Here at StopPress headquarters in Auckland, we unfortunately don’t have the promise of snow days during winter to get us excited for a few unexpected moments away from office. However, various states across the US get covered in a white blanket so thick during the colder months that it renders it virtually impossible for citizens to get to work or school. And rather than mourning the confinement that often coincides with snow days, Nike has decided to celebrate the freedom these moments offer in a new spot by Wieden + Kennedy.

With hefty student loans and a growing consensus among international businesses that undergraduate degrees aren’t necessary for entry-level jobs, some are beginning to question whether dedicating three years to a single certificate is really worthwhile. Fortunately, Boundary Road’s Brewniversity offers an alternative. And the best part is that it only takes five minutes to complete the exam.

Contact Energy, Parkinson’s New Zealand and Craigs Investment win this week’s round.

The accuracy of online targeting tools when viewed alongside the ageing Kiwi population raises a few questions regarding the continued relevance of TV’s 25-54 trading demographic model. StopPress investigates whether this model has become little more than a blunt instrument in the age of big data insights.

There was plenty of marketing activity during the Rugby World Cup and that has continued after the All Blacks lifted the trophy, with brands celebrating the win on social media and in print.

When he’s not lending his voice to Pak ‘n Save’s Stickman, Paul Ego is mocking Jeremy Corbett on 7 Days or performing on the stand-up circuit across the country. And when not entertaining the masses with his brand of dry and often self-deprecating humour, Ego likes to engage in some very risqué use of the fax machine.

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

Mr Whippy is often licked, he can never be beaten (at least when it comes to puns). But we have a late contender for the final instalment of The Big Game, a prestigious award dished out by StopPress to the best example of desperate euphemism usage from non-sponsors hoping to ride the rugby attention train. We’ve already seen Moa sneak into the stands of the Rugby World Cup with its fairly blatant ‘Four More Years’ brew. And while actual sponsors ASB and even Steinlager are promoting the consumption of hot beverages while watching the game, Hallertau Brewery has crafted a specially made breakfast beer ahead of Sunday’s final. Let’s hope David Seymour gets his hands on one.

After six years as the executive director at Ogilvy & Mather NZ, Paul Manning has resigned from his post to take up the managing director role at .99.

Everyone loves a good .gif. There are even awards to celebrate the art form. And now gif hunting site Giphy has created a fairly mad ad that riffs on classic cooking programmes to show people how to make one.

While the knee-jerk reaction to a pre-roll is generally an attempt to hit the skip button as quickly as possible, this isn’t always the case. Not all pre-rolls are created equal—and Mountain Dew and the Wall Street Journal are showing why a bit of creativity pays when it comes to producing these ads.

While there are many exciting uses for drones, the most consumer-friendly use of the technology is film. Many birds don’t take too kindly to the space invaders. Privacy advocates don’t like them much either. And, as a clip that got picked up yesterday from Kor Creative showed, neither do schoolkids from Rosmini College. So in honour of the destructive kick, here are few other drone-based clips.

At a presentation held yesterday, Lightbox chief executive Kym Niblock said that recent research conducted for the SVOD provider indicated that a fifth of current Sky subscribers said they were likely to leave the service after the Rugby World Cup and one in four are likely to add a streaming service in the near future. But Sky’s director of communications Kirsty Way thinks these figures will come to fruition.

For the upcoming Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, Vodafone is following in the footsteps of the Coachella organisers by enabling those not in attendance to experience the event through Snapchat. And the telco hopes this will get the event to reach thousands of Kiwis beyond the 8,500 capacity of the venue.