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

Following on from its award-winning ‘Brewtroleum’ campaign, DB Breweries and Colenso BBDO have continued their mission to save the world through the power of beer with a new innovation that converts beer bottles into sand that can be used in construction. We’ll lift a glass to that.

Countdown has teamed up with the not-for-profit organisation ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’ to help reduce the amount of fresh produce that goes to waste every year. To do this, the retailer has launched a sub-brand called ‘The odd bunch’, carrying fruits and vegetables that would normally be considered too ugly to be sold in stores.

According to some guy, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. And in a world filled with too much technology, there is a growing desire among some to simplify, switch off and maintain mindfulness. And that tension can be seen clearly with the EasyPhone, which is targeting a very specific customer base by – gasp! – promoting the removal of ‘smart’ features and – double gasp! – advertising the product in a newspaper.

This week Rebel Sport, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and Niue Tourism show us how it’s done.

Heading out on the water and dropping a line in is an enjoyable activity but for many, the enjoyment only lasts as long as the action on the line does. If you don’t catch any fish it can be a long day out on water facing the conditions and wiggling a rod about. With that in mind, Setapp decided to see if fishermen would be tempted by a shortcut in its introductory campaign.

Women’s Refuge has a launched a ‘Kids in the Middle’ campaign to raise funds for a new initiative aimed at helping kids affected by domestic violence.

Flying Fish Director Niki Caro has been handpicked to direct a live-action remake of Disney’s Mulan.

Earlier this month, Accenture released its Fjord Trends report, showing what businesses should be wary of in the next year. Of the eight, AI was one to watch for its accelerated growth and rational decision-making capabilities. And with the next step being to create empathetic responses from chatbots, the day AI takes over customer service may be closer than you think. With this in mind, we take a look at a Kiwi company at the forefront of humanising AI technology, that’s revealed its first virtual assistant called ‘Nadia’, which has been voiced by actress Cate Blanchett.

Audible Australia is on a mission to show the dangers and frustrations of reading books with a flashback to the 80s and some cringe-worthy lyric changes.

TRA’s Jeremy McDonnell reckons that behavioural science might help to shed some light on the reasons behind the ascent of Alec Baldwin’s alter ego.

Niue Tourism has teamed up with indie creative agency Run to launch its first-ever major brand campaign featuring real travellers sharing their experiences of the island​.

Pandora, Paperboy and Ponsonby Business Association—won’t someone stop with all the P’s?

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

Pop-up stores are all the rage lately, so New Zealand Natural’s jumped on the experiential bandwagon with its new pop-up store, Melt, on Auckland’s Quay Street.

The countdown is on for this year’s Axis Awards and CAANZ building the hype with an online pub quiz to test your knowledge of local ads, egos and awards.

Electric Kiwi was this week confirmed as the broadcast partner of The Project, which will be hitting local TV screens for the first time on 20 February. A relative newcomer to the energy scene, Electric Kiwi is one of a number of independent energy providers offering New Zealand consumers an alternative to the big, traditional power companies. We caught up with recently appointed Electric Kiwi chief executive Luke Blincoe (previously at Genesis and before that at Globug) to find out how the business is doing and why he’s decided to back MediaWorks’ experimental current affairs show.

In a ‘Special Event’ Facebook Live video, similar to an Apple announcement, the McDonald’s has announced a new Chocolate Shamrock shake and a game-changing straw to match.

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, with support from some prominent Kiwi women and members of the public, is fighting for the pay gap to finally come to a close in a ‘Treat Her Right’ campaign by Double Denim.

Money is not an easy subject for many to talk about but with a mission to help Kiwis be better with their finances, Kiwibank put it front and centre in its new show Mind Over Money. And bringing it to life is Nigel Latta and his colleagues at Ruckus who we spoke to about ‘humanising’ money and helping brands break away from conventional TVCs.

Officially launched in December, Iceberg—formerly known as Strategy Auckland—is the latest creative agency on the scene.

With one of the largest recorded women’s marches against Donald Trump taking place only a matter of weeks ago, it seems that 2017 could be the year of progressive feminism. Jumping on board with this idea, New Zealand-owned Ziera Shoes has launched a campaign titled ‘Unstoppable’ that promotes empowerment and strength amongst women globally.

Last month we saw Air New Zealand ask Kiwis who they’ll be missing on Valentine’s Day and following hundreds of responses, the airline has reunited a pair to who Valentine’s Day carries great significance.

MediaWorks executive creative director Ant Farac tells StopPress about the artist that inspired the much-maligned Three logo.

While many brands are hoping to reel in the romantic with love stories and pink brand makeovers this Valentine’s Day, Visa has opted to deliver some unpleasant truths about popular gifts.

The old adage goes that prediction is a fool’s game, but this has done little to dissuade Accenture from releasing its annual Fjord Trends report, which aims to predict disruptive digital trends, for the last ten years. 2017 was no different, and the company is again playing the prediction game, this time identifying eight trends businesses should be wary of over the next 12 months.