IS CORPORATE HOSPITALITY BRIBERY?
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is concerned that the new Bribery Act, which takes effect next April, will classify corporate hospitality as bribery, rather than as….

PRICE FIXING FINES FOR AIRLINES
A total of €799 million in fines has been levied on 11 airlines by the EC, for price-fixing on securities and fuel charges on air cargo….

TESCO – EVERY LIDL HELPS
Tesco have the worst track record for advertising promotional items that are then unavailable in stores when customers visit to buy. (The Grocer)….

VOUCHER VOUCHER
Meanwhile the appetite of the general public for picking up bargains that really are available continues to grow, with vouchers for free or cut-price food in chain….

MORE BAD PRESS FOR NIGERIA
Nigeria, the home of advance fee fraudsters, has suffered another blow to its credibility with the news that Shell has been fined for bribing Nigerian customs officials there….

MULTIPLICATION
Now an official new word in the Oxford Dictionary of English, the staycation – taking a holiday in one’s own country – remains a popular choice for many of us currently….

I’LL HAVE THE PASTA DON GIOVANNI
A survey of 2000 cinema-goers by cinema group Apollo found that their knowledge of opera was a little lacking….

PREMIER PORKIE
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has persuaded budget hotel company Premier Inn to stop telling porkies about its size (Caterer and Hotelkeeper)…

WAITROSE PORKIE
The ASA have also censured Waitrose, for implying that the pork they sold was from pigs that lived outdoors, when in fact they were inside for most of their lives….

DO HMRC NEED INVESTIGATING?
In the wake of the almighty cock-up of PAYE by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs it has been revealed that the man ultimately responsible, the HMRC permanent….

INTEGRITY CHECK FOR INTERNET
The reliability of the review websites for hotels and restaurants used by millions of consumers has been called into question….

KEEP BUYING THE FASHION FAKES
An EU- funded report has found that many of the fears stoked up by the fashion houses anxious to protect their profits against counterfeits are groundless….

BAD MARKETING
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints against a number of misleading marketing practices, ones that readers will wish to avoid….

BIG TURN OFF
More than 70% of TV viewers over 55 have indicated that they will not welcome the product placement due to be part of TV programmes by the end of this year….

TAKE A SABBATICAL
Research by bank group Santander indicates that a record 1.2 million of us have recently opted to take a career break, at an average cost of £6,000….

ECOMMERCE SHOW
The E Commerce Expo exhibition and conference takes place October 19 and 20 at Olympia, London. Entry to the exhibition and the conference sessions is free….

TOUGH ON SPINNERS
Appalled we were to read that some nasty types had been visiting bookshops and moving Tony Blair’s superbly accurate memoirs, A Journey, under the fantasy or….

BLESS
The banking industry is in urgent need of some clever marketing and PR, it seems….

BE VERY AFRAID
The success of a self employed photographer in winning an out of court settlement of £2000 from British Gas for wasting his time can only encourage others to seek….

TAKE ON THE BBC
Meanwhile the BBC’s blustering and bullying debt-collectors, TV Licensing should be taking note of the above….

NAFF MARKETING STILL ALIVE AND WELL
The naff and misleading marketing con of sending out a fake editorial with a fake personalised stick-on note is still finding favour….

TUNA BOYCOTT
Ethical Consumer magazine has called for a boycott on tuna sandwiches from Tesco, Boots, Greggs and Subway….

BIGGER THAN YOURS
Budget hotel chain Travelodge have complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that rival budget hotel chain Premier Inn was misleadingly claiming to have….

JUST SILLY
Sad to see that actress Emma Thompson, appearing on an American chat show, chose to amuse her audience by claiming that homosexuals were stoned and flogged on….

I’LL SAVES YER, OLIVE
Endorsement for the power of cartoon characters in marketing to children comes from researchers at Mahidol University, Bangkok….

HOLIDAY COMPLAINTS
A study by Which? Legal Service has found that 10% of holiday travellers have made a complaint about a trip in the last three years. Half of the complainers were unhappy….

NOT FROM CHEDDAR
More than a third of the “cheddar” cheese sold in the UK is imported, claims the British Cheese….

NOT FAR ENOUGH?
Communications regulator Ofcom is to ban repeated silent calls to the same household in the same day from early next year….

DONT TRUST THEM
Barclays have had some bad press in the Daily Mail, for their bad financial advice….

SILVER SURVEY
Those marketing to women over 60 will be interested in the recent survey of 500 of them by the Daily Telegraph’s Stella magazine. The findings included….

SAVVY?
Is there any difference between a hotel offering “1,000 rooms for 1p a night” and offering “rooms from 1p”? ….

