Things of note for the week ending Friday 28th January, 2022

INTRO

Hello hello.

Thank you for the many many lovely replies this week. You’re all generally brilliant and I’m pleased you’re pleased I’m back in your inbox again. In a world of a thousand newsletters, it’s a privilege to be in your notifications and I appreciate you keeping me in.

The other thing you had to tell me this week was a large amount of vocal agreement re the mEtAvErSaL elements of last week’s FTOF. It’s a hot topic at the moment, so forgive me indulging on it again later on in the edition – deep sigh – Rule 1 on any and all of this stuff is simple: BE. PRAGMATIC. OK? OK.

What else can I tell you?

Oh! I put a couple of new drawers in under my desk recently and filled one of them as above. No more will the family hear me yelling ‘WHERE ARE MY SODDING POST-ITS?’, no more.

Post-its and chewed-up Sharpies.
For the thinking.
For the figuring stuff out.
For the throwing thoughts up on the wall to stare at until they make sense.

There’s no magic. It just… happens. Against the backdrop of the same recurring questions:

What are we trying to do?
Who are we trying to do it for?
What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?
What’s real here and what isn’t?
What do we have at our disposal to make that happen?

The goal is always: clarity.

This is linked to the first THING of the week but I’ll tell you more when we get there. Which I guess is quite soon. So… shall we crack on with this thing?

LET’S.

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1. STRATEGY

In the past ten years of working in big network agency land, I’ve been told:

‘Ahh, you’re a planner!’

‘Thing is, James, you’re not a planner’

‘He only knows social, he doesn’t know digital – he’s wrong for this’

‘We don’t really know what to do with you’

‘You’re a planner that can’ (favourite compliment ever, btw)

And that’s just me. I’ve heard worse – far worse (and better) from others.

It’s no wonder planners and strats (whatever you want to call it) all go through anxiety crisis after existential crisis after imposter syndrome. When you’re expected to be the smartest person in the room (I mean seriously, wtf) then you are going to PANIC. Sometimes.

Other times you hit flow and find yourself swimming in brand books and audience segmentation and it’s 230am, you’re staring at powerpoint and suddenly it all crystallises and comes to you. Like the stars aligning and you see the way through. But to get there we sometimes need anchors. Constants. Secure footholds in the cliff where we can attach our carabenas and take a breath to realign.

I’m not saying this is what Richard Huntingdon’s recent series on planning has done for me but it’s pretty darn close. I occasionally get to work with this man and he is as generous with his thought and inclusiveness as he is with his writing.

Go and read these posts.

1. Tools

2. Problems

3. Orthodoxy

4. Fundamental

More will follow so keep an eye on it and soak it up; they are great footholds.

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2. YOU, ME, AND WEB3

This might be a regular thing, it might not. We’ll see. The long and short of it is I’m doing a lot of reading in this space at the moment and it’s worth getting to grips with it all, understanding it, because at some point someone might ask you:

‘What’s our NFT strategy?’

‘Why aren’t we doing anything in the m*t*v*r*e?’

And maybe even ‘What is Web3?’

Last week I pointed you towards a few things that might help with those conversations and this week I’ll do the same (and maybe I’ll keep doing it) because MY GOD there is some dross out there.

First. One of the things that people talk about when they talk about the future of NFTs is that they’ll be amazing in the world of GAMING.

Here is a 3D artist who works in game development to tell why that is nigh-on impossible.

Second. This website, simply called ‘Web3 is going great …and is definitely not an enormous grift that’s pouring lighter fluid on our already-smoldering planet’ (catchy) is worth your time.

If there’s one thing to take from Web 3 is going great it’s that I don’t think any brand can meaningfully be working to save the climate or any kind of sustainability brief at all if they’re currently exploring this space. Worth keeping in mind.

Additionals:

• Mark Ritson on NFTs is hilarious reading.

• Turns out Bored ape yacht club might be racist?

• Speaking of which… 😬

• Vommy vommy vom vom.

• TRUTH.

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3. THIS WEEK IN GAMING

First off, this is a great piece from the FT (you may need to sign in to view – but that’s free).

Featuring this chart:

And while the rest of the article a good read – with specific focus on Microsoft’s move for Activision – the above chart should be appearing in ‘Gaming cannot be ignored’ slides for months to come. Maybe even yours.

Next up:

FANTASTIC game making game DREAMS on PlayStation has been chosen as the platform to deliver a new animated feature film. This is a massive deal.

Dreams is a PS4 game! That you can play games on but the main draw is that a) you can make your own games and b) you can play the games that other people have made. The engine is mad. The fact that Hollywood has come calling speaks volumes. Read, and be stunned.

What else?

A couple of you asked what games I’m excited for next: on my list so far this year. I kind of covered this off last time we spoke but:

Right now, I’m playing through Guardians of the Galaxy with a bit of Forza 5 and It Takes Two on the side. However my main focus is getting Guardians finished so I can go all in on Horizon Forbidden West (the trailer for this is fantastic and I’ll be honest, when it first came out I leapt on my sofa and cheered).

The tricksy thing is that around the same time we’ve got a new and pretty chunky content drop coming in for Destiny 2 called THE WITCH QUEEN. I know Destiny may not mean much to most of you but I really do love it and I can’t wait to play this new version with my friends.

Outside of that? Other possibilities are: Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarok, Gotham Knights, maybe Sifu, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and I think that’s it…? I probably won’t be buying the new Lego game.

But what have I missed? You tell me.

—-

A coupled of bonus links in this section: while I was away, Shamid Kamal Ahmad wrote the most amazing thread about games development I’ve ever seen. Make a cup of tea and treat yourself to it.

And finally, I think I’ve spoken to you about No Mam’s Sky before. This thread, about Reddit buying a billboard of thanks for the developers says it all. Well, three years on, the developers, Hello Games, are being legends again. You may need tissues.

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4. THE TIKTOK CMO THING

Remember this?

From December 2021? No?

But the hype tho!

“On Dec. 17, the video-sharing platform announced a partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts to launch delivery-only TikTok Kitchen locations across the country, starting in March. Food and recipe videos have become a key part of the site’s programming, with clips racking up millions of views. The company recently reported that more than 1 billion people worldwide use the platform monthly…!”

It must be a success?! SURELY!

WRONG.

So wrong.

Turns out it was a mad rogue unapproved plan from the then CMO.

New York Post says:

“TikTok’s marketing chief has been ousted after blindsiding top management with a series of increasingly bizarre campaigns, The Post has learned.

The former Hulu executive who had been at TikTok for less than two years, got bounced after “going rogue” with multiple stunts that had sought to rope the wildly popular video-sharing app into new business lines including NFTs and restaurants, these people add.

Most recently, they had revealed a plan — apparently without getting buy-in from senior leadership — to launch “TikTok kitchen” featuring foods made popular on TikTok, according to sources who were on a company call following Tran’s ouster.”

Emphasis mine.

No real commentary to add. Just that this is MAD. And it’s nuts to me that stuff like this happens. NUTS.

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5. STUFF I’VE SEEN OF LATE

A cheeky little film and TV section because why not.

• NOMADLAND, Amazon Prime

  Beautiful. Stunning to look at and just amazing to experience. More so because 90% of the cast are just playing themselves. Which is weird because…
  

• ETERNALS (same director), Disney+

  A pile of guff. Poor script. No MCU-ness. Just general whiffery. Watch the post credits’ sequence on YouTube. There’s more in those than there is in the whole movie.
  

• DUNE, rented on Google Play

  What an incredible film! I needed some PHENOMENAL VILLENEUVE after that Eternals gash-a-thon. Loved every second. Tempted to watch it again. Turn it up LOUD.
  

• THE FATHER, Amazon Prime

  I’ll be honest with you. I watched this last night and it utterly, utterly wrecked me. I was left a sobbing wreck on the sofa. It’s such an amazing hard watch. It’s on Amazon Prime.
  

• THE EXPANSE, Amazon Prime
  Finished this earlier this week. All six seasons are on Prime. It’s proper great this. If you miss a decent mysterious sci-fi show, like the Babylon 5s of the world, then you need to get some Expanse in your life.
  

• HAWKEYE, Disney+
  I actually loved this. Don’t get me wrong, I was a big fan of the book that it draws a lot from (if you’ve not read it – YOU REALLY SHOULD) and I think Yelena is the best thing in it.

Oh, and last thing: if you loved THE MANDALORIAN thinking about watching BOOK OF BOBA FETT and haven’t started yet then I’d strongly suggest you start with EPISODE FIVE first (hit the ‘skip recap option’ when you do), then watch E1-4 after.

Trust me.

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BONUSES

YOU NUS, WE MUS, BO NUS.

