A regal curtsey for ANZ, Fly Buys, The Salvation Army and Air New Zealand this week.

After an eight-year partnership, Spark has parted ways with its direct marketing agency Rapp and appointed Clemenger-owned Proximity to the account “following a review of agency requirements”. PLUS: ASB general manager of marketing Ana Curzon to start her new role as Spark’s general manager of digital first on 18 May. UPDATE: Air New Zealand Airpoints has appointed Rapp to its account following a competitve pitch.

The city of Cape Town has launched a new campaign designed to encourage South Africans not to give small change to those on the street, because it does little more than keep them there.

Justin Bieber said he was going to repeatedly do it on people in his track Boyfriend; Jay Z claimed to have invented it; journalists have predicted the death of it since 1982; it has made it onto various lists of words that should die immediately; and now Spark has added the word swag—derived from swagger—to its marketing vocabulary via an ongoing campaign that now includes two new spots.

Nude ironing isn’t generally recommended, unless you’re trying to win an Xtreme Ironing competition. But Meridian, its new agency Barnes Catmur and spokesman Jeremy Wells have decided to embrace it.

ANZ has launched a new cross-Tasman brand ad by Whybin\TBWA that gives a nod to the pioneering human spirit by featuring a series of snippets from innovators in their respective fields.

The Japanese are renowned for their kooky ideas, be it in the form of ads, businesses or game shows. And, to promote the speed of its new “premium 4G” ultra-fast data service, telco provider NTT Docomo has followed up last year’s elaborate high-speed fried shrimp ad with an elaborate high-speed gyoza dumpling ad.

From Ram’s patriotic effort to Cadillac’s knobby manifesto to Lincoln’s campaign featuring Matthew McConaughey, car brands often like to get deep and meaningful in their ads. Honda has given automotive cliches a bit of poke—while gratuitously promoting its new car to “a small but hard to reach demo”—with an ad featuring Abed and Dean Pelton from Community, which is being shown on Yahoo and sponsored by Honda.

Air New Zealand celebrated its 75th anniversary yesterday by holding various competitions and promotions, including a mid-air game show, a chance for customers to win back their fare and a themed flight across the Tasman. PLUS: a gallery of old Air NZ ads.

Back on Oct. 27, 1994, Wired (or, as it was then known, Hotwired) claims to have given birth to the web’s first banner ad. 20 years on and the web is littered with them, to the point where banner blindness has become a real thing. But how well do you really know your banner ads? Boonstra McDonald has created a site where you can learn a bit more about your favourite flashing friends. And it turns out large rectangle, square button, pop-under and co. have got quite interesting back stories.

Due to its rapid growth and ongoing success, Xero has on numerous occasions been dubbed the Apple of accounting by the media. And while the company is going through a rocky patch at the moment with reports showing its annual loss widening and speculation that the Australian Stock Exchange might investigate the company on account of failing to disclose information to stock holders, it remains a major Kiwi success story, which has already made strong headway in the Australian market and is also getting noticed in the US. And despite having his hands quite full at the moment with international conquests, the company’s chief marketing officer Andy Lark recently chatted to StopPress’ sister publication Idealog about taking on the US and why marketing cannot be a substitute for a great product or sterling service.

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

In its 2015 flu campaign, the Health Promotion Agency has visualised the flu as a blue dust-like substance that floats in the air and moves from person to person.

We live in sad times. And they just got sadder, because artists Aric Snee & Justin Crowe have released an amazing new narcissistic development, the selfie-arm, ‘a sarcastic solution to the problem of being alone.’ PLUS: the wonders of solo chatting.

In 2011, Kiwi-born Robin Leonard founded AllFamous Digital in the Philippines, and inevitable ups and downs that have come with it have taught him some important rules about running a business in the digital marketing space.

In an effort to remind Russians to watch their speed, BBDO Moscow has produced a smart YouTube-based campaign for InTouch Insurance that only shows an accident happening when viewers fast-forward an otherwise boring ten-minute video of a car driving along the road.

Stem Creative has released the first three episodes of its six-part satirical web series called Agency, just a few short months after the creators came up with the idea. And the result is a humorous look at the trials and tribulations of the advertising industry through the eyes of three “hapless but genuine and enthusiastic marketing wannabes” at a small creative marketing agency in Wellington.

Four-person Swedish agency Dogwash has released a quirky campaign that allows ad folk to accurately express their thoughts through a catalogue of emojis that can be downloaded from the app store. And since most agencies always have one eye on the gong, the emoji suite includes Cannes Lions, Clios, D&D Pencils and a host of other award-themed options.

The freelancer experience has until now been typified by making contacts and hoping that they require your services on a regular basis. And while this approach has seen freelancers make ends meet for generations, it isn’t best case scenario for any of the parties involved. Freelancers are often left without work for long stints while agencies and clients might only have a limited list of potential workers, who might not always be available. So, in a bid to make freelancing in the local market more accessible and practicable, Greig Cranfield, who has until now served as digital specialist recruiter at Razzbri, launched Yudoozy, an online recruitment service that links freelancers to clients.

Game of Thrones has seemingly become to Ireland what Lord of the Rings is to New Zealand: a perfect opportunity to market stunning landscapes to fans of the series. And for this reason, Tourism Ireland and HBO have been surprising Ireland’s residents and visitors by scattering fantastical Game of Thrones props around the country to promote the show while simultaneously promoting Ireland as a tourist destination for Game of Thrones fans, or anyone who admire the stunning landscapes in the series.

Everyone’s so busy these days. So busy, it seems, that there’s not even enough time to get changed, as evidenced by Australian surfing brand Quiksilver’s release of a line of suits in Japan that you can wear surfing.

Celebratory chest bumps for Sky, Canon and AA Smartfuel this week.