OUT ON THE CHEAP
A survey of the eating out habits of almost 3,000 UK adults has found that the most popular places for casual dining are Wetherspoon’s, Harvester and Pizza Express….

BAG THAT BARGAIN
The pound and 99p shops now familiar on most high streets are seriously undercutting the major names….

TV DINNERS
A study of advertising on American TV has found that a diet based on the food products featured is profoundly unhealthy….

MORE O’BLARNEY
Consumer watchdog Which? has criticised Ryanair for charging £5 per passenger per flight for using a credit card, rather than charging the fee per booking, like other….

UNWANTED R’s IN OZ
Mugs commemorating the visit of US prezz Obama have been withdrawn from sale at the parliamentary gift shop in Canberra after it was discovered that his name had….

DELIA AND WAITROSE DROP ONE
A seafood risotto recipe produced by celebrity cook Delia Smith as part of her completely impartial tie-up with Waitrose has been sharply criticised by those who….

EVERY LITTLE HELPSH
Interesting to note that Tesco’s retiring CEO Terry Leahy is such a supporter of price measures to curb the consumption of alcohol….

SEXUALISING KIDS FOR PROFIT
UK discount clothes retailer Primark has withdrawn padded bikini tops aimed at girls as young as seven, amid concerns that they were sexualising children for a profit….

CAN WE TRUST HMRC?
A report in the Daily Telegraph indicates that, just three years after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost the confidential details of 25 million….

ON NOT GIVING A TOSS ABOUT CHINA
The Chinese public are staying away in their hundreds of thousands from the Shanghai World Expo, which showcases China’s rising influence on the world stage….

VOUCHERS WORK THEN
The use of discount vouchers is up by 25% from last year, according to some recent research from moneysupermarket.com ….

HOLD THE TUNA
According to a recent report published in Ethical Consumer magazine consumers should avoid eating most species of tuna….

PUSSY GALORE
Meanwhile a fish and chip shop in Bourton-on-the-Water, Glos. has been doing its bit for the environment by supplying its customers with lashings of cheap, tasty….

NEW SHOW
The Incentives & Promotional Marketing – Live show takes place at the NEC, Birmingham, 21-22 September offering exhibitors, educational seminars and….

KING OF COMEDY
The UK’s most under-rated comedian must be Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)….

DELIA PULLS IT OFF
A fascinating take on ethics by Delia Smith has been reported by Private Eye….

AN OSCAR FOR ____________?
Given the frantic efforts by the leaders of our main political parties to market themselves on live TV debates it might be interesting to recall the words of former Premier Sir….

MORE DEATH AND ALCOHOL
Supermarkets have been criticised for selling cheap alcohol by a coroner after a 64 year old man in Norfolk drank himself to death for less than £10 He was found to have a….

WINE SCAMS
Wine club marketing lists were used to target wine lovers with an investment opportunity in a vineyard in Australia that didn’t exist….

NOT TO BE TRUSTED
Some ticket inspectors on our trains are getting a 5% commission on fines they “impartially” impose on passengers, according to the Department for Transport….

DON’T GET SCAMMED
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issues free information on the latest scams and advice on how to avoid being a victim….

MORE BUBBLE AND SQUEAK
Following a campaign led by the Women’s Institute (WI) major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer have agreed to reduce wasteful….

MISLEADING AT SAINSBURY’S
Sainsbury’s has been fined £45,500 for selling food at their Cwmbran, South Wales store that was out of date by more than 14 days….

DISRESPECT FOR BBC
A survey by PR Week magazine has found that the BBC’s gravy train culture, under which it pays offensively high fees to its presenters, its directors, managers and its….

DISRESPECT FOR PR PEOPLE?
Meanwhile a row has broken out over Birmingham City Council paying a PR consultant £800 a day to handle media coverage of their failure to protect the seven year-old girl….

INSTANT BARGAINS
Those happy with instant coffee, rather than the more expensive fresh ground stuff in all its variations the coffee shops are doing so well with, are finding the price dropping in….

LOSE WEIGHT AT MCDONALD’S
McDonalds in New Zealand have signed up Weight Watchers to rebrand some of its offerings as “healthy options” with a roll-out to Australia planned….

WORLD OF THE INTERNET
The Internet World exhibition takes place at Earl’s Court 2, 27-29 April 2010….

PRODUCT PLACEMENT OPPOSED BY CHURCH
The paid-for placement of products in TV programmes, as proposed by Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw, has been attacked by the Church of England as….