• If, like me, you occasionally borrow your Mrs’ super swanky new iPad to do some sketching, then you might love some inspiration from the (free and online versions of) artbooks of the great MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES and the gorgeous LUCA. Lovely.

• Interesting uses for CBD.

• Your work is not your God.

• Related to the above, in the midst of ‘The Great Resignation’, if you’re interviewing at the moment, here’s a thread of some great questions to ask your potential next employer.

• In conversation with a friend recently I was reminded of the fire trucking wonderful concept of Premium Mediocre. I thought I’d remind you too.

• Why you should stop reading the news.

• Related: The sad beautiful fact that we’re all going to miss almost everything.

• ‘How should brands approach the bleak outlook for 2022’

• Billie Eilish on great form for Vogue.

• The best finance thread on Reddit.

• Jay Blades ‘Learning to read at 51’ is a great watch (BBC iPlayer).

• Mollie Goodfellow on loneliness in lockdown is moving and yet somehow strangely hopeful.

• Lizard Issues (god damn art, I tell you).

• Speaking of art: Tom Cardy ‘Because I’m anxious’

• @ElonJet shenanigans.

• Fantastic purpose provocations.

• The Countdown is ON!

• Ross Atkins’ set on BBC 6 is ace.

and… I am… spent

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IT IS THE END. PLEASE HOLD ON TIGHT. PEACE IS IMMINENT.

At Digitas, every month or so, and as part of our ongoing DEI work, we’ve been running ‘brave space’ sessions. A place for someone to come and tell their story, and for other people to ask questions – sometimes challenging, often difficult, but a place that is safe and open for people to address uncomfortable topics.

I was asked if I could do one about men’s mental health, which I did. It was hard but it was worth it. To help me keep the story clean and to ensure I had something to refer to in case I got emotional, I used a version of my original Twitter thread on the topic. I’m sharing this with you now because in the days after the talk I had several messages from people telling me that they’d checked in with friends, boyfriends, brothers… just men generally to see if they were OK. I’m sharing it again because this stuff could save a life. So keep it. Tell someone about it. Let them feel psychologically safe to talk openly with you.

And then see where you go.

We’re in a silent emergency. Love is an action. So act.

—

Thank you for reading, as ever. I think I owe about two more replies before I hit send so maybe I’ll knock those out shortly.

If you liked this newsletter, share it with a friend.

Until next time.

Whatley out.

xx

Things of note for the week ending Friday 21st January, 2022

INTRO

Hello. How have you been?

It’s been 350 days since my last missive. Writing hits different these days. But I’ve got some stuff that I think you’ll like so we’ll get into it.

I wrote about gaming while you were gone. And writing too. Which means, if you’ve been paying attention to my Twitter bio, I’ve got one more think piece on ‘Figuring stuff out’ to deliver. I’ll get right on that.

What else can I tell you?

Happy winter months. It’s cold, crisp. Dark. Those of you that suffer from or that live with someone that suffers from seasonal affective disorder will know these chilly days can be tough. But we are nearly there, gang.

The evenings are already getting lighter and it’ll be spring time before you know it.

I promise you…

And hey, it’s been a minute. Hit reply and say hi, won’t you?

In the meantime, let’s crack the literal and figurative knuckles, dip into the #5things tag in my inbox and see what’s what.

Shall we?

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1. THE FUTURE OF ONLINE SPACES

Yes, I am steadfastly refusing to use the m word.

You can’t move on the socials or in the trades without some wang wanging on about the m*t*v*r*e is the answer to all our prayers (I’ve been in three workshops this week and my goodness, the stories I could tell you).

There are few things here that you should read and educate yourself on.

First and foremost, Amy Kean’s surgically provocative piece (previewed above) says it all. Trigger warning: it dives into some VERY HEAVY STUFF right off the bat. But I assure you, if you do read it, then you’ll take a deep breath, a step back, and approach all ‘ideas’ and general guff-ery around this term with a healthy amount of scepticism.

As you should. You need to be ready for when the wolves come to talk to the shepherds about keeping the lambs safe.

And perhaps an accompanying piece to the above, I can also strongly recommend Moxie Marlinspike’s recent essay ‘My first impressions of Web3’ – there’s enough there to help you hold your own when you next find yourself next to a crypto-bro at a drinks party.

Without being a dick about it, I deal with bottom lines, ROI, and making real money for clients. You wanna spaff a load of ‘innovation’ dosh at second life 2.0 for a two page spread in WIRED, you go for it. It’s not for me. Yes, I’m being reductive. Trite even. But the myopic obsession with generating unqualified – and unchallenged! – broad brush statements about our future digital reality is madness. At scale.

Go and read any future trends article from the early 2000s and then step away, slowly, and crack on with your day.

‘But James! Think about the impact on gaming!’

Boy, do I have a thread for you.

We good?

Good.

Source.

So yes. Unlike me to kick of semi-ranting but it has been A WEEK and I had to get this out of my system.

Onwards.

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2. SOME STUFF I’VE BEEN DOING

Last year was well busy. Picked up a ‘notoriously difficult to win’ DMA GOLD, for OREO’s work ‘The Playful Network’.

DEFINITE HIGH POINT.

Fun fact: the submission was a lift and shift from non-shortlisted APG paper (members can read that on WARC). Lesson: don’t be put off by failure.

EDIT: not a WARC member? You can probably download the PDF here.

The MASSIVE BATMAN PROJECT we’ve been working on ALL OF LAST YEAR finally dropped. Long project. Made longer by Pattinson getting Covid. Oh, Pattinson. Killer launch film, great website experience, more stuff in the delivery pipe between now and film launch.There’s Batman-OREOs in stores near you RIGHT NOW. Go get.

New European brand platform for Belvita. This has been a long labour of love also (started Q3 2020, I think?). Same deal: new TV, new positioning, more connected experience stuff to follow soon. Actually saw it on the telly tonight as well – that’s always nice.

There are still some irons in the fire (one more bat-shaped one) and a few more things. But yes, point is: work takes TIME. And it’s nice to have these buses arrive altogether.

PS. For the record, that’s my third batman project ever (OREO for THE BATMAN, Nokia for DARK KNIGHT RISES and Pizza Hut for ARKHAM KNIGHT).

I am the luckiest man alive.

What else?

Oh yeah, one last thing: I experimented with a new podcast/music format with Anchor FM and Spotify. Only made three episodes and then the mrs called it self-indulgent, so I killed it.

But your critique is welcome (that’s code for: ‘enough of you say nice things and I might revive it’ – ok? OK).

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3. THIS WEEK IN GAMING

We’ve not caught up in a while so I’m just going to tell you what I’ve been playing / played / finished lately and make some recommendations your way too.

That sound good? OK, let’s go:

• Ghost of Tsushima.

  Utterly beautiful. Did the whole game (Director’s Cut PS5 edition), platinum + DLC. Absolutely recommended.
  

• Guardians of the Galaxy.
  GOTY for many last year, I’m only just getting into it. I’d say I’m about halfway through right now and I can tell you, this game is genuinely laugh out loud funny in places. The characters never stop talking and it never gets annoying. You must play.
  

• Pokemon Glittering Pearl.

  So my son got his own Nintendo Switch (Lite) for Christmas. We both got new Pokemon for it and, I’m showing my age now, but I haven’t properly touch a Pokemon game (a real one, Pokemon Go doesn’t count) since Red & Blue. I am pleased the mechanics haven’t changed much! Got a Switch and a friend to play/trade/battle with? Get Pokemon!
  

• Destiny 2
  Nuff said.

There’s been a few others (and I’ve done a larger thread on Twitter looking at my whole year of gaming but): HADES, RETURNAL, and FORZA 5 all spring to mind as being stand outs of last year but listen, the one game I implore you to try and find and play is a little side-scrolling platformer caller SPIRITFARER.

It broke me. Emotionally speaking.

It’s a game about death and grief.

Facing it. Dealing with it. Accepting it. And oh my hell it is such a gem of a game. Find it. Play it. Report back. It is a joy to play but once it’s got you and you realise what’s going on… just wow.

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4. HOW IS TODAY?

Speaking about grief, I think it’s about time I told you about this.

How is today?

“As a society, we’re closed to certain topics. They’re taboo. We give universal experiences like death and grief the silent treatment – brush them under the carpet, dust off the stiff upper lip so we can keep calm, just carry on.

We don’t think this way works for us anymore. We know it doesn’t. Grief is heavy, and it lasts for life and we need many hands to help carry the burden. When you share a problem it’s halved. Is this not the formula for grief too?”

A dear friend of mine is one of co-founders of this incredibly profound movement. How is today? is basically a guide on how to have better conversations about grief. If, like me, you’re lucky enough to make it this far in life without grief having a major impact on your life, then you may not know the first thing to say or do when someone else does. How is today? is here to help.

