Obligatory Starbucks blog entry

Today Starbucks gave away tall lattes to customers before midday in exchange for their name, in a bid to appear more personal. I'm not sure if I'm quite convinced that the baristas cared to learn my name but I'm not going to complain about free coffee!

Instead of having "tall skinny mocha frappuccino!" (or similar) yelled at you while you frantically try to remember what you impulsively ordered (probably a good few minutes ago) from a long list of sugary 'coffee-based' drinks, you will now be addressed by your name. However, this isn't exactly a new and innovative strategy from Starbucks as it is a method they have employed in other countries, including the US and Spain, for many years now. But, for Britain, this will be a change and for some people perhaps not a welcome one. It is a risky move in a country with so many different cultures and accents, as it is inevitable that Starbucks staff will mishear or mispell names from time to time, and perhaps cause offence. Also, surely the chances of say two 'John's' or two 'Sarah's' ordering at the same time is not all that slim. God forbid that John Smith should receive John Wright's one-shot skinny mocha instead of his caramel latte.

Still, you can't fault Starbucks' PR effort on this one. Not only were they trending on Twitter for the majority of the morning, and popularising my Facebook newsfeed but upon venturing outside I noticed a sea of Starbucks takeaway cups. Further, after leaving Starbucks clutching my free latte I even had strangers point and comment to each other, and another person proclaimed "Free Starbucks! What's your name?!" - I assumed that this was just rhetorical and walked on with just a smile, so I hope they weren't actually intending for me to respond. Perhaps a little too personal for my liking!

With this in mind, I'd say that the campaign was quite the success. I'd be interested to see if Costa fight back in any way.

Discriminatory advertising

Not often do you hear complaints of people not being able to see an advert - usually people are complaining about quite the opposite, far too many adverts. However, a new advert by Plan UK which is only visible to women has sparked some controversy.

New technology has now made it possible for TV screens to detect whether the person stood in front of them is male of female. Plan UK has employed this new technology in their latest ad, displayed at a bus stop, which will only reveal the full advertisement to woman.The ad aims to raise awareness around Plan UK's latest campaign, "Because I'm a Girl" which helps to provide girls in developing countries with a proper education.

Many people have said that only showing this ad to women is ridiculous, and is ruling out 50% of the population that might have donated money. However, the reasoning behind not showing the full ad to men is to show them “a glimpse of what it’s like to have basic choices taken away", and therefore gain an understanding of the need for the campaign. So I think it works in this respect.

Personally, I think that a bus stop refusing to show you an ad purely because you were male would make you stop and think a lot more it than just running a standard charity ad (that most people are now desensitised to no matter how shocking). I reckon that men would actually be more likely to remember the ad, donate money and talk to others about it, than the woman who view the full ad.

Finally, the novelty value of the new technology alone will draw passersby in who otherwise would have walked straight on, and if you can spread the message to these people, and encourage even just a couple of them to donate, then you have increased your return of marketing investment compared just running a standard ad.

You can read more about the ad and see the incensed reader responses here:
http://www.psfk.com/2012/02/facial-recognition-billboard.html

Nylon nightmares

I can honestly say that I have never noticed the sound of a cinema employees' trousers as they pass through the auditorium, yet Odeon has decided to make this the basis for their latest advertisement on their new exclusive seats at 'The Lounge'.

For  a mere £18 a ticket you can take a trip to the cinema without worrying about the sound of cheap Nylon swishing through the aisles, interrupting your film.

I wonder how the staff themselves feel about the new uniform, or being patronisingly named 'Ninjas'. Plus, how much can you truly enjoy 'fine food' in the dark? They have tried to overcome this by creating a special menu that has been divided into the delightful categories of 'finger, fork and spoon' to assure you that the darkness won't prevent you from getting said fine food to your mouth. I find it worrying that they suggest that lasagne can be eating without a knife; have they pre-cut it into tiny bite sized pieces for you, or is the food so soft and overcooked that it just breaks up with the edge of your, probably plastic, fork? I'm not sure I'll be taking a trip any time soon to find out...

Sober mission accomplished

So I successfully made it to the end of January without a drop of alcohol passing my lips, despite many attempts from so-called friends to make me break. Tempting me with 'Jager-wine' and other revoltuting concoctions. I have even resisted the alcoholic truffles I received for Christmas - though these will be devoured shortly.