RAISE PRICE TO LOWER DEATHS?
More than 3000 deaths a year from alcohol-related causes would be avoided by significantly raising the price of drink bought in supermarkets….

MP EXPENSES UNDERMINE BRITAIN
Britain has slipped to an 11 year low on the table of corrupt countries compiled by Transparency International….

WORSTGROUP
Three months of “commuting hell” inflicted on its customers by train operating company First Capital Connect has led to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis describing the….

MORE MUGABE FALL-OUT
o Swiss giant Nestle has suspended all operations in Zimbabwe.
o Two South African managers of a dairy company linked to Tetra Pak, DeLaval….

WHERE FROM?
The consumers association Which? has called for a tightening up of rules on labelling food products….

AMERICANS LOVE ADVERT BREAKS?
A study at the University of California has found that American viewers liked programmes best when they were broken up by adverts, although they claimed….

O’BLARNEY AGAIN
Latest nonsense from everyone’s favourite marketeer, Michael O’Blarney of Ryanair, is the chance to avoid his rip-off £5 per person credit or debit card charge by paying ….

BANKER BASHING
Bankers continue to occupy a place in the public esteem somewhere below paedophiles….

FRENCH COURTS SUPPORT RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES
The Commercial Court in Paris has supported a ruling preventing French consumers from the buying or selling of some brands of perfumes or cosmetics on the internet….

SPORTS CELEBRITY ADS BANNED
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads using cricketers Graham Gooch and Shane Warne, and tennis player Virginia Wade OBE….

MODERN TIMES
A PR stunt awarding companies for being female-friendly employers and run by The Times newspaper has been brought into disrepute by the awarding of compensation….

MARKETING BELOW THE BELT
Suggestions that smokers might be less attractive to the opposite sex are more likely to persuade them to give it up than warnings of death on cigarette packs….

FOUL PLAY
A London theatre is in trouble with Westminster trading standards officers after it quoted selectively from a generally negative review of a play it was staging and made it….

DEBT BY PHONE
More than 40% of the 100 million plus unsolicited telemarketing calls made to UK households in November were by loan companies hoping for rich pickings for….

CARVING UP CHRISTMAS
Supermarket group ASDA are offering the cheapest trolley of Christmas goods this year. According to a recent survey by The Grocer trade magazine a trolley of 33….

A BLOW FOR TIGER
Oh dear. Since the allegation that golf’s most marketed property, Tiger Woods, doesn’t just play a round on the courses the tasteless jokes have come thick and fast, to the….

WE ARE WATCHING YOU
State-spying has now become a reality with news that 653 public bodies will be able to snoop on every telephone call, text message, email and website visit made by….

CLEANING UP ONLINE
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is to police advertising on UK websites from late next year, after some funding from Google….

BIGGER FINES FOR SILENT CALLERS
Companies that telemarket with automatic dialling equipment and generate large volumes of silent calls – those where the equipment hangs up on the answering….

ATTACK ON FAKE JOURNALISM
A new hard-hitting documentary, Starsuckers, shows how easy it is to get fake celebrity stories published in our willing tabloids….

ATTACK ON FAKE PHOTOS
Fake photographs, airbrushed to enhance the shape of models continue to come under attack for the lack of honesty in their use, and potential danger to health….

TALKING THE TALK
Some customer TLC is needed at TalkTalk, strapline “We’re full of bright ideas”….

NOT JUST ANY OVERPRICED FOOD…
The current ads from M&S comparing their prices for their Wise Buys budget range with those for Waitrose Essentials are causing some mirth amongst those who really….

SECRETS OF HAPPINESS?
The Finns are the happiest people on earth….

TRUST THE ROYAL MAIL?
Revelations that unions at the Royal Mail are just as greedy and stupidly short-sighted as its management are causing companies to look elsewhere for the distribution of….

SWISS MISS
Swiss food giant Nestle has been shamed into ceasing trading with Robert Mugabe’s wife….

WANNA BUY BRITISH?
Most UK consumers want to see all food labelled with the country of origin, so that they can choose to buy British if they wish….

TICKET SCAMMERS TARGETTED
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has set up a fake fraudulent website, to warn purchasers of tickets for events about the dangers of fraudulent websites.(Live UK)….

ADVERTISING STANDARDS
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has made a number of interesting adjudications over the last few weeks….

REALITY CHECK
Moves are being made in France to force advertisers to indicate when pictures used have been airbrushed or otherwise enhanced….

SUBLIMINAL WORKS
Subliminal advertising, currently banned, does actually work, say researchers at University College, London….

MORE GOLF SAFETY
o email to Sir Menzies Campbell, October 12.
Dear Sir Menzies Campbell….