The podcast is genuinely excellent. Speaking to real people, who have dealt with real problems, and who speak about them in unbelievable ways. I’ve done the reading and I’m about halfway through the series, podcast-wise, and it’s already helped me find better ways to talk to people about their loss, their grief.. their octopus.

I think this is the best thing in the newsletter this week so please all go look it up.

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5. FACEBOOK’S VAST WASTELAND

Infinite channels but nothing on.

“Banal viral grist is likely fine in small doses, but the cumulative effect generally feels pretty crummy. I’ve experienced this on numerous platforms (recently, it happens to me on TikTok), where some mindless scrolling morphs into an hour-long binge and I put down the phone feeling almost hungover. I feel overstimulated and a bit bummed out about how I spent my time. You can see how this gets bleak when it becomes habitual. It could be, as Facebook’s own research teams suggest, bad for you after a while.”

In the seemingly never-ending battle against disinformation spreading through social channels, are we missing something else?

This piece, via The Atlantic’s Galaxy Brain newsletter explores this idea, makes an interesting comparison to TV days gone by… and is well worth your time (there’s not much else on, after all).

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BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS TO BONUS ITEMS THAT WILL OVERLOAD YOUR BROWSER TABS AND I’M NOT SORRY FOR THAT. MAN ALIVE, THERE’S SOME GOOD STUFF HERE.

ENJOY.

• Five minutes with my CSO, Matt Holt. One of the good guys.

• “During our heyday, we were making $10,000 to $20,000 a day” – the story of iBeer. Amazing.

• How to give ridiculously good creative feedback. 80mins long. Worth it.

• We’re coming up on the 25th anniversary of Brass Eye. Oxide Ghosts is going on a UK tour. Go see it.

• What it takes to write a Bond film.

• Michael Keaton on his most memorable roles.

• Bimini Bon-Boulash. The winner’s winner.

• ‘A few months ago, a stranger gave me $10,000. This is what I did with it’

• Do a kickflip!

• ‘Nobody live’ is a website that auto-drops you into Twitch streams that have zero viewers. I love this. Truly.

• I’m a big fan of TODAY DO THIS and this round up of 52 things to do to make a difference really just lands so nicely. Give it a whirl.

• How Lil Nas X mastered the modern art of attention.

• To my ex-friends, on being excommunicated.

• Get you a purse that looks like garbage.

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WE ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET YOUR BELONGINGS.

Thanks for reading this far. It’s just turned Saturday as my eyes wander up towards the Publish/Send button. I’m OK with that. You should be too.

I hope life is being kind to you and I hope you have a peaceful weekend.

Take care and until next time,

Whatley out, x

Things of note for the week ending Friday 5th February, 2021

INTRO

Well howdy.

It’s nice to be here. To see you again.

I hope you had a good Christmas. Remember Christmas? It was alright wasn’t it? With the winter months gently edging towards the nearest exit, early signs of spring are showing (daffs in the window box have shot up some green) and there are clearer – crisper and blue – skies ahead.

You can feel it can’t you?

It’s not far off now.

Promise.

How are you? (that’s an actual ask, btw – not a tosh newslettery over-familiar copy style, legit: reply and tell me)

Having recently cleared my inbox (well, as clear as having 2,126 unread emails can be) I believe I am behind with my correspondence. So those… two people I think who need replies will get them then everyone else.

This intro always descends into admin, doesn’t it?

Let’s move on. It’s been a little under four months since we last spoke. A lot has happened. A lot hasn’t happened. It’s just A LOT.

One thing that I’m particularly happy with, over on the Whatley side of the fence at least, is I’ve gone full-tilt-boogie on getting fit (at least: not fat). I ended the year a little too close to the heaviest I’ve ever been and since Jan 4th (because dry Jan doesn’t actually start until you go back to work) i’ve been clean living and doing stuff to keep me mentally and physically fit.

The former (and a bit of the latter) is going for a 5k walk every day. EVERY day (whatever the weather). I think I’ve missed maybe two since the start of this? On rest day and one because of the snow. The other thing I did was go and get Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch (REKT) – that has been a revelation (if you’ve got an OG Nintendo Switch and want to have a go, I’d definitely recommend it) and then the final thing I’ve been doing is just eating well. A tidy app called Lifesum is what I’ve been using for that (cheers Olly).

Results? Dropped from 88kgs to 84kgs in a month. That’s alright innit? I haven’t felt particularly hungry and I definitely haven’t felt like I’m really pushing myself. If anything, what with the walking and everything, it’s just felt kinda natural. Which is the best way, right?

I might keep going for a bit and see how long I can keep it up. But for now: I’m dead happy with it. Walking is lovely (finally catching up on the podcasts I’ve missed so much of what with having no commute to speak to (current podcast diet is one episode of Sweathead, one episode of Off Menu, then one Episode of Out to Lunch – a good mix of brain food, actual food, and laughter)) and I can strongly recommend it.

45-50mins of outside time?

Amazing.

…

Right. That’s enough of me (for now at least).

I think it’s time to get TO THE THINGS!

Shall we?

LET’S.

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1. THE ‘PRESENTING ON MICROSOFT TEAMS HACK’ YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE

Work on a Mac?

Use two screens at home?

Present much?

This is for you.

Here’s the scene:

You’re working from home. You’ve got your laptop wired to a second screen, not only are you about to present but (because you’re a kick ass presenter and you’ve got builds and you know where your beats land and you just want to be sure), you’re also driving the deck. Clients on the call. Maybe other agency partners too. You share your screen, then you switch the PPT into presentation mode and voila: you’ve got one screen, probably your monitor, full screen (the one the attendees can see) and your laptop has gone into presenter mode.

You get slide preview, slide notes, the lot. But what you DON’T get – what you have lost – is the ability to see any real time reactions from those you are presenting to. A crucial part of ANY presentation to ANY people is being able to understand how the work is being received.

So wouldn’t it be great if that didn’t happen?

Let’s fix that right now.

Please note that this method means you lose the presenter mode screen BUT if you know your slides and you know the points you want to land (and seeing your audience facies is more important), then slide preview is just a crutch anyway, amirite?

Right. Let’s do this.

Three steps to presentation bliss.

STEP ONE

First thing first: open the deck you want to present on your second screen.

If you’re already in a Teams Call, you can start sharing this PowerPoint right now.

It’s in PRE-presentation mode. Most presentations start like this. With a bit of v/o along the lines of, ‘OK, let me just share my screen… let me know when you can all see that? Yep? OK? Great. Now let me just put it in presentation mode’.

BUT DON’T DO THAT. INSTEAD, DO THIS:

STEP TWO

On that second screen, mouse over VIEW and find (and click) READING VIEW. It looks like this:

STEP THREE

Once you’re there, head on back up to VIEW again and this time click ENTER FULL SCREEN, like this:

And that’s it!

That’s the steps!

All being well, you should now be sharing a fullscreen PowerPoint presentation on your monitor with the full screen video of your meeting attendees on your laptop.

Absolute bloody witchcraft.

I tell you this for nothing: figuring that out the night before a pitch was an absolute game-changer.

If you’re feeling particularly Machiavellian, you can even say out loud ‘Right, I’m in presentation mode, so I can’t actually see your faces – do please let me know if anyone has any questions or comments – just jump in!’

But I can’t think of anyone reading this who would do such a thing.

You’re all such lovely people, after all…

PS. Thank me by RT-ing/sharing this Substack, thanks x

PPS. On a related note, the lovely David Levin sourced this fantastic ‘Guide to pitching in Lockdown’ last month. Even if you think you know it all, it’s worth a read (there be gold in dem hills).

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2. GAMES WERE A LIFELINE IN 2020

The above named article appeared in the FT toward the end of last year and this, this quote, has stayed with me.

“You don’t ask someone, ‘Do you watch movies?’ or ‘Do you listen to music?’ You just ask what kind they like. One day, we will simply ask each other: ‘What kind of games do you play?’” This day now seems closer than ever.”

It’s one of those quotes that I keep coming back to. Like, when people casually bundle ‘gamers’ in as one audience. You may as well go ‘music listeners’ or ‘TV watchers’.

It’s nonsensical.

But at last, at least within this generation, that is on the verge of changing.

Given how much my number one passion and hobby has been growing all over the world at such pace and above-the-line cultural interest, I am unsurprised.

But I’m also hella excited.

One of those quotes that you bang up front in a deck about the trend of gaming and what that means for brands.

You know the one.

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3. THIS WEEK IN… STUFF ABOUT ME

If you’re new here, THING 3 is basically a ‘This week in…’ round up section covering such broad topics as ‘Facebook’ or ‘Social’ or ‘Gaming’. This week, as we’ve got a fair bit of stuff to catch up on, I’m doing it differently… 😁

Self-absorbed? No. Way.
Self-interested? Possibly.
Self-serving? Absolutely.

