The company have launched a dedicated site, valentines.innocentdrinks, where you can generate your own “love label” to print out and stick onto a smoothie bottle. More information on Innocents Valentine’s campaign can also be found on their Facebook, Twitter sites as well as online advertisements.

Innocent have altered their logo which is a circular face with two eyes and a halo so it is now heart shaped to fit the logo’s and the theme better. On the dedicated site you can pick your favourite smoothie and edit the label to include phrases such as, “It may or may not have an aphrodisiac effect. Sip it and see,” and “It’s a gift from someone who’ll set your groin on fire”.

You will also be able to choose from a range of poems or messages to appear on the labels or if you have a creative side you can write your own.

Innocent Smoothie label

Lynx which is a well know MALE grooming brand is looking to give girls the ‘Lynx effect’ after it launched a women’s body spray in the UK on Monday. It will be the first time the brand has entered the women’s market.

Lynx which is owned by Unilever, is launching their new female range in conjunction with their new Attract range which is aimed at men, Attract for her will be part of the range and will be marketed as limited edition. The mens range however will be permanent and includes a body spray, antiperspirant and a shower gel.

According to Selina Sykes, Lynx marketing manager at Unilever, the Lynx brand is established enough to have the permission to launch a women’s fragrance. She said: “As a brand, Lynx has got to constantly find new ways to entertain guys with a new variant that tops the previous years. Lynx is about surprising and entertaining consumers to generate conversation around the brand. Lynx will not be marketing the women’s Attract fragrance directly to women. Sykes said Lynx already has a high “spontaneous awareness” of the brand within the female deodorant market, which means the brand “doesn’t need to market to girls. The women’s fragrance is being marketed as a limited edition product to encourage consumers to engage with the Attract variant, she said, emphasising “when it’s gone, it’s gone”.

Lynx is looking at different marketing options for their range across the globe last October Marc Mathieu announced their “more magic, less logic” marketing strategy. Selina Sykes spoke about this strategy and said: “Everything we do has that implied magic.” Plus Lynx has always been based on strong insight and the “magic”.

It has also been announced that the Lynx brand will also be launching the female fragrance in other markets under their Axe name, it will be called Axe Anarchy and will of course use the same advertising format that we see with Lynx and the same strapline; “Unleash the chaos”.

You can find more information about the new female fragrance on Facebook and the TV ad will be screened on 1 February and will be supported by digital, outdoor and PR activity. The new ad features a female American “cop” and a male “robber” running through the streets of a city, where they are undressing while in pursuit of each other. At the end of the ad the pair are gazing at each other, about to kiss.

Please see video below.

Katy Perry

The hugely popular game franchise The Sims will see pop starlet Katy Perry joining their simish world, after she partnered with EA to develop and promote multiple Sims games with Perry-themed in-game content and virtual goods.

As well as featuring in the game Katy Perry will also be taking part in advertisement campaigns including TV adverts, which will start off with the launch of a collector’s editor for ‘The Sims 3 Showtime’.

The game is being released on the 9th March here in the UK and there will also be online communications and in store advertising for the game too.

EA have said that they will be working closely with Katy to create in-game accessories, clothing, hairstyles, furniture and props to as they say “celebrate the imagination that she brings to her performances, music videos and life”.

It isn’t the first time EA have collaborated with popstars for their Sims games for the original Sims game they worked with Christina Aguilera in the same vein which was hugely popular.

It’s possible that if you have ‘liked’ anything in the past you could now start advertising to your friends through news feeds. According to critics, you could unwittingly click on them thinking they are just a news feed from friends without realising. Facebook have assured users though that it will only display adverts for goods and services that somebody has already ‘liked’. The adverts will only be seen on full versions of Facebook and not on mobile sites.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has run adverts in the news feed the company ran them between 2006 and 2009, before Facebook reached the popularity it now has. However it’s thought it could be very lucrative now for the company to do so, because of the number of people now signed up to the social networking site.