I can honestly say that 31 days off the booze has not made a significant difference to my life. I thought that a month of sobriety would make me feel super healthy but alas, the high energy levels and amazingly clear skin I was anticipating did not magically appear. Interestingly, the Government is now heavily recommending two booze-free days a week, something that my parents have decided to try - which may be awfully hard for them as being middle class means that one must enjoy a glass of red with dinner and a whiskey in the evening.

Many have asked if February will be the month of binge drinking and going wild to make up for such a sensible 31 days, but I have decided that a Moderate February should follow Sober January - don't want to send the poor liver into shock afterall!

Sober nights out

As a third person sloshed their sticky drink across my arm, I realised that the main purpose of alcohol in a club is to numb you from the pain of the idiots that surround you. So far I've survived two nights out sober and I think I've done pretty damn well so far. The first weekend of Jan I was out till gone 4am, and was still in high spirits. The biggest barrier to having fun sober in a club is that sensible part of your brain still being fully functional. Instead of tramping through a mountain of broken glass to the dancefloor screeching "YEAH BUDDY!", I found myself thinking "Oh dear, the staff really ought to clear up that broken glass before somebody cuts their foot". Not exactly the mindset for party times. I also noticed the humidity of the dancefloor more and how sweaty everyone around me was. This was slightly off putting to say the least.

The scariest part was probably the speed at which everyone was drinking - people who I usually drink at the same pace at were never without a drink, and always heading to the bar.

Stranger than the speed of drinking was the speed at which time passed. Normally, I'm there at 3am when the lights come up, disappointed to be churned out onto the street by the grumpy bouncers who just want to get home. This time I remember checking my phone and realising that only a mere 10 minutes had passed since I last looked. Everyone else in the club seemed so content, to them time to them was flying by, but I was very conscious of it.

Now I'm off out to the pub again, more sober times ahead. Once tonight is over I think I count that as half way through my alcohol free month as there will be just two weekends left. I'll keep you posted on how they pan out but for now: Diet Coke here we come!

A new year and hopefully a new me

So I've neglected this blog for far too long. When I last wrote, I was just about to start my new job in London. Well, I'm still working there but pretty much everything else I took to be permanent in my life at the time has changed. My flat contract ran out so I'm back at home for a bit while I decide what to do, I also broke up with my boyfriend of over three years. So yes: new job, new house, new lease of single life. The last 8 months have been rather crazy, and far too alcohol fuelled, so this year I have vowed to make some changes.

New Year's resolutions (an edited version):

- Give up alcohol for at least the entire of January
- Exercise more
- Stop frequenting the same club (and accept that having a VIP pass is nothing to be proud of)
- Learn Spanish
- Re-learn the guitar

There are more but this will do for now. The alcohol one will be the hardest and has shocked and appalled most of my friends. The fact that nobody believes that I can do it has actually made me more determined to succeed.

New year, new me - let's see how it goes!

Anticipation of the London Commute

I start my new job tomorrow in London which I am very excited about, but I am also rather nervous about navigating my way through London using the underground! I know that regular commuters don't take kindly to newbies on the underground and I have almost been knocked down in the past by people in a hurry. Luckily, I have two friends who have been doing this commute for the last few months and one of them has given me this advice:

- Don't look anyone in the eye
- Walk with purpose
- When the tube comes, squeeze yourself into any nook or cranny
- Use the fact that you are female to get on the tube
- CAREFUL OF THE DOORS!!!
- Don't be alarmed by delays when someone decides to jump in front a train

I am hoping that her words of wisdom are enough to get me through my first week at least! I have just been to the station today to shell out for my month season pass which cost me more than my monthly rent amount! Insane. I was concerned about the amount of aggro I witnessed in the queue for train tickets seeing as it wasn't even peak time.

I am also nervous about having to use the high speed escalators in the underground stations as I have recently developed a fear of them. Ironically it occurred whilst I was trying to help someone who had their own fear of escalators. We were going to 'brave it' together but she decided after I had already put one foot on that she was too scared to get on it yet failed to let go of my hand, and I almost tumbled to my death (well..I could have been injured). Ever since then I have been extra cautious when stepping onto one. Last time I try to help someone overcome a phobia that's for sure!

I also need to find some sort of activity to keep me occupied on the train to London. I would like to just sleep but fear that I may pull some hideous face, mouth wide open, whilst my head flops backwards, and people nearby take photos - I've seen it happen before. So sleep is probably out of the question - I guess I could try and find something productive to do instead.