladies and gentlemen, please doff your hats to Lauren Dolan.
If you are like me, you have probably not heard of Lauren. She is a young (just turned 18) cyclist who was competing in the junior women’s individual time trial at the Road World Championships this week. Unfortunately, disaster struck half way into the race as her front wheel hit a drain cover and she went flying over the handlebars, suffering some very nasty cuts to her right leg.
Rather than roll around on the floor feeling sorry for herself (like a typical football player?), she got back on her bike and finished the race. She managed to finish in 27th place, despite having some very visible damage to her leg and bike. If you are feeling brave (seriously, not one to look at if you are squeamish), have a look at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/41321515 for the full story and photos.
Once done, she went to hospital for a 2hr operation to clean up the mess. That is where she celebrated her 18th birthday. Happy birthday Lauren and thank you for showing the world what commitment really means. I hope the leg is healing well. #respect.
5. $2million just to turn up?!
Another sporting story to finish this week.
A new, and somewhat controversial, tennis event is starting today in Prague – the Laver Cup. Despite the mouth watering prospect of seeing Nadal and Federer play doubles (together – on the same side of the net!), there have been criticisms of the event being a money spinner and all a bit contrived.
There is no doubt that there is money in tennis, although anyone close to the professional game will know that most of the money goes to a select few. Arguably one of the toughest individual sports in the world only really pays out if you are at the very top of the game. In that scenario, it can pay ridiculously well.
Although not strictly this week’s news, I found a Forbes article on the top tennis earners of 2017 this week and it makes interesting reading. I have known for some time what a money machine Roger Federer is – if you have ever been to Zurich airport, you will know that it feels like a shrine to the tennis god and pretty much every billboard features him in some way. Federer earns more from endorsements than any other athlete and he has been the highest paid player in tennis for the past 12yrs.
His latest deal (worth $40million over the next 5yrs) will require a lot of pasta to be sold, but it is his appearance fees that surprised me the most. He commands as much as $2million just to turn up to exhibition events (such as the Laver Cup). That is staggering. You don’t get that much in prize money if you win a grand slam.
In his defence, he can still play some remarkable tennis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdkwAJ4LOB4
Have a great weekend.