It’s not yet clear how the adverts will go down with Facebook users as many don’t seem to like change. The recent changes made to the interface including the constantly-updated ticker and the Timeline feature has not gone down well with users. According to a poll by 86 per cent of users hated the update and an even higher number of teenagers, 91 per cent hated it.

As it stands the world dating market in worth more than $4billion annually, this does go to explain why there are so many different dating sites out there. One of those is Parship. Different to some dating websites out there Parship looks to offer their clients long term partnerships through their services. For some dating sites offer the chance to find people to ‘hook up’ with rather than form lasting relationships and this is what Parship looks to avoid.

The Parship dating site was founded in 2000 and went online on 14th February 2001 (Valentine’s Day) in Germany. The company since then has expanded from Germany and it is now active in another 13 countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, UK, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, and Mexico.

Like some other dating sites, Parship uses a compatibility test and compatibility matching to help you find the right partner, these tests was developed by Parship co-founder Psychologist Professor Hugo Schmale. This has been developed after thirty years of scientific research into couples and their relationships.

As well as offering its services to heterosexual couples, Parship also offers dating services for homosexual couples, so everyone can find the person for them.

There are a number of different legal problems you can find yourself in and for those different legal problems you will find solicitors in Birmingham who are specialised in that legal area. If you’re stuck on where to turn, below you will find a basic list of types of solicitors which most people come across. The list would probably be never ending if I covered all the areas solicitors specialised in!

Divorce/Family

When a marriage comes to an end, it is advisable to hire a divorce solicitor, help you through the process. They have specialised knowledge on family law and can advise you the best possible route to take to make sure you get a fair settlement. It is especially important to use one where children are involved to make sure custody agreements are not only fair but good for the child(ren)

Criminal

If you are charged with a crime you will need a criminal solicitor, if you are contesting the charge then the criminal solicitor will gather evidence to prove you innocence. They have expert knowledge in the criminal justice field which will enable them to as such ‘fight your corner’. They are also there to make sure you get a fair trial and that if innocent, not wrongly convicted. Criminal solicitors in Bristol also work as negotiators for those who admit guilt to make sure your sentence is not harsh.

Property

Buying a property is a long, drawn out and often complicated process which costs time and money and although solicitors can be expensive they are a necessity when it comes to buying property. They are there to make sure that your purchase is legal, that the correct stamp duty is paid and they work on your behalf to get things moving with the other people you deal with during the process. 

Wills and Probate

In this day and age, many people are urged to make a will, especially if you have property, money or valuable possessions you wish to leave to a relative or loved one, especially if you have family. Wills and Probate solicitors can be consulted when drawing up a will, to make sure it is legally binding and can be honoured when you die. After death they are also there to make sure the contents of the will are executed as per the writer wishes. You may also use a Wills and Probate solicitor if you wish to contest a will.

It’s thought that those involved will be specialists in the children’s market, along with an independent academic expert, however no details have yet been announced on which media and advertising personnel will be involved.

In recent months there has been a lot more scrutiny within advertising by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat government who are focusing on those responsible for marketing and advertising to children. The Government promised in its pre-election manifestos last February that they would look into the effects of advertising has on young children and to crack down on advertisements that aren’t suitable for children, which includes all forms of advertisements. Last June the coalition government formed its  “childhood and families taskforce” following the election.

Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, said at its launch: “We are committed to cracking down on irresponsible advertising and marketing. If we are really going to restore and protect the innocence of childhood, action here is absolutely key.”

According to Tim Lefroy, chief executive of the AA: “Advertising and the commercial world is a big part of what makes childhood enjoyable and fun, but we mustn’t forget that kids are learning to understand it and need to be treated with care. The current system of self-regulation is strong, but it would only stay that way if “we understand our market and our customers’ concerns”.

Prime Minister David Cameron stated that he thought that those in marketing were exploiting children by launching “irresponsible” marketing campaigns during an address on the country’s “well-being” in November.

It’s thought that the new campaign is because of the Coalitions anti-bong laws which come into effect on January 1. Victoria is the last Australian state to bring in Anti bong laws however there is a loophole in this legislation which does not bar the sale of bongs from overseas or from interstate.

