In a new series, StopPress talks to a range of newsmakers currently trying to shine lights into dark places while also keeping their own lights on and looks at whether commercial realities are leading to editorial compromise. First up, Radio New Zealand chief executive Paul Thompson chats about why it’s unlikely—and important for journalism—for the state-funded broadcaster to go fully commercial.

Author, Seven Sharp reporter and dashing raconteur Tim Wilson discusses his fondness for Kanye West backing tracks, his addiction to Twitter and his wife-based media.

McDonald’s may be struggling globally as fast casual chains and the popularity of premium burgers eat into its share, but the Kiwi arm managed to lift sales by two percent last year. And, as part of its mission to be more transparent with the Our Food, Your Questions campaign, it’s got comedian Guy Montgomery to take punters through the patty manufacturing process.

An art project on the nature of Tinder, named Tender, cleverly (or very grossly) plays on the expression “Treated like a piece of meat”, and given we’ve had a bit of a dating focus lately, we thought we’d better feature it.

There were over 40,000 entries to the Cannes Lions this year, and while there is currently much excitement and hedonism in the South of France, there also seems to be a growing sense of cynicism about the importance placed on the awards, with Tom Goodwin’s thought-provoking article in The Guardian questioning the industry’s reality distortion field and inward-looking nature. And for the cynics who think these clever ideas on display are all a bunch of arse that are unlikely to solve real business problems, you’ll probably enjoy the Grand Prix Generator.

Air New Zealand’s most recent safety video was all about surfing. But the wetsuits are being swapped for woolly onesies and, following on from last year’s efforts to lure Australians (mostly) to the now well-covered slopes, the airline and a few of its friends have created a beautiful timelapse video that focuses on the thrill snow lovers get from the change of seasons.

For the first time in a decade Nissan has released its new Navara model, the NP300, and in celebration it’s teamed up with Whybin\TBWA to develop an interactive game called ‘Navara Says’ to show off its new features and one Kiwi will get to take one home if they’re skilled enough.

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.

Farmstrong is an organisation which looks out for the well being of farmers, which in recent times has become an area which needs attention, with 14 farmers taking their own lives during the second half of last year. The organisation has released a TVC addressing the issue in a subtle way, using a farmer as the protagonist who has a nonchalant approach to well being, which illustrates how easy it can be to slip into bad habits.

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

Pedigree and Colenso’s latest work aims to show us that dogs bring out the best in humanity. This short film about a very special relationship between a man and his best mate backs that up—and is likely to lead to a bit of moisture on the eye.

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.

Virtual reality systems Oculus Rift and Microsoft’s Hololens have been getting plenty of attention recently. And while it remains to be seen whether humans will be happy to strap something to their face (or whether they’ll plug technology straight into their DNA, as is being predicted), what’s clear is that they are willing to give augmented reality a whirl. And retailers from Walmart to Freedom Furniture to New World to Lego are all trialling it.

As Apple gets ready to take on the established streaming services with its new musical moves, Spotify has created a clever feature called Taste Rewind that acts as a musical time machine and shows users how the music of the past has influenced the music of today.

In March, the story broke that Yahoo would be releasing all of its editorial staff as part of a restructuring process that would create five new roles, which these previous staff members could apply for. Until now, the regional executives in charge of this restructure have not commented to the media about what the changes have entailed or why the the website had decided to rethink its business operations. After several requests for interviews, Yahoo 7 chief executive for Australia and New Zealand Ed Harrison recently chatted to StopPress about the changes and what they mean for the company.

The Webby’s celebrate the best digital work done over the past year. And this year, along with Grey Goose, it created a site showing 50 of the best ideas. It also wanted to celebrate the creators, so, as part of that campaign it caught up with the founders of Refinery 29, Vine, Giphy, Cool Hunting and Harry’s. And they had plenty of advice for anyone working in the digital arts.

First coming to prominence with guerrilla advertising campaigns and video jockeys for electronic musicians, projection mapping is now an oft-used method to promote products from major companies such as Porsche, Sony and Nike. Artistic collective, Skullmapping, however, are taking it to a whole new level.

Wanaka is a place well renowned for its beauty, with its crystal blue lake, mountainous terrain and great slopes. And while stunning promotional imagery for the town is common to see, it’s not as often we get to see a hyper-fast compilation of the township through 4,000 images carefully stitched together by an experienced videographer, here’s Lake Wanaka Tourism’s latest marketing approach.

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.

Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to take advice from advertising. And especially not alcohol advertising. But you can make an exception for this ad for Finlandia Vodka.

Having a local to show you around always makes a city more enjoyable. And, following on from various ads showing urbane men having urban adventures, Heineken’s latest campaign via Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam shows how crucial a knowledgeable insider can be.

Big data is a massively over-used term and, for many, too abstract to be useful. But “customer engagement provider” Thunderhead, which is set to launch in this part of the world soon, decided to create a very literal version of the term for its brand ad and, unlike any other research company ever, it’s embraced man-on-man breastfeeding to attract chief marketing officers.