AND FINALLY

Late entrant for misplaced marketing stunt of the year: Gigantic tax avoiders Vodafone (ironic tagline: “Power to you”) picked last week to launch a new online competition. Great timing following weeks of public actions and pickets in it’s stores up and down the country (see SchNEWS 746) by people foaming at the mouth over the massive tax breaks given to them by the government just as their equally massive cuts programme was being implemented.

The new campaign, called #mademesmile rolled out on Twitter, and asked users to submit examples of things that had made them smile recently. The best would win a swanky free phone on each of the ‘12 days’ of Christmas (Nice work advertising guys!). In a matter of hours the operation was hijacked by anti-cuts group UK Uncut and swiftly became the most deliberated twitter topic in the twat-o-sphere and thousands tweeted in to voice their indignation and relive all the shop shashing that had left them smiling recently. Many of the ‘tax dodging scum’ posts were then automatically uploaded to the main Vodafone site before the company wised up.

Well it madeussmile.