It’s been a few months since we last spoke and it’s not like I’ve not been doing ANYTHING but play PS5* with my non-work time (I can’t believe I made it this far into the newsletter without talking about how good that machine is already).

So, for those that are interested, here’s a quick-fire list of OTHER STUFF that I’ve produced since October last year.

a) OFF TOPIC

David Greenwood’s website+newsletter that interviews ‘Incredibly Interesting People’ (his words, not mine) was a lovely thing to do. Not only because answering questions about your life/work/working space is fun but also also I got to recommend three other people to go after me, meaning I got to read Dena’s, Sarah’s, and Folarin’s as well (all of them are great – I can’t get Folarin’s working space out of my head).

Read mine here.

b) THE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD PODCAST

Before the end of the year, the very charming Paul Sutton asked me if I wouldn’t mind joining him and some other people much smarter than me on a two-part episode of his podcast, Digital Download.

Part 1 was a look back at 2020 and Part 2 was a look ahead to 2021.

Put me in your ears.

c) GIVING UP THE GRAM

One of my 2019/2020 New Year’s resolutions was to give up the gram for a while and just see how I went. Turns out I lasted the whole year and so of course I wrote about it.

Here’s 12 things I learnt taking 12mths off the gram.

Read it, share it around, improve your mental health.

d) STREAMING

I’ve finally properly linked my PS5 to my Twitch account so sometimes do a bit of streaming. If that’s your bag, then add/like/follow/subscribe my Twitch channel RIGHT HERE YO.

e) AND FINALLY: POWERPOINT KARAOKE

We’re doing PowerPoint Karaoke again later this month – AKA #KOLLABORAOKE. A bunch of amazing people, writing random slides and chucking them, like the proverbial set of car keys at a swingers night, in a fruit-bowl of randomness for on the spot improve.

Oh, and it’s FOR CHARITY.

Last time we did this we managed to raise just over £900 so maybe this time we can push that over into four figures?

JOIN US.

See you on the 17th! 🙂

*in case you’re wondering what I’ve been playing, so far completed and platinum’d Astro’s Playroom and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. I’m working my way towards the end of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla as we speak and next? I don’t know actually. What are you playing?

---

4. LOCKDOWN TELLY

Stuff we’ve watched of late:

• TASKMASTER. All of them are on All4 and they’ve been a Godsend. I’ve been crying my eyes out with laughter at every episode. So so so so good.

• QUEEN’S GAMBIT. Chess is a big part of my life. I played chess for my school. I taught my brother how to play (and he went on to play for the country), and I first kissed the love of my life over/after a game of chess. But aside from all that, the series is excellent on its own. This interview with Garry Kasparov is great POST-show reading.

• We restarted THE CROWN. Season 1, Episode 4 ‘Act of God’ is strikingly prescient. Worth a rewatch.

• I finished the new season of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. It’s fantastic.

• We also finally got around to finishing END OF THE F**KING WORLD (Ch4/Netflix). It’s so lovely. Gruesome. Dark. But lovely.

• And of course, like everyone else with taste, I am loving WANDAVISION.

I’m sure there’s more but by all means, please, hit that reply button and I’ll pool some replies for a recommendation THING next week/time.

OH, I nearly forgot. Due to my interest in TASKMASTER I also managed to find NO MORE JOCKEYS (you can read about here). Proper pub banter between three mates who just happen to comics – but over zoom.

You can find that on YouTube (stick with it).

I actually love it.

---

5. REVISITING THE BLOB OPERA

This went nuts right before Christmas and honestly, re-digging it back up again has been A JOY. If you missed out on The Blob Opera experiment from Google Arts & Culture then you’re in for a treat. If you played with it for AGES then I hope this is a nice reminder because as we all know, January lasted for seven hundred and thirty eight days and we need reminding of things sometimes.

Go play.

---

BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.

ENJOY.

• The EVIL CORP BOARDGAME Kickstarter is FINALLY complete and my edition arrived just last week. I’ve play-tested it and it’s reviewing amazingly. So get your copy here.

• The NEW RADICALS played at the Inauguration. Here’s an overview of how the hell that all happened.

• Speaking of the Inauguration, you can’t not mention Amanda Gorman. Please use this as an excuse to rewatch her incredible performance.

• How to interview an MP is great (and works for any interview).

• Bought a Spider-Man light for my eldest and people seemed to like it (get yours here – Cap’s shield has to be next on the list).

• Do you hold your breath when you walk past people in the street? Read this.

• Punchy Captain Tom pedantry.

• Everyone is talking about the Handforth Parish meeting today. Watch it if you haven’t. Then go follow Matt Jones (he edited one edition of FToF once), he tweeted it about 3hrs before everyone else.

• Hellish things about living in the UK (you’ll either laugh or nod and agree).

And I think that’s it for today. I’m sure there’s more but I’m hungry and it’s my day off.

I’ll save the rest for next time…

---

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

It’s been nice to boot this thing up again. A few of you have written to me to ask if everything is OK (you can always check my Twitter for signs of life!) due to lack of newsletteriness. But be assured, I’m alright and the working from home all the time part of my life has meant that my spare time is focused on extracting the most value I can from that time. That means family. I used to draft this thing on my commute and then write it up late at night, or on a Sunday, or whatever. But when you can hear the sound of your children’s laughter in the next room, it’s hard to find the drive to write about culture/life/social/trends/etc.

So for now, thank you for reading, thank you for subscribing, thank you for sharing, and above all, thank you for waiting.

Until next time,

Whatley out x

Things of note for the week ending Sunday 25th October, 2020

INTRO

Hello, it’s been quite the week hasn’t it?

Work is relentless. The weather has shifted. The nights are drawing in. And if you look from the window in your room to the sky outside to the window in your hand to the world outside, you’d be forgiven for feeling like things are pretty heavy right now.

And you’d be right.

And that’s OK.

But take a breath. Unclench your jaw. Breathe out.

I don’t know about you but for a lot of people I’ve spoken to this week – myself included – I’ve really hit that rub of just missing being people.

Talk to someone.

Talk to me if you want (that reply button is there for a reason).

But do talk to someone.

Let them know how you’re feeling. Start by acknowledging that you miss things. Admit that you’ve never been here – in this place, in a world like this – before. Neither of you have. And then from there – just ask each other questions.

See where you end up.

It sounds like a contrived way to talk about your feelings and that’s because it is. In life sometimes we need contrivances to get us over the stick in the backside that stops us from talking.

Like I said. Try it.

…

Shall we move to the things?

Let’s.

---

1. THE CULT OF EMILY RATJKOWSKI

In last week’s edition, in section three – aka ‘This Week In…’ – I drew attention to the Emily Ratajkowski essay, ‘Owning my own Image’.

At the time I described as two parts incredible and horrendous.

I think it still is.

But (and thanks to the frequently fantastic Jennifer Chang (author of the WAP: Women Asserting Power deck that was shared in these pages a few editions back) for sending this my way) this article, ‘The Emily Rajkowski Effect’, by Hayley Nahman, I see it with new eyes.

Nahman is/was in her own words unusually apathetic to the original essay. Her subsequent deep dive into why she felt that way, with well-researched references on EmRat’s commentary hitherto, might leave you feeling the same.

And it’s one of the best things I’ve read this week.

Go read.

---

2. NINA CONTI IN THERAPY

I believe I am late to this but whatever. It is great.

Beautiful. Hilarious. Dark.

But just so well done.

I found my way into this via the lockdown episodes and then decided to back to the beginning and start over.

Watch it – and let me know what you think.

via the Chairman.

PS. On the subject of late discovery, Taskmaster on Channel 4 (been on Dave forever but finally made the jump to the big time) is a revelation. This new Channel 4 show is a) hilarious and b) actually Season 10. And Channel 4, in its brilliance, also bought the rights to the entire show so you can go back and watch the whole thing from start to finish on Channel 4’s streaming service, All 4. Good something-to-watch-while-you’re-having-dinner telly.

---

3. THIS WEEK IN… GAMING

Yes. Again. I’m sorry I don’t make the rules.

A few things to get through. I might just bullet them(.

Easier, right?

Here we go:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ debut stream on Twitch peaked at 493,000 viwers. Making it the third highest individual Twitch stream in history (source). The BBC has a great overview on what happened and while not her first appearance on the platform, this is an excellent sign of things to come. AND if you read this great piece by Taylor Lorenz (from a couple of weeks back), then you also know why AMONG US was the perfect choice of game for this debut.
  