At the moment because of the policy, shops which sell bongs have currently having a bonanza of sales of them. Businesses were given until the end of the year to phase out bongs before fines of up to $1465 are imposed.

The sale of illicit drug paraphernalia became illegal three years ago in Australia, however some shops try to get around the ban by selling ‘smokeless pipes or selling them as designer liquid pourers.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) concluded that the Lynx deodorant adverts which featured model Lucy Pinder were ‘likely to cause serious and widespread offence’ and have banned them. They were found to portray women as sex objects and were degrading to women.

Lucy Pinder who is a lad’s mag favourite was seen wearing next to nothing posing and flashing her cleavage in a set of provocative video ads that hark back to the 1970s. According to Lynx however the adverts are marketed using tongue and cheek humour which suggests that men using it will instantly become more attractive, with beautiful women falling at their feet.

But the ASA did not see the advertisements that way and accused the company of going too far with their latest advertisements. In a ruling published today, the watchdog said: “We considered that the various activities that Ms Pinder carried out were presented in a sexually provocative way, and that alongside the focus on Ms Pinder’s cleavage … were likely to be seen as gratuitous and to objectify women. We considered that was emphasised by the text ‘Can she make you lose control?’ … and the invitation to ‘Play with Lucy’, which we considered would also be seen as degrading to women. We therefore concluded that the ads were likely to cause serious and widespread offence.”

The ASA also stated that the language was ‘clearly intended to imply that using the advertised product would lead to more uninhibited sexual behaviour’. They added: “We therefore considered that the poster would be seen to make a link between purchasing the product and sex with women and in so doing would be seen to objectify women.”

Banned adverts

Newcastle United St James's Park now to be known as the Sports Direct Arena

Known as St James’s Park for the 119 years, Newcastle United is set to see a change to that history by renaming the famous stadium. For the time being it will be known as the Sports Direct Arena making use of owner Mike Ashley’s high street brand. However the club will be looking to the global market to find to take up the name of the stadium.

Newcastle started the search for a stadium sponsor back in 2009,they renamed it “sportsdirect.com @ St James’ Park Stadium”, however that name never stuck with the Toon Army continuing to call it by its original name.

Newcastle are not the only club in the Premier League who have named their stadium after sponsors other clubs which have done this include: Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, however for these clubs their stadiums do not hold the history St James’s Park does because both of those stadiums were new when renamed. Chelsea are also currently exploring options to change the name of their stadium through sponsor ship which begs the question will this start to become a trend and will we start to see more name changes as sponsorship changes.

There are some clubs where it would seem a name change would probably be out of the option because of the history of the clubs such as Liverpool’s Anfield, Manchester United’s Old Trafford and Tottenham Hotspurs White Hart Lane. However if Tottenham in the future move to a new stadium then maybe then they may change and follow other clubs with a sponsored stadium.
Many clubs in the lower football leagues have their stadiums sponsored as a valuable way to raise money in leagues that are not as profitable as the Premier League.

Managing director Derek Llambias spoke about the name change he said:

“Our aim for Newcastle United is to continue to deliver success for the fans and everyone associated with the club. We must make this club financially self-sufficient in order to deliver that success. To grow sustainably and allow us to invest in our future, we will need to rely increasingly heavily on commercial income. These are very difficult economic times and the board have a responsibility to maximise all revenue streams for the benefit of the club. Stadium rebranding offers a lucrative way for clubs to secure significant additional income. When we initially launched our plans at the end of 2009, we invited sponsors to attach their brand to that of St James’ Park. However, it has become clear that in order to make the proposition as commercially attractive as possible, a potential sponsor must be given the opportunity to fully rebrand the stadium. Naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena helps up to showcase the opportunity to interested parties. We are now actively seeking a long-term sponsor wishing to acquire full naming rights for the stadium. Our shirt sponsorship deal with Northern Rock will also expire at the end of this season, which presents would-be sponsors with the opportunity to acquire both the naming rights and shirt sponsorship deals.”