CRACKDOWN BITES IN COURT A crackdown by the travel industry against fake food poisoning claims for compensation from British holidaymakers has started to find its …

EUROPCAR RIP OFF ACCUSATIONS International car hire firm Europcar has been accused of ripping off its customers over the last 10 years with grossly inflated…

ARE YOU A STEREOTYPE? A serious report on gender stereotyping from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been met with derision in some quarters …

NO MORE CARD TRICKS The adding of inflated surcharges for payment by credit card, which costs companies 0.6%, is to be banned from January. The ban will …

NO ICE THANKS An investigation by the BBC’s Watchdog programme has found levels, some “significant”, of faecal bacteria in ice served to customers at some of…

SALMON LEAP Those now including salmon in their diet, as an oily fish and good source of omega-3, might want to note its significantly increased price in the last …

ON SOCIAL MEDIA SO IT MUST BE TRUE Reportedly the efforts of one Jeremy Corbyn to market himself as the young person’s best friend are suffering a few minor …

BAD IDEA FROM OFGEM SWITCHED OFF Those who thought that energy regulator Ofgem worked to protect consumers from rapacious energy companies might want to …

COMPANY LAW CLEAN-UP NEEDED The director of a company that inflicted 100 million automated nuisance telephone calls over an 18-month period has avoided …

BATTERY CARTEL FINED £147 MILLION A cartel of four rechargeable battery manufacturers has been fined a total of £147 million by the European Commission (EC)…

CANNY CON A Scottish sea salt company has ceased trading after its product was found to be mostly cheap table salt imported from Israel. The Hebridean Sea Salt …

BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS Some of those who have wanted to avoid wearing real fur, so as to deny support to fur slaughterhouses in Asia, have been disappointed after…

DON’T CALL 118118 Calling a 118 directory enquiries service to get a phone number can cost up to £8.98 per call, if you use 118118, which was 58 pence in 2003. Even worse …

COOLFIZZINGCRINGEMAKINGTOECURLINGDOWNDUMBINGPEPSI Congratulations to Pepsi for supplying this year’s most naff ad, which was quickly withdrawn by the …

YOU’RE HATING IT Meanwhile not far behind Pepsi in the naff race is McDonalds, where the little gem hatched up by their marketeers attracted more than 100 complaints to the …

DIRTY MONEY AND GOOGLE Google’s stupidity in accepting extremist content on YouTube and placing ads alongside it has resulted in more than 250 concerned …

BBC SHAMED BY CAPITA Press revelations of low ethical standards at Capita, the outsourcing firm the BBC pay to collect TV licenses have resulted in damage to the …

DEATH OF A NEWSPAPER? It is said that those working on the editorial, as opposed to the advertising side of newspapers and magazines should not have any financial links …

BT WOES BT have been ordered to cut at least £5 a month off the £18.99 a month it charges customers who only buy a land line from them. The cut, ordered by telephone …

BACK TO LAKER DAYS One positive aspect of travel in the 70’s was return flights to the USA for less than £100, courtesy of the pioneering Sir Freddie Laker, who took on …

SAVE MONEY, CHECK THE TILLS Those who don’t have the time, or the inclination, to check their receipts in supermarkets are not always getting the attractive offers shown …

DIET WARS Asda have withdrawn a range of Slimzone diet meals they promoted as being suitable for one of Slimming World’s diet plans, after the weight loss organisation …

PHONE ME IN THE JAG The Advertising Standards Authority (AS) have banned an ad by Jaguar cars that promoted a vehicle’s hands-free mobile technology with the …

TIME FOR THE SELFISH TO BE LIABLE It will be interesting to see if the current travel misery deliberately being inflicted on London and its commuters, and the leaving of the …

PRESSING QUESTION Our press have brought their current woes on themselves, though sections such as Rupert Murdoch’s empire have arguably done more than most …

SARAH GOES FOR MORE Meanwhile Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York has launched a legal claim against News Group International for £25 million, losses she claimed she …

BAD MARKETING AT M&S Retailers Marks and Spencer are using technology to secretly track people’s movements via their mobile phones. Devices installed in the …

AGGRESSIVE MARKETING PAYS? One organisation that earns instant deletion from us is one that purports to offer opportunities to earn substantial income from working …

CHRISTMAS CHANGES Alterations in consumer behaviour at Christmas time, and featured in national press reports, have been noted by those who market in the sector…

KEEP CALM AND KEEP FIDDLING The rise of internet reviews, that apparently more than 80% of us look at before buying, has seen a corresponding rise in the number of …

AN ANSWER FOR NICOLA Uplifting to read that Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has big-heartedly agreed to put aside, for the time being, her party’s plan to hold another ...

