PRODUCT PLACEMENT:
Lawnmowers tend not to get the full page, in-your-face advertising these days – and that is much to do with the move from print to online. So hats off to Ariens for a full page Countax ad in The Times last Friday. You can see the rationale. Countax owners would typically be well-heeled, Times readers and in their ‘golden years’. However, might the prominent positioning of the eye-catching ad, bang opposite the Obituary section of The Times mean that sales opportunities might have been lost?
HANDY DRIVER:
For the past two years, Handy’s md Simon Belcher has been living the dream competing in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with respectable results against the well-funded works teams. His sudden switch from track to rallycross during a race at Thruxton a couple of years ago is still shown on BTCC clips packages. A brake failure resulted in a high-speed spin so far into the trees that he claimed that he ‘had to pay to get back into the circuit’. This year, Simon has been elevated to team boss, and the Handysports Toyota Avensis has a new and experienced driver, Rob Austin, behind the wheel. After making progress in all the previous rounds, Rob finished a best-evert seventh last Sunday in the latest round of the championship, elevating Handysports to fifth in the Independent Team’s trophy standings.
SUBORDINATING:
Devising tests for potential young members of staff will surely get more tricky. Of course we want them to have the three Rs (‘riting’, reading and ‘rithmetic’). But how will you respond when they ask you to explain whether the wording in your company bumph contains ‘subordinating conjunctions or prepositions’ as covered in their SATS tests when they were 12?
NEW DIET?
Frankly Mrs Green and I are still sitting on the fence over the EU question. Claims and counter-claims seem to be getting more extreme. From the possibility of mobilising Dad’s Army in a new war to banning kettles (can lawnmowers be far behind?). However, a featured quote from Brexit: The Movie which premiered this week, might be pushing things a bit too far. A patriot journalist declared in the film “If I was told that I would be stewing grass to feed my children if we left the EU, I would still do it!”. Start storing up those clippings.
RIDE ON GEORGE:
What to give to the man who has everything? The answer for Amal Clooney to present to George on his recent 55th birthday was not a diamond-encrusted iPhone or even a pair of matching Lamborghinis. It was a ride-on mower to trim the lawns at their Thameside Berkshire home. Hands up the dealer who was fortunate enough to do the demo and seal the deal. Given that Mr Clooney’s latest film shown at Cannes this week is called Money Monster, I take it that there was no need to give away any discount . . .!
