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UK discount clothes retailer Primark has withdrawn padded bikini tops aimed at girls as young as seven, amid concerns that they were sexualising children for a profit….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