KAROSHI The offices of one of Japan’s biggest ad agencies have been raided after a young woman committed suicide due to karoshi (chronic overwork). Ad firm Dentsu …

TAKING AGGRESSIVE SALES AND MARKETING SERIOUSLY Directors who put their companies into liquidation to avoid fines for making nuisance calls from the Information …

BROADBAND SELLERS TO STOP MISLEADING A complaint from Virgin Media that ads selling BT’s Infinity broadband were misleading has been upheld by the ASA…

COPYRIGHTS TO BE REGAINED The copyright protection period has been increased from 25 to 70 years after a designer dies by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) …

BREXIT BANDITRY? One company that was very keen on staying in the EU, and advised all its employees to vote to stay in the referendum, is Unilever. The firm makes …

BIG PHONE FIRMS IN BIG TROUBLE Phone giant Vodaphone has been fined a giant £4.6 million after it failed to credit 10,000 customers who had paid for top-ups, and then …

AND CAR FIRMS TOO German car makers Volkswagen are set to add to their £15.5 billion bill for emission rigging after it emerged that its Audi luxury brand cars could also …

BUT YOU DO GET A COMPANY CAR Company cars could be a perk of the past, if government plans to increase taxation for employees awarded them are implemented …

CASINOHOLICS Gambling firms are getting around restrictions on TV advertising to children by targeting them on social media, a study has found. Researchers at the …

STARTING EARLY Childhood obesity is being fuelled by TV advertising of sugary breakfast cereals, a study by researchers at Dartmouth University in the US has …

HAPPY AS YOU ARE? An ad that exploited some women’s insecurities about their figures has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) …

ALL SMILES ON STOCK MARKET FOR MERLIN Share prices in Merlin Entertainments rose by 1% in the 30 minutes after the judge had handed them a £5 million fine for the …

PAYDAY LENDER HIT A bill of £34 million has been handed down by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to payday lender CFO Lending for a string of customer …

WATCH THE ROAD A crop of deaths caused by drivers using mobile phones at the wheel has prompted calls for penalties to be substantially increased for the …

MORE EXHAUST FUMES DANGERS The nitrogen dioxide emitted by vehicle exhausts, particularly from diesel engines, can reduce attention and reaction times in drivers …

BEST HONEST RESEARCH BRIBERY CAN BUY Researchers have recovered more evidence that the sugar industry, through its trade association the Sugar Research …

TRUST THOSE COMPARISON SITES? A probe into comparison websites and how they make money is being launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) …

SCAMS ON AIRBMB WEBSITE A luxury villa on Ibiza advertised on the Airbmb website turned out to be non-existent when a customer booked it and paid £3,450 on request to …

BUY BEFORE YOU FLY, THEN The free snacks on board British Airways short-haul flights are being dropped from January next year in favour of the airline selling Marks …

WHAT PRICE CELEBRITIES? Celebrity endorsements and product placement in films, two favourite routes for marketeers, have recently been under fire in the press…

PRESSING ISSUES A large majority of those reading newspapers were presented with arguments in favour of leaving the EU in the run-up to the referendum, according to …

BANKERS AGAIN The majority of the electorate, who voted to leave the EU, are to blame for Lloyd’s bank having to cut 3,000 jobs and close 200 branches, according …

INSINCERITY EXPOSED Leaked messages from the organisations behind the long-running junior doctor’s strikes indicate that they were just pretending to want to “save …

EUROSTAR FIGHTS BACK Forecasting a dip in bookings for August travel – due to sterling’s drop in value and acts of terrorism putting travellers off – Eurostar’s …

TV LICENSE LOOPHOLE An increasing number of householders being chased for the TV license fee are using a legal loophole to prevent “enforcement officers” – actually …

