A filmic glimpse at the life of the great man.

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

New Zealand’s history of sports sponsorship goes back a long way, and it has become common around this time of the year for the sponsorship shuffle to start as brands renew old deals, strike new ones or depart from teams entirely. And this year has been no exception, with Ford, Telecom, NIB, Adidas, Steinlager and a new Kiwi startup all getting in on the action.

Strahan Wallis will step into the role of managing director of Porter Novelli New Zealand on 1 January 2014 in a move that will see him replace Jane Sweeney, who is set to leave the company at the end of the year, after approximately nine years of service.

Since 2006, five Nando’s franchises have gone into liquidation, and a recent Herald article revealed that several of the current franchisees are unsatisfied with the current franchisor’s reluctance to invest in advertising. We decided to have a look at how the brand was being represented in South Africa, and what we found was a parody-loaded collection of commercials that were topical, controversial and sometimes humorous.

Good to see Mazda’s sponsorship of Campbell Live is paying dividends, as this Christmas card that John Campbell received from ‘Alice’ proves.

Shayne Currie, editor of the New Zealand Herald, will be able to put his feet up for one day as former All Black and anti-depression campaigner Sir John Kirwan steps in to take over the editorial responsibilities for the 10 December edition of the paper.

Whybin\TBWA’s Digital Arts Network and Assembly have brought Middle Earth to life online for Tourism New Zealand. The tourism organisation is making the most of content developed for the Book of New Zealand, a digital installation in Los Angeles that promotes four locations used in the filming of The Hobbit sequel The Desolation of Smaug.

Auckland’s Rush Digital Interactive, specialists in games, graphics, augmented reality and apps, has teamed with Saatchi & Saatchi to create an arena that pits players from Auckland against rivals more than 1000km away. The game will be played out at Auckland’s ASB Tennis Centre and Christchurch’s Wilding Park as the ASB Classic tournament approaches.

The voices that were sent to the Moon as part of Dr Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations have made a safe return to planet Earth and can now be heard at the Moonbouncer website.

In his former life in adland, Online Republic co-founder and president Mike Ballantyne was part of a like-minded creative team, all pulling in the same direction to take on Auckland’s big agencies. That made him a big believer in assembling and locking in key talent — something he credits for the success of his current e-commerce venture Online Republic.

Aegis Media will bring its digital brand Isobar to New Zealand from next February under the leadership of current Isobar Sydney general manager Grant Henderson. The introduction rounds out the network’s local offering and will include expansion of the Kiwi team.

It seems the travellers and the aviation industry weren’t the only ones captivated by British Airways’ recent #lookup campaign, which used surveillance technology to hook billboards up with its planes passing overhead. Domino’s Pizza in the UK has followed suit with a ripoff that asks up to #lookdown at a large pepperoni.

TV and movie streaming service Netflix has gone all warm and fuzzy with the story of a Christmas tree-topping ornament who’s seen it all. As the porcelain decorated character says, it’s hard not to smile when a happy expression is painted on your face.

This year Positively Wellington Tourism is targeting Kiwis who take to the road for the Christmas holidays, not just locals, with its online advent calendar. And it’s the first time it’s harnessed the social crowd to find out what the calendar should showcase.

Growing numbers of Kiwis are using social media to share job opportunities and secure new work, according to a recent Kelly Workforce Index survey of more than 3500 Kiwis. And employers should know staff expect to be able to use company tech to get social.

We’ve always thought runners are a bit of a mad bunch, and a new TVC for Nike by Wieden + Kennedy in Shanghai is further evidence. Let The Run Tell You Why, it says. Better yet, let the guy in the hotdog costume explain himself.

Kiwi IT company Crossware sees global opportunity to get more companies making the most of the prime real estate at the bottom of their staff’s emails. It’s a space the firm says many local firms don’t use to brand themselves.

The sporting banter between Andrew Mulligan and Mark Richardson is no longer restricted to weeknights on Prime. Since 25 November, The Crowd Goes Wild, the popular television show the pair co-host, has also moved into the radio realm with a morning show on Radio Sport. Plus: find out who’s coming back to Radio Sport.

Jeff Bezos, the mastermind at Amazon, is planning to give online shopping an Orwellian twist by introducing a squadron of unmanned drones to deliver products purchased on the website.