Author StopPress Team

Given the recent media focus on the transgender community, Google has shown its support through a moving ad that provides a glimpse into the life of Jacob, a transgender man who finds a gym where he can safely exercise without the fear of being ostracised (or worse). The spot tracks Jacob’s journey through a series of archived YouTube clips and shows how hard the transition has been both physically and emotionally.

Not content with simply drinking beer? Carlsberg’s latest initiative lets men rub it all over themselves.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

The wealth of streaming services now available is proving to be hard on New Zealand’s broadband infrastructure, and, according to the NBR, Chorus, the largest network operator, recently said traffic increased by 40 percent on its network between January and April. Playstation is also getting on the act (in the US, at least) with Vue, and it’s launched an ad showing a number of situations where using new technology is a no brainer.

After Joseph Parker dominated the German champ last weekend and won in the second round, Burger King had to honour the pledge it made to its new mascot (under duress) and sell Whoppers for $2. And Parker’s thunder face has returned.

Our weekly wrap of good things, strange things, funny things and other things from inside the intertubes.

HSBC has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years, with the LIBOR scandal, fines for its role in assisting tax evasion, supposed media manipulation in the Telegraph and a recent proposal to lay off up to 50,000 staff around the world. It’s still making truckloads of cash, of course (although profit was down 17 percent to a mere $18.7bn in 2014) and it’s also making good ads, with a beauty from Grey London that, like Mad Men, uses the humble elevator as a storytelling device and plays up the emotional side of owning a business.

The latest issue of Home magazine features a powerful campaign that shows a multi-page profile on what at first appears to be just another affluent home. However, on closer inspection, it quickly becomes clear that something is amiss. Blood stains are on a stairwell, chairs have been knocked over, ceramic pieces lie shattered on the floor and tables have been smashed.

Given the extent of the ad-blocking problem, The Guardian recently took a novel approach to addressing the issue. Instead of following the German example of taking ad blocker software providers to court, the UK publisher has reached out to its readers with a strong moral message.

For those Kiwi gamers who play GTAV and just wish they could feel more at home by seeing familiar New Zealand advertising … and gangs, well this might just be the opportunity.

It’s no secret that smartphone usage has proliferated rapidly over the course of the last few years. The rectangular glow of these devices provides ambient lighting for virtually every stretch of our nation. And while the ubiquity of these devices is evidenced by their presence in the pockets of Kiwis of all ages, this anecdotal observation doesn’t provide enough accuracy to drive media decisions. This week, Google released its Consumer Barometer report, which provides a breakdown of the media consumption habits of people across the world. And contained within this report was a section dedicated specifically to the Kiwi market.

In the modern world social media is beginning to dominate with folk progressively visiting platforms like Facebook and Snapchat instead of consuming traditional forms of media. And with this audience shift, advertisers are coming up with increasingly creative ways to market through them, travelling to their audience’s turf. Sovereign Insurance has cottoned on to this, and is using social media to educate people about life insurance, offering a free six months of it through its Facebook page.

There was a time when people seemed to get angry about autoplay video, with Fairfax in Australia getting a kicking a few years back. Now it seems to be part of the online furniture. Instagram and Facebook launched auotplay video in 2013 and Twitter has also just announced it. But as those videos don’t play with sound unless users click on them, brands and publishers are adapting to an era of silent video marketing—and, just as some have done with pre-roll ads, they’re starting to find some creative solutions.

ClickHole is, as Slate attests, the best thing on the internet. And while there have been many stories written about Google, its amazing offices and its innovation-centric culture, none of them have been as good as this journey to Mountainview, where we get thrust into the beating heart of Silicon Valley.

By tapping into the unwavering need of surfers to know exactly what the conditions are like at their local spots, surf2surf.co..nz has become an essential pitstop for the nation’s wave lovers on the way to the beach. And the company’s founder and director Paul Brunskill explains that this simple model also makes business sense, attracting a slew of advertisers and making it possible to launch similar services abroad.

When it comes to creative fundraising, it’s tough to beat the cancer sector. Recently, New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation and Skinfood’s Breast Cream went on sale, with the goal being to raise funds and, at the same time, get women to check for lumps. And there’s another product set to hit the shelves that also aims to raise funds for a cure but might create some initial consternation: Lewis Road Creamery’s ‘Breast Milk’.

The Kickstarter fundraising initiative has given a platform to some delightfully weird ideas over the last few years. Following on from a bizarre catalogue that already includes crystal bacon, combat kichenware and meat soap, a pair of Kiwi entrepreneurs have now announced Poopins via the crowd-funding-based website.