Rekorderlig Cider has brought a piece of Scandinavia to Auckland’s Shortland St with the arrival of a Swedish-themed bar and restaurant that will be open to the public for just ten days. All up, around $400,000 was spent on constructing and promoting the tree filled, wood-panelled Winter Garden. And when you look at the growth of cider in New Zealand and around the world, that seems like a pretty good investment.

To celebrate the yet-to-be-born heir to the British throne, Monteith’s has created a limited edition ‘Royal Series’ and is sending it off to Windsor. This fits into the StopPress philosophy of buying gifts for parents, not babies, and the Princes have previously sampled some of the West Coast brews on trips to New Zealand over the years.

DIY automatives are at their best when they look hilarious (such as The Homer) or do something completely out of character such as this mobility scooter.

Without much fanfare Google has launched its terribly-named streaming music service Play Music All Access in New Zealand Australia, the first markets to receive it following the launch in the US in May.

InfoPages provides brands with profile pages which aggregates the content they release on Scoop. The profiles can include a logo, media and business contacts, and a description of the company.

Yukfoo is now in its teens and all the pimply awkwardness it implies. To celebrate, the studio has released a showreel of its earliest works – including this infamous bunny-laden piece for Vodafone New Zealand.

Radio New Zealand isn’t known for being the hippest network on the airwaves, but the public broadcaster is launching a new brand aimed at bringing in the youth.

PopPress was quite partial to the recent poster campaign by New York PBS Station Thirteen that skewered the types of reality shows likely to be put on mainstream TV these days (and in so doing, show how it offers quality content and raise some money to create it). And after Knitting Wars (‘It’s Sew On’), Married to a Mime (‘She’s Got Plenty to Say’), The Dillionaire (‘Life’s a Pickle’), Bayou Eskimos (‘Their Life is Headed South’) and Big Bad Bag Boys (‘Clean up on Every Aisle’), it’s followed up with three trailers for fake shows Meet the Tanners, Clam Kings, and Long Island Landscapers.

Just as many writers are under the pump as editorial budgets shrink, many photographers are having a fairly rough time of it too, with the Chicago Sun Times’ recent decision lay off all its full-time snappers clear evidence of changing times. But it’s not all fire and brimstone, and the world still loves quality imagery, so in an effort to showcase the work of some of New Zealand’s best commercial photographers, the Advertising & Illustrative Photographers Association has launched a new platform called Cliq. PLUS: heaps of eye candy.

What would the iconic sci-fi classic Star Wars look like if George Lucas was an Australian (and a pretty hyperbolic stereotype of one, to boot)? Well now you know, thanks to this little spoof. Buggery wallabies, it’s good.

Pass The Idea, a cloud-based service that ‘helps everybody have more, better ideas’, has worked with local companies like DB, Frucor, Ara Wines and NZ Lotteries. It’s also got a few more big projects on the go, and, after receiving a grant from the Callaghan Innovation Fund, the two founders are planning on taking the upgraded platform to the world.

There are a rare few brands that have nailed the ‘commercial absurdity’ approach, chief among them Old Spice, Skittles and Tango. Many others have tried to replicate it and it often comes off looking slightly desperate, derivative and cringey, as evidenced by this spot from Coca-Cola, which is asking punters to explore the world of Ahh on a new website filled with a huge array of time wasting, fizzy beverage-related games.

Looking to attach another language to my resume, I found the language teaching service Duolingo. The website takes English-language-users through the basics of other tongues.

The government recently gave SkyCity the right to operate a few extra pokies in exchange for building a new convention centre. More than a few commentators were aghast at the decision to increase the number of filthy money suckers and concerned about the impact it might have on low-income families. But please, won’t someone think of the rich people? What impact will more conventions have on them? Turns out there are some similarities between the two groups because in an article in Wired magazine about the rise of meditation and mindfulness in Silicon Valley, it described another, some might say even more insidious addiction that is becoming increasingly prevalent in some areas of the business community.

We at StopPress HQ are big fans of sandwiches. Footlongs, six-inchers, club, cucumber, PB&J and even the occasional Marmite one. Putting things between two layers of bread is the best way to eat them. Which is why we’re frothing at the mouth to be giving away two $50 Subway SubCards to our readers.

Old Spice has gained a reputation for entertaining hyperbole. But an architect who gets his hands dirty? That’s taking things too far.

Direct mail doesn’t tend to get the same level of attention that other ‘sexier’ channels like online or TV get. But according to the ASA ad spend figures for 2012, it’s on the rise, with addressed mail up 16 percent to $58 million. So why the increase? And is it effective? NZ Post and Key Research attempted to find out.