MORE PLUGS THAN CURRYS Ofcom has upheld complaints from viewers that Channel 4 quiz show Countdown breached broadcasting rules by plugging products …

HEALTHY DIPS More processed foods have been found to contain high levels of salt and/or fat, according to a study by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) …

SNAP! Marketing Matters has received emails promoting home-working for a salary of $2,500-$5,000 from “the personnel manager of a large International company” …

CONGRATS, SIR PHIL Sir Philip Green has been awarded the government’s prestigious UFOC award for business activities, the Unacceptable Face Of Capitalism. To win this …

TRUST The secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement between the large corporations of the USA and the EU is fast becoming a major …

BULLY FOR RYANAIR Good to see that Michael O’Blarney’s bullying Ryanair was rapped over the knuckles earlier this year by the courts for one of its ludicrously unfair…

BOILER ROOM PAYBACK Two men convicted and imprisoned over a massive “boiler room” share fraud have been ordered to pay back a total of £11 million to the victims …

£180,000 FINE FOR EMAIL SLIP An HIV clinic run by Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust has been fined £180,000 for accidentally emailing its list of 781 …

BAD DEMAND Meanwhile one organisation backing an OUT vote on the EU is not doing itself any favours in its marketing. Formerly the World Development Movement the …

SOME VERY GOOD MARKETING Asda’s “Bag for life” very strong plastic carrier bag for just 6 pence is a useful alternative to shoppers who dont like to be forced into …

DONT GET SAD World’s latest medical phenomenon is Separation Anxiety Disease (SAD) which occurs when people are separated from their mobile phone …

WRONG FOOTED Accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have distanced themselves from the demand by their recruitment contractors that female employees in …

BAD NAME OF SPORT A Dutch International beach volleyball player is starting a four-year jail sentence for raping a 12 year old English girl. Steven Van de Velde, 19 at …

TRUST US? YOU MUST BE JOKING. As fines and scandals continue to hit the banking sector HSBC has warned that it will take “a generation” before the banks are trusted …

SLUR ON BUILDING TRADE Unfair, misleading and aggressive trading practices used to defraud pensioners are an “industry standard” for the building trade…

MORE INTERNET TRICKERY Fake five-star reviews for worthless products can be bought for as little as 85 pence each from a number of fake review companies …

UNLUCKY NUMBERS Management of the Wentworth golf club are handicapped by some marketing incompetence, it seems. Late last year Reignwood, the Surrey …

VOTE FOR ME A Labour MP has been fined £5,000 for sending out automatic telephone calls to Labour supporters urging recipients to back his campaign to become London …

NAFF OR WHAT? Marketeers we know have been receiving emails from a publisher of advertorials Mr Jack Clarke of Acquisition International as below…

NOT JUST VW Investigators in Germany are probing the role in the VW emissions scandal played by Stuttgart-based Robert Bosch, the large vehicle parts supplier which …

MORE BIG ONES MISTREATING THEIR CUSTOMERS
o Royal Mail has been fined £40 million by the French authorities for the participation …
o Energy company npower has been censured by industry regulator Ofgem for billing …

TAX AVOIDANCE, AND EVASION Consumer anger continues to build up over the way that large companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Mondelez …

YOUR MONEY AND YOUR LIFE Consumers have been warned of the dangers of buying and drinking counterfeit spirits. Some of the hundreds of thousands of bottles …

AMBULANCE CHASER CAUGHT A fine of £850,000 has been handed down by the Claims Management Regulator to a personal injury claims firm that made nearly 6 m …

MORE TELE-MARKETING CLEAN UP Our government have now made it mandatory for companies making marketing calls to display their telephone number, rather than …

DISABILITY AID WINS DESIGN PRIZE A non-spill spoon has won its British creator and designer a £1,000 prize in a design competition to find innovative new products to help …

JIM PULLS IT OFF It doesn’t take much to make some business types happy, it seems. An honorary doctorate was recently bestowed by Birmingham City University …

AND SO DOES NIGELLA Is there anyone left out there stupid enough to trust celebrity endorsements from paid “brand ambassadors”. Clearly Typhoo tea think there is  …