• Some Stadia stuff? OK FINE. Three things on this. First: this week one of Google Stadia’s creative directors said that STREAMERS should be paying GAME PUBLISHERS. To be clear: the current status quo is that games are made, published, sold. Streamers then stream those games and, in most cases, those games then sell more thanks to the streaming. Streamers make money (ads/sponsorship), the publisher makes money (games sold) and everyone is happy. As is to be expected, said creative director then got REKT by pretty much everyone – including Google. This is a good overview of what happened. The fact this came from a Stadia Dev just exacerbated the whole thing (this says it all).
  
  Second Stadia thing: there’s a gorgeous looking next-gen game called IMMORTALS FENYX RISING coming out and literally anyone with a controller and Chrome browser can play an hour-long demo of it right now. I’ve tried it; it’s very pretty (it’s basically the engine of Assassin’s Creed, painted with Breath of the Wild graphics, wrapped up in some sweet flying abilities) – and it’s coming to all platforms before the end of the year.
  
  This free demo though? That’s only on Stadia.

  

  
  Third Stadia thing: related to the above. If you DID want to try Stadia, the method above is probably the easiest, cheapest, and best way to do that before they go ahead and kill the platform. I mean, with Xbox making noises about its streaming offering potentially becoming available on sticks and browsers, and PlayStation no doubt working on its own rejig to its Now platform, and the big announcements from Google this week including games such as PACMAN (not a joke), you’ve got to wonder: what (and who) is Stadia for? Google certainly has previous here. What do you think? Dead by 2022?

• Xbox Unboxing. This Xbox Series X influencer unboxing of THE XBOX SERIES X FRIDGE is both great AND classic influencer unboxing stuff – dialled up to 11. It’s the kind of stuff we used to get up to with Nokia back when I worked at 1000heads (but X times bigger – pun entirely intended). For what basically started out as a meme to become part of the product launch? That’s pretty damn cool. Good work to the client/agency team behind this. Really really strong.
  

• The Oculus Quest 2 is a brand new and widely well-received VR headset from Facebook. Everyone I know that has bought one loves theirs and if it wasn’t for the fact that it now has to be linked to your Facebook account to even work, I’d probably entertain the idea of getting one. Now it seems that if you ever did decide to leave the big blue attention machine, then you would automatically lose all access to anything and everything you ever did or bought on Oculus. That’s kinda sucky.
  

Finally, we’re now less than a month until the new next-gen machines arrive (press PS5s are out there already) and my excitement is reaching FEVER PITCH. So you can expect a) more on this and b) no newsletter on the weekend after the PS5 comes out.

OH and if any of PlayStation’s PR agencies wanna include me on their influencer list, you go RIGHT AHEAD.

Thanks x

---

4. MADNESS

So fast. So tight.

There’s a couple of v hairy moments in this whole thing and I spent the whole time thinking ‘BUT WHAT IF A CAR IS COMING?’

Bonus: watch the video yes but also check the post-cycle Strava 😱

M a d n e s s.

---

5. JAMES O’BRIEN, THERAPY, AND NOT WANTING TO FIGHT ANYMORE

It’s Sunday afternoon as I’m writing to you right now and this morning, laying in bed, I saw this tweet from LBC radio presenter, James O’Brien.

In the article linked, ‘I saw everything as a fight’, James opens up to Alex Moshakis about why his attitude to arguments has changed, what brought him to that change, and how that change will impact his way of life forever.

It is a profound read.

I’ve talked about my own mental health a fair bit in the pages of this newsletter and I must confess, there’s a section in O’Brien’s interview that punched me hard and when I got there; the tears came flooding back.

It was this:

“During one of his sessions, the therapist asked: “Why don’t you pretend that cushion over there is you, aged 10, having just come out of that study, having been brutalised by that man… Why don’t you tell 10-year-old you how you feel?” “And I did,” O’Brien recalls, “like it was the most natural thing in the world.” He looks half-sceptical even now. “There I was telling a cushion that everything was going to be all right, that you don’t have to pretend any more, that it shouldn’t have happened.” He realised that as a boy he had created a kind of armour, and that the armour had manifested as a tendency to argue, of letting nobody get the better of him, of always being alert to attack. “And look what it’s done to you,” he says. He is talking to himself again, weary now. “You can’t provide help and support to the people you love, to people who deserve it.”

I ask if he is capable of providing love now.

“Yes,” he says.”

When I was at my lowest, my therapist used this technique on me. ‘Remember that boy, that you were – remember how afraid he was – what would you say to him?’

It wrecks me now. Just had a little tear.

I wasn’t 10. I was a bit younger. But the armour that I built around me, to deal with my trauma, took me years to understand. To dismantle. And not only am I so much better off for it – but my friends, family, and loved ones are too.

It’s a short interview with James O’Brien but it is worth your time.

Give it a read.

PS. I replied to my namesake. Unexpectedly, he replied and, in doing so, underlined again why it’s so important we talk – why we all talk – about this stuff. Thanks, James ❤️

---

BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY. ENJOY.

• Tracking every broken McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine. Also, take it from someone who has worked there, the machine is rarely broken. 9/10 it’s been taken apart to clean and someone’s either not put it back together again, lost one of the seals that goes inside, or simply doesn’t know how to put it back together again. Or they’ve run out of milk. In my four years of working there I think our machine actually broke maybe once? If at all.

• The Lincoln Project’s response to a legal threat is, how they say, chef kiss dot gif.

• NASA is announcing something about the MOON this MOONDAY – make sure you tune in.

• While we’re on NASA: they LANDED A PROBE ON A METEOR AND IT IS DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB THAT IT IS OVER-FLOWING WITH ASTEROID ROCKS (all caps entirely required). Amazing.

• The secret world of diary hunters.

• With next-gen around the corner, believe it not now is the ideal time to buy a current/last gen console (I know a few people that swear by this). Why? The hardware is cheap and the catalogue is massive. Here’s a decent rundown of the games of this generation.

• Using police facial recognition tools to track… the police.

• How to network effectively, with Oli Barrett for BT, is that rare beast: a great piece of branded content.

• Jay Owens’ in interview is great brain fodder for any strategist (and a must-follow on Twitter, if that wasn’t already obvious).

• Fat Bear Week.

• Hades and Failure (I’m yet to play this game but I’m edging towards it slowly – by all accounts, it’s GOTY for many respected voices).

• Questions for Americans.

---

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for subscribing.

Thank you for sharing.

Until next time,

Whatley out x

Things of note for the week ending Friday, October 16th, 2020

INTRO

Hello, and welcome to issue 316 of Five things on Friday.

We’re coming at you from the newsletter’s new home: Substack. Here’s to a long and healthy future together.

It’s kinda wild that what started off back in 2011 as a year-long project in discipline, note-taking, and writing for my blog (remember those?) is now its own newsletter publication with nigh-on 2500 subscribers…

But here we are.

And here you are.

For the other newsletter writers among you, you should know that the transition from MailChimp to Substack was relatively painless and aside from a teeny tiny bit of gap-admin to fill in (Substack’s import history goes back to #292, my website editions end at FtoF #265 – so I need to do some copypasta somehow – but that’s for another day) we all arrived here completely unscathed. Hurrah.

And thanks to the lovely Robbie Dale for updating my FTOF header as well.

If you’re new here, thanks for joining.

If you’re a regular, welcome welcome – let me know what you think of the new digs.

If you unsubscribed between last week’s and this week’s and somehow still got this then that’s my fault, sorry – I did the contact pull pretty quickly after I hit send so, yeah, er… sorry about that.

Please don’t sue me x

WHAT ELSE CAN I TELL YOU?

Two things real quick:

First, the over-working in advertising thing in last week’s edition really touched a nerve. So much so it’s coming back again this week. Your input would be lovely (hit that reply button).

Second, thank you for all the lovely things that you said about the gaming section last week. For those that care, I went ahead and unpacked it further as a LinkedIn article that should be easier for reading, referring, sharing etc.

So please do all those things – thanks.

SPEAKING OF THINGS.

Shall we crack on with them?

LET’S.

---

1. OVERWORKING IN ADVERTISING: PART II

In last week’s edition, Thing Two was named after ‘The Normalisation of Overworking in Advertising’.

So many of you got in touch – via email, DM, WhatsApp – and it’s alarming how much the overworking has continued and got worse under lockdown conditions.

Here are some examples that came my way:

An Account Director calling a team member at 10pm with the excuse ‘Well, we are sort of in lockdown so it’s not like you’d be out.’

In another, a job offer came for a creative with a lowballed salary and a condition that said role would demand them to work night and every weekend without fail.

In another, their office is their bedroom. They literally go to bed and wake up with their work. Work is omnipresent.

THIS IS UNHEALTHY.

