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M&S ad controversy highlights social responsibility of brands

M&S ad controversy highlights social responsibility of brands

Amid the ongoing crisis in Gaza, marketing blunders like these demonstrate the urgency of brand due diligence.  Each year, the arrival of Christmas creeps slightly earlier. Nowadays, we’re still busy binning Halloween decorations and transforming pumpkins into a buffet of soups and risottos when Mariah Carey starts defrosting. And it hardly raises an eyebrow if major brands launch their festive campaigns on the 1st November. We might still be waiting for...

By Brighton, UK
14-year-old develops new bar of soap to treat melanoma

14-year-old develops new bar of soap to treat melanoma

Heman Bekele may have found a strikingly simple answer to skin cancer treatment: a bar of soap.  Despite extortionate amounts of fundraising and tireless research, a cancer cure still often feels like a pipedream. But as far as cancer research goes, it's long been suspected that the answer to one of humanity’s biggest killers could lie anywhere, or be discovered by anyone. This week, a 14-year-old from Virginia is the latest...

By Brighton, UK
The Rock’s wax figure is part of a much bigger problem

The Rock’s wax figure is part of a much bigger problem

The actor reached out to a Parisian museum after his wax figure was revealed to have a much paler complexion than his own.  Last week, the unveiling of a Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson statue raised eyebrows not for its impeccable likeness, but for a glaring issue that’s sparked a broader conversation about whitewashing in major cultural institutions: the colour of its skin. Musée Grévin is modelled on London’s Madame Tussauds, where...

By Brighton, UK
How structures made from oyster shells can help prevent coastal erosion

How structures made from oyster shells can help prevent coastal erosion

Reef Design Lab based in Melbourne uses locally sourced oyster shells mixed with concrete to build structures that reduce coastal erosion and support marine wildlife. Along the shore of Port Phillip Bay in Australia, large dome-shaped modules sit submerged just below the water’s surface. Though they resemble large sand dollars at first, these structures have been man-made by the Reef Design Lab in Melbourne. They were constructed using a blend...

By London, UK