In both the real world and online world, advertising is rife. Billboards block the view of public spaces while pre-roll ads stand between audiences and their videos. But is there a way to stop it? A public access project, the law and even an app suggest there is.

In 2008 Canadian musician Dave Carroll was travelling with United Airlines. During a layover he heard a fellow passenger remark that baggage handlers on the tarmac in Chicago were throwing guitars. He arrived at his destination only to discover his $3,500 guitar was severely damaged. After an unsatisfactory response from the airline, he used his musical talent to create a song he dubbed ‘United breaks guitars’ with a music video and all. The song went viral and the incident created a PR disaster for the airline. But now, when Googling the airline, there is no mention of the incident. This is an example of the power of search engine optimisation (SEO) and its role in protecting brand reputation. We chat to Pure SEO’s Richard Conway about this idea and the threat of negative SEO.

Around two weeks ago, Facebook extended the reach of its walled garden by launching its Canvas platform in all international markets. We chat to House of Travel’s marketing director Ken Freer about his thoughts on launching his first campaign on the platform.

In the same way Apple aims to revolutionise the world with its products, Sacha Baron Cohen wants to revolutionize the world with his characters.

As the world celebrated International Women’s day and efforts were made to bring a fresh face to the ongoing issue of gender inequality, some found success while another missed the mark.

Many MasterChef contestants quickly fade from view. But, with a big social following, the launch of a popular cookbook and a gig as Woman’s Day’s food columnist, Chelsea Winter has created her own thriving culinary empire. Here’s what she eats for media lunch.

New Zealand’s travel industry is on the rise and so are the ads.

HRV, DOC and Toyota, Monteith’s and Z Energy deserve a round of applause this week.

New Zealand isn’t just a smaller version of Australia, Freedom Australia managing director Tim Schaafsma says. Speaking at Retail NZ’s shop.kiwi event, he explained the distinctions between the two markets that led to Freedom positioning its brand differently in each country.

There may not be sound in space, but there is Wi-Fi and payWave according to Total’s new campaign.

Never has the monotonous task of washing your hands been so emotional.

To connect with the growing Chinese community in New Zealand, some major brands are delving into Chinese social media by starting accounts on Weibo or WeChat, which combined have 800 million active accounts. The opportunity that exists in this cannot be overstated. However, in the same way that simply starting a Facebook business page offers no guarantee of success, placing your brand onto a social Chinese social media channel isn’t necessarily going to result in instant stream of new revenue. So to better understand the role WeChat and Weibo play in Chinese social media, StopPress chatted to James Shi of Bananaworks, a cross-cultural communications agency specialising in helping kiwi companies to engage with the Chinese community in New Zealand and abroad.

In what appears to have become a bit of an industry trend as of late, as agencies have increasingly been sucked into one another, Bcg2 has announced it has acquired Shirtcliffe and Co, with the move going live on 1 March.

Having ‘the talk’ with their children is a much stressed over point in a parents life, but how should agencies approach the issue? British police and Project Consent show there’s two very different ways to do it.