With the Covid-19 pandemic creating global economic slowdown, the fear of not having a job or losing the job you do have is exacerbated. Working harder, later – pouring more and more of yourself in in the hope that it will all be OK.

And it won’t be.

There’s no getting away from it: the Covid-19 pandemic has made the agency overworking situation considerably worse.

The combination of:

• The loss of any kind of work/life balance – how can you delineate between the two your office is your home/bedroom/kitchen?

• How can you expect to unplug when your daily 45-70mins commute has disappeared?

• Combine that with people working in an already toxic over-working environment and you have a recipe for disaster.

One person sent me an example of their average calendar, it looked like this:

Every single one of these meetings was a video call.

THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE.

Everything I heard back over the past week said the same thing:

“While the Overworking thing in your newsletter is good, it mostly alludes to the culture of working late in the office – late nights, getting in takeaways etc. But for so many in the industry, WFH is no different. It’s just the same, but at home, which is actually worse for many as there is no escape from work.”

If you’re reading this and this is reflective of your situation please hear this from someone who has seen the output of burnout up close: this is not sustainable.

Your agency leadership has a responsibility to ensure they are not driving their talent into the ground.

You have a responsibility to yourself to not allow the work rule your life.

We are in the middle of a global pandemic. We are ALL dealing with a situation that we are simply not mentally trained to deal with. Yes, there might be comfort to be found in getting lost in the work but write rules for yourself.

Draw your red lines.

And then stick to them.

The normalisation of overworking in advertising is hateful. The fact that it is now ten times worse because a global crisis is awful.

If you’re a junior, then circulate this email among your peers.

If you’re a senior, then do something to fix it.
You are burning talent and making enemies.

Collectively we all have a responsibility to fix it and to be the change we want to see.

At the absolutely least, take a break: close the laptop. And heaven knows that is so much easier to type and to say than to actually DO but please try it.

Please x

…

PS. The fact that The Normalisation of Overworking in Advertising was awarded POST OF THE MONTH over on Only Dead Fish should’ve set alarm bells ringing. At least a headline or two in the trades.

And did it?

Did it balls.

Not good enough.

(I’ve had this rant already).

---

2. THE NOT FAILING NEW YORK TIMES

Here’s a thing.

How the New York Times went from a failing newspaper to a thriving digital subscription business.

Good/fascinating reading.

---

3. THIS WEEK IN… INSTAGRAM

First up, here’s a thing that is probably more important than it first seems: in regards to the ongoing discourse around influencers and paid for advertising, Facebook has committed undertakings to the Competition and Markets Authority that it will ‘do more’ to prevent hidden advertising appearing on its platform.

Here’s a link to the nine page undertakings (PDF).
And here’s the press release.

The important take out is that the ‘do more’ actually has actions underlined within it, the key part?

Instagram will:

• prompt users to confirm if they have been incentivised in any way to promote a product or service and, if so, require them to disclose this fact clearly

• extend its ‘paid partnership’ tool to all users. This enables people easily to display a clear label at the top of a post

• use technology and algorithms designed to spot when users might not have disclosed clearly that their post is an advert and report those users to the businesses being promoted

Under the commitments, Instagram is also required to involve businesses in the changes by creating a tool to help them monitor how their products are being promoted. As a result, businesses should do their part to comply with consumer protection law and take action where appropriate, including asking the platform to remove posts if necessary.

Instagram will report its progress against all commitments to the CMA regularly.

This, combined with the undertakings from influencers the year before, tightens the loopholes that allow brands and influencers to get away with messages that do not included any mention of payment or sponsorship, etc.

This is a good thing!

On the topic of Instagram. The platform turned 10 years old recently. And while my opinions on the platform vary wildly from year to year, this a good cross-section of thinking and commentary related to the platform generally:

• Instagram at 10. Good reading here from Rahul (ex-colleague, influencer smarts), The Guardian with an overall PoV,

• Instagram at 10: the Brits that built their businesses there (via Campaign),

• A piece here from the BBC, Skin is for life, not for filters.

• For jokes, here’s what happens when you’re former Aussie Prime Minister Tony Abbott and you post your passport number on Instagram.

• And finally, as we’re on the topic of Instagram, here is a two parts equal incredible and horrendous piece of reading from Emily Ratajkowski, entitled ‘Owning my own Image’. Essential reading.

As for me, I gave up Instagram as part of my New Year’s Resolution for 19/20. I’ve had to go to the web version of the platform a handful of times to check on ad executions etc but outside of that, I’ve kept my resolution and …I’ve not missed it.

I’m still on the platform. You can find me there, tag me in stuff, and even send me DMs (but they will go unanswered, sorry). But I’m not ON the platform.

Speaking to someone this week about the same thing (hi Lou) and I was reminded of this article by Tim Urban, Why Gen Y are so Unhappy.

This image sticks out in my memory (and I’ve used it in decks a ton of times).

There’s some of this involved.

But for me some of it – and again this comes back to bad pandemic habits (!) is the ease in which you’re able to fall into the doom scroll. Scrolling forever. Looking at how bad the world is, how bad your life is (compared to the perfect version of someone else’s*) and generally killing time in the endless and nihilistic skyscraper of content hidden behind the screen of your phone.

Avoid that if you can.

It’s a trap.

x

*Rule one: never measure yourself with someone else’s yardstick

---

4. BABY LOSS AWARENESS WEEK

From Chrissy, to Kat, to Amanda, Binky, and. more.

1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss during pregnancy or birth. There are people reading this right now that have felt that pain. And live with it every day. Baby Loss Awareness Week is about highlighting the isolation that so many experience after pregnancy and baby loss.

You can read more and find support – or people with similar stories right here.

Handing my son over to surgeons for an operation when he was barely weeks old, the hours I spent contemplating not ever seeing him again. I couldn’t bear it. I have seen the strength of those that have dealt with loss.

If you know anyone that needs that guidance or support, send them the above website. It might help.

---

5. JUNE SARPONG

‘I don’t have the luxury of being mediocre’

I was probably just out of my teens when June Sarpong was the face of T4.

All I remember is that laugh 🙂

And this is a great interview.

Worth your time.

---

BONUS SECTION

BEE. OO. ENN. YOU. ESS. BONUS.

• Being black at Cambridge

• This is so joyful

• AKIRA returns to the cinema (but should you?)

• This, on how OnlyFans has just p***ography is outstanding

• Understanding editorial newsletters: a brief guide (this is great)

• An oldie but a goodie

• Speaking of which: leadership lessons from dancing guy qualifies for the same moniker (and is still worth a revisit)

• No, I’m not playing AMONG US yet (TOO MANY GAMES) – no idea what I’m talking about? This is a good primer

• I don’t know if this is true but I love it

• Never setting foot in Tesco ever again

• Netflix marketing to targeted audiences

• Les Binet on Share of Search

• We’re all boring. That’s why the iPhone will be. (decades of innovation, we’ve found the perfect form factor – pending any major tech changes, why change it?)

• Related: FiveGee

• Ten Causes of Communication Breakdown

• Matt Locke on why, when it comes to TV, we are all schedulers now

---

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. HOLD ON TIGHT.

As I write these words it’s 1508 on Saturday 17th October. I was determined to get this week’s edition out purely to test the new platform provider.

I’m very interested in your feedback so, if you have any, please hit that reply button and let me know what you think – of the new email and of course, any and all of the content within.

It’s been a hard week and I’m glad we’re at the weekend. A big shout to my mate Paddy for some good words of advice these past few weeks. On the newsletter (expect a reader survey at some point), on some work stuff (alignment!), and for this dish that, ankle pain not being a dick, I’mma gonna cook tonight.

Oh, the ankle – yes.

Still broken. But on the mend. Will find out how well it’s mending in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the words of sympathy you lovely lot. My 3yr old running full pelt into it this morning kinda knocked me for six a bit. You know the kind of pain where someone says ‘Oh, you look pale’ – yeah, that.

ANYWAY.

On that note, I will sign off.

Be kind to yourself, and to those around you. You never know what pain they hide or what darkness they’re carrying. And we could all do with a bit more love right now.

Peace.

Whatley out x

Things of note for the week ending Friday, October 8th, 2020. 

INTRO.

Bbum bum bdmum bumb bdump. 

Hello again. I hope you are enjoying the rain. 

I have two things to tell you. One about the email, one about me. 

Important logistics thing first. 

This will be the last newsletter sent to you via MailChimp. When the subscriber level knocked over into the 2000s about a year ago or so, I ticked over from the free offer into the paid for. 

‘It’s fine,’ I said ‘I enjoy it and I don’t mind paying for it’ and that was fine.  But, as the longer-term readers among you will know and understand, this weekly newsletter is anything but. Paying £30 a month to use a service that I don’t use doesn’t seem …right. Once I hit send on this edition of Five things on Friday, I will be going into the guts of the chimp behind the mail, exporting everything, and then drag it all over to the shiny new kid on the block, Substack. 

