London traffic became even more congested recently as 12,000 taxi drivers staged a protest by blockading various streets throughout the English capital. Their dissatisfaction finds its genesis in the expansion of Uber, an app that allows potential passengers to connect with nearby taxi drivers. We chatted to Roger Heale, the executive director of the the New Zealand Taxi Federation, about the potential of the same happening here. Updated with comments from Uber.

Brother Design is lending its award-winning design skills to a good cause in a new campaign for not-for-profit organisation Look Good Feel Better (LGFB) by launching a print campaign to raise awareness about ‘Feel Better’ month, which runs over the course of July. LGFB focuses on improving the self-esteems of cancer sufferers by teaching them make-up techniques in an effort to help them overcome the taxing toll that treatments take on the body. The make-up training sessions are held periodically at workshops, which cancer suffers can register for via the LGFB website.

As a story in Adweek noted recently, “purpose transcends business and product (the what) and delivers on human principles (the why).” A lot of companies tend to tack this purpose on to the marketing department, or make it part of a corporate social responsibility programme. But All Good Organics, as the name implies, has goodness running through its veins and its efforts have been rewarded with a global award as the fairest trader of them all, beating out 27,000 products from 120 countries that carry the Fairtrade mark.

When Kiwi entrepreneur Derek Handley advertised for a new right hand human, his campaign The Shoulder Tap had more than 1000 applicants from more than 30 countries – from billion-dollar hedge fund managers to prison managers to activists. Yes, Handley’s reputation and vision pulled for sure, but there was also some clever Kiwi technology behind the campaign.

US-based meat product manufacturer Oscar Mayer has released its first interactive mobile app ‘Wienermobile’ to grab consumers’ digital attention ahead of the Labour Day holiday. While the app includes various standard features—such as picture uploading and social media accessibility—it also features a pair of interactive games that users can participate in.

To some degree banks have always been publishers, producing voluminous pamphlets and documents relating to their accounts, interest rates and credit card deals. And while this has served the utilitarian purpose of providing information to both current and potential clients, it has always been a bit vapid in the story-telling department. So, in an effort to fill the narrative-shaped hole in its offering, ANZ has launched BlueNotes, a digital publishing site updated daily with news stories directly relevant to the bank and the financial industry.

Every brand and his dog is trying to get in on the action for the Football World Cup. And here are a few more ads from Twitter, GoPro and Adidas.

Ogilvy Beijing recently terrified a cinema of moviegoers with a clever campaign that showed how multi-screen technology can be used to relay an idea. After the audience took their seats, the pre-roll advertisements started playing on the screen. And what at first seems like a standard car ad quickly shifts into something quite different when all those sitting in the cinema receive text messages. While everyone is looking down at their phones, the car that was casually driving along the road suddenly careens off the road and smashes into a tree.

With the 2014 FIFA World Cup just around the corner, brands are doing their best to link with this prestigious event any way they can. Nike has just done it again with their latest spot titled “The Last Game”.

There’s a fair bit of excitement over Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s What We do in the Shadows, which opens on June 19. And Wellington, a renowned film-friendly city, is getting behind it with a vampirical addition to its ‘blown away’ sign. PLUS: ‘The vampire’s guide to Vellington’.

After a competitive pitch, Post Creative has been brought on to ‘engineer influence’ for the Green Party’s upcoming election campaign. PLUS: which agencies are working with the other major parties?

In an effort to encourage Kiwi men to open up, Men’s Health Week (which runs from 9 to 15 June) was launched late last night via a cheeky marketing campaign by M&C Saatchi. The ‘Speak Up’ campaign will see a series of speech bubbles being attached to existing advertisements in the Auckland CBD, Karangahape Road, Newmarket, Grey Lynn and Ponsonby—all areas that have been pinpointed as areas of concern.