As a result, there will absolutely be an edition of FIVE THINGS ON FRIDAY next week and it will be called FIVE THINGS ON FRIDAY #316. It might look different. It might smell different. Hell, it might not even arrive on Friday but but but but but but – it will be Five Things on Friday. 

Second. 

I write to through the dull throbbing pain of a broken ankle. An avulsion fracture on my left ankle. An avulsion fracture, as I have learnt, is basically when you pull your ligaments so hard and so badly that they actually tear a piece of bone off in the process.

Look. 

Blue is old, red is new.

Blue I did when I was 16. Slap bang in the middle of my GCSEs! Playing basketball in the street, did a lay up up onto a kerb, kerb was loose, it went one way and my ankle went the other. CRACK. 

Fast forward SOME years, and I’m taking a day off to go play DISC GOLF (it’s golf – but with a frisbee, YES THAT’S RIGHT – thread), and I’m walking down a hill, put my foot straight down into a bunker and… CRACK. 

Fun fact! According to my orthopaedic surgeon, it is extremely difficult (impossible) to do the red injury if you haven’t already done the blue one. So there you have it: medical proof I am a total clutz. 

 😭

Pain management has not been fun. But it is what it is. I am fortunate enough to have narrowly avoided both surgery AND a plaster cast but I am wearing a robo-boot for at least the next four weeks.

Your sympathy is welcome.

OK. So.

Where were we?

AH YES! TO THE THINGS!


PS. If you’re new here, FToF is a not very weekly collection of things I find the most interesting on the internet. 

It’s better than the other ones because I said so. Opinion + links > just links. In short: you’ve made the right choice. 

1. ASHLEY BANJO

The first of two VERY GOOD THINGS from GQ that bookend this edition of FToF. 

Here we go. 

“Almost 25,000 viewers* complained to Ofcom about Ashley Banjo and Diversity’s powerful performance on Britain’s Got Talent last month, making it one of the most talked about television moments of the decade. But does this make Britain inherently racist? For the first time since the show aired the man at the centre of it all goes on record to explain why he did it, what his message is and how that four-minute routine has changed his life forever”

*racists

Ashley Banjo here, talking to GQ, in I think his only interview so far about the whole THING that happened with this frankly OUTSTANDING piece of dancing/movement/creative work.

Banjo is humble. Media smart (step toe-ing over journalistic traps with the ease of foot he shows on stage). And overall, an inspiration.

We’re lucky to have him.

Find the time to read this.

2. THE NORMALISATION OF OVERWORKING IN ADVERTISING

SHOCK.

HORROR.

WE’VE ALL GOT STORIES HAVEN’T WE?

“Remember that Netflix pitch that went on FOREVER? Every weekend, all summer!”

How about:

“Do you remember that time we had to introduce a mandatory 5pm Friday beer to literally stop management working the agency past 9pm every week?”

Or.

“Remember when we pulled that all-nighter and the account exec met us at the client’s offices at 7am with the updated pitch deck on a stick?” – “Yeah, which pitch was that – there were so many!”

One thing I bloody love about Digitas: respect for time outside of office hours. A rare beast. Like the Unicorns we are.

Shortly after I moved into proper adland someone threw me the now legendary (and I hope widely-known) piece from Linds Redding, ‘A short lesson in perspective’ (now gone but thankfully still readable via The Wayback Machine).

Key quote? Well, there’s a few but perhaps this segment stands out the most:

Print it.
Frame it.
Laminate the fucker and put it on the wall.

God, I forget what this writing does to me. 

—- deeeeep exhale —- 

The point is, read Linds Redding. And then, when you’re done with that, fire up Craig Ainsley’s piece, titled as above.

This section stood out for me: 

“I feel fortunate to work at Mother. There’s a healthy perspective. The empathy levels are high. But I speak to friends in the industry, and I’ve worked at other places too. A while ago I was working at an agency that were pitching for a global brand. I don’t want to name names, let’s just call them Anomaly London, 25 Charterhouse Square, Barbican, London EC1M 6AE. The hours worked over consecutive weekends on the pitch were punishing. Especially for the design department. Design departments always seem to get f*cked. There was a moment when the global CCO found out that one of the designers wasn’t available for one of the weekends because it was his birthday and he was going away, so he said ‘Unless you’re pushing a baby out this weekend, you’re working’ He also sent an email to the whole pitch team explaining that they need to ‘have a relationship with pain’. You’ve got wonder what this does for people’s anxiety levels and their mental health. And also, it’s just adverts mate.”

Same energy.

Note to self: don’t work for Anomaly maybe?

There’s more (so much more). Of course.

So you should read it. 

3. THIS WEEK IN GAMING

This week in THIS WEEK IN, I’m doing gaming again. I was going to do Facebook (they’ve put out some good stuff lately) but instead I’ve relegated all that to the BONUS LINK SECTION.

Gaming – for me at least – is fever pitch right now. We are just over a month away from the newest next generation titles landing in living rooms all over the world. 

I am excited – and yes, I have just booked two days off specifically to play my own machine of choice come release date. 

I. Can’t. Jeffing. Wait.

Last week, while I was waiting the X-ray on my ankle (see above) and after I’d finished some strategy amends on a client presentation AND shown a particularly inquisitive colleague (hi Sharmin) just how swollen my ankle was (it was VERY swollen) (both conducted entirely over Teams mobile – what a service), I decided to put some twitter words together about what games might be worth getting on the (frankly MASSIVE) PlayStation 5.

That thread is here.

But since then, the PS5 launch title list has grown from seven to nineteen (and is still growing). 

So between finishing work and sitting down to write this tonight (it’s 22:45 on a Thursday as this digital ink appears before my eyes), I knocked up this website: PS5launchtitles.com.

Built to act as a decent source of launch games and upgrades that coming on day one. It’s just titles and links at the moment but I’ll get some uninformed opinions next to them soon. Maybe at the weekend.

Point being: know someone getting a PS5? Send them that sight.

NEXT THING.

Given my recent uptick in public conversation about my undying hobby, I’ve had a fair few questions about what to choose this gen: Xbox or PlayStation. Well, the first and BEST answer to that question is always: what do your friends play on? Playing where your friends are is the best and only way to choose, really. 

It’s what made me make the jump from Xbox360 to PS4 last/current gen (the PS4 was my first PlayStation) and you should use similar patterns when choosing your next machine.

BE THAT AS IT MAY. 

If you have no friends or simply just want to get the best machine right now then my answer, in the short-to-mid term at least, is: the PlayStation 5. I pitched (and won) PlayStation in my last job and something that I knew in my bones but came through in quant and qual is that when it comes to gaming, gamers want one thing: GAMES. And Sony, *undeniably* has delivered smash, after smash, after smash on PS4. That brand love – and user trust – has built up over the past 5yrs and the next gen comes with promise. I want to play new Spidey in the best way possible. And more. I can only do that on the PS5 and if Sony go on to deliver HALF the killer hits that they’ve brought to bear this gen then I will know I have made the right decision.

‘But what about Xbox, James? They’re smashing it on the marketing front’

Yes, you’re right. They are. And I think I can see a day where I will no doubt be handing over a wodge of cash for an Xbox Series S/X but it wont be this year, it might not even be next year.

Xbox has the right strategy (arguably lifted from Sony – we’ll get to it) and as soon as it executes on the games, more gamers will follow. 

The fully re-energised Xbox machine (the product and everyone that works on and around it) is so interesting to me.

Let me unpack.

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox has gone on record saying that the player is at the centre of their strategy. Sony’s ‘#4ThePlayers’ strapline that underpinned the early years of PS4 worked so well for them and Xbox has taken it and not only adopted the approach but also ensured it touches every part of its division. 

“We want to enable everyone to play the games they want to play, with the friends they want to play with, on any device. On TV, the Xbox console is going to be the best way to play console games.” – Phil Spencer

They’ve looked at Player Needs and responded accordingly.

Xbox is  systematically executing their own player-centric strategy and it shows. 

For example: 

Player product needs:
‘I want to play…’

• On any device (Cross-generational games, PC, xCloud mobile streaming, champions of cross-play)With any ability (Adaptive Controller)

• On any budget (Game Pass / Series S / All Access)
  

Player info needs:
‘I want to know…’

• Everything about next gen? Let’s discuss early. Initial info about about Series X in 2019.Regular and consistent updates about the X (games, features, specs)

• You’ll be honest with me. When the Series S leaked, Xbox let it out of the bag (Jack Appleby here with an overview of said masterful handling)

Player trust needs:
‘OK, so now keep your promises…’

• ‘Xbox commits to Game Pass. Expanding it with PC, EA Play, and xCloud mobile streaming (Stadia who?)

• Xbox commits to all Xbox Studios games being available on Game Pass Day 1.

• Xbox commits to carious levels of payment/commitment – All Access subscription service now available for new hardware with Game Pass rolled up into it. 

• Xbox commits to the long haul by buying up SEVERAL studios (Bethesda being the latest). 

These are all examples of the player-centric strategy that Xbox is pursuing. By asking the question: how do we ensure that gaming is accessible no matter who you are, where you are, or what budget you have? Xbox is putting its energy in the long game. 

Player. Centricity. 

Last gen, Sony had their tagline of ‘For the Players’. After Xbox messed up their game-sharing/DRM with the Xbox One, Sony came back with this monster viral gut punch – and it stung. And I think it still stings.

When I wrote the opening strategic lay up (this time for the global pitch) I wrote something along the lines of ‘PlayStation won this gen, next gen its theirs to lose. Sony has the install base (113m+ PS4s sold) and the brand love BUT it seems, this time around at least Xbox is and if you’ll excuse the pun, playing a different game.

It is a great approach and as I said above, when the studios that Xbox has bought up start delivering on those killer exclusive titles (arguably the only thing that Xbox is missing) then things will be super interesting.

Healthy competition is good the player and good for the industry. Let’s check in on this again in six months and see where we’re at.

It’s a date.

4. CREATE SIMILAR PLAYLIST

There are two reactions that Spotify users will have to this piece of information.

And you, as you read this information right now (if you’re a Spotify user), will have ONE of them.

Reaction 1: OH DUDE, YOU ONLY JUST FOUND THIS?
Reaction 2: WHAT?! HOW LONG HAS THIS MAGIC BEEN THERE?!

Let’s see.

Spotify users, open Spotify on your desktop.

Done that? Good. Right, now select one of your favourite playlists. For this demonstration, I’ve gone into my Full Day of Music folder and gone right back to FDOM Vol. 1.

Now take your mouse left and hover over the playlist.

You’re looking for that option, right there…

CLICK.

And you’re done.

SPOTIFY JUST MADE YOU A NEW PLAYLIST BASED ON THE ONE YOU ALREADY LOVE.

MAGIC.

And to all the OH DUDE, YOU ONLY JUST FOUND THIS? folk, keep it yeah?

YOU’RE WELCOME. 

5. MICHAELA COLE AND DONALD GLOVER

“Would you rather see all the opportunities and not have them or have all the opportunities and not see them?”– Donald Glover on being asked ‘Wouldn’t you rather be white?’

As promised, here’s the second of the bookend of GQ articles. And I really have saved the best for last.

GQ in its infinite (and seemingly growing) wisdom, asked Michaela Cole who she would like to talk to. Michaela said ‘Donald Glover’. 

The rest is in this stunning, powerful article. 

Two creators, talking about their experiences, process, drive, the things they have in common (and the things they don’t) and it’s a Sweet Christmas Privilege that we get to eavesdrop on it.

Read the whole thing – and be inspired. 

BONUS LINKS

WON’T YOU TAKE ME TO, BONUS TOWN?
WON’T YOU TAKE ME TO BONUS TOWN?

Bonus links. 
We all have them.
And now you have more. 

• THE DANCING! 

• Brie Larson’s YouTube channel is incredibly wholesome and lovely and everything it should be. Read about it here then go watch some.

• GIANT SHARK: QUEEN OF THE OCEAN (17ft long y’all).

• Hadley Freedman delivering again on the best job in the world – this time sitting down with Mariah Carey and it is a HOOT.

• The playlist I made in Thing 4 just threw up Made Up Lovesong #43 by Guillemots and oh my god I haven’t heard this song in SO long – my heart! Glastonbury! Chills! Wooooo-ooow!

• The endlessly generous thinker Rob Campbell shared ‘The best bit of advice about problem solving you’ll ever get‘.

• A useful list of logical fallacies. Useful.

• Climate Change is locked in. What we do next is crucial.

• How many days have you been alive?

• Werner Herzog does not like French (watch this).

• Please please please please please read ‘A day in the life of Tom Hollander’.

• Emily in Paris. I haven’t watched it. I probably won’t. But this feels like the most important take. 

• While we’re dunking on Netflix stuff. THE SOCIAL DILEMMA. Honestly. This is the best deconstruction of what it does (and does not) communication.

• While we’re on the topic. Given the documentary was SO bad, it was of immense interest to me that Facebook went to such an effort to refute so many of the points it fails to make. I say ‘such an effort’ – I mean, the lack of self-awareness in the whole piece is almost comedic. I mean, they must know, right?

• Speaking of Facebook, here’s a decent report on ‘Gen Z’ (from Facebook) called ‘Meet the future‘. Some good stat, slide, and quote fodder within. Of course it hypes up its own products (Reels? Lol, what) but the main thrust of it is excellent.

• And another thing: Build Brilliant Brands. I have this (also from Facebook) downloaded and ready to read. You should too.

• And to finish off the TRIPLET of GOOD THINGS THAT FACEBOOK HAS DONE (rare, I know) here it is actually enacting policy on something dangerous 45 said. This ties neatly back into Thing 5 of the last edition that took a deep dive in the social platforms’ policies around Covid-19. Nice.

• The Show Must Go On (behind the scenes at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition).

• I will never tire of this.

• The brilliant Sara Tate on returning to the office.

• I have a great story about Ant n Dec from when I worked back stage on I’m A Celeb Reunion. This isn’t that (but it’s still funny).

• Movies that mess with you.

• ‘The black friend‘.

• Hella useful thread of Twitter Promoted Tweets/Ads/etc.

• Mansplaining. A primer..

• Jennifer Mei (author of the excellent WAP document from the last edition) appeared on Sweathead. Go listen, follow etc..

• WE GOT SOME WORK OUT!

• Hearing about other people recommending The DICE Charter makes me so incredibly happy. And we’re just getting started.

AND FINALLY, if you ever played Wii Sports,you will LOVE this.

THIS IS THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER

It’s 00:52 as I get here. The words are out and, as it is officially Friday, I think I’m just gonna go ahead and hit send on this bad boy right away.

I can’t believe I’ve made it through this whole thing without going off on one about how much I am back in love with No Man’s Sky again. Or how much I’ve been enjoying the rain. Or even that whole other drafted Thing about New Year’s Resolutions that I’ve got sketched out around here somewhere…

Damn. I’ll have to come back to it. 

Next time you’ll hear from me it’ll be from Substack. If you don’t hear from me in a couple of weeks, please head to https://fivethingsonfriday.substack.com and look me up. 

Until then my friends, take care of yourselves. It’s tough out there, tougher than ever – and you can’t ever know what pain others are going through. So take a breath, take a step back.

And be there. 

You matter. x

This one’s for you, Arnt.

Whatley out. 

Things of note for the week ending Friday, September 18th, 2020. 

INTRODUCTION

My faraway friends.

How are you? 

It is September 16th as I draft this opening to you. A Wednesday. There’s a file on my desktop called ‘Untitled 4.txt’ that keeps my FToF notes in. And that is where these words are currently forming. Well, there and from the back of an Uber somewhere along Great Portland Street. My driver’s profile says ‘Excellent service 150’. It then says ‘Great Chat 15’. 90% of passengers think your chat is terrible, mate. 

I’ve been in the office today. Trains were shafted – both ways – but I found a way in. Finding a rhythm of a weekly attendance feels kinda doable at the moment (he says, staring at the rising daily infection rate – we’ll see). Sat at lunch earlier, a notification arrives on my phone from Emma (I’ve been using Emma since the start of the year to help budget, manage debt etc – and HOLY HELL has it been useful – if you sign up using this link, we both get £15 – it is recommended), it says: ‘You’ve gone over your Eating Out’ budget. Which is interesting. Said budget has been set at £0 since mid-March. A stark reminder of the cost/benefit of travelling (and spending) so much time/money in That London.

But it was a good day.

We had a shoot last week, first edit Monday, amends yesterday, sign off today – and then last minute changes/recommendations/rationales etc etc. A later finish than expected but HOPEFULLY a better product at the end of it (said product is now off for approval and a cover note: ‘Here’s why we think our version is better’ – always a fun conversation, that). 

As alluded to above, this .txt file floats around on my desktop – sometimes I add to it, sometimes I don’t… sometimes I wipe it completely. This time I think I’m going to just put down what I’ve collected. This basically means while there is almost certainly one or two HOT TAKES in there, the rest will be lukewarm. 

Sidenote, ‘Lukewarm takes, by James Whatley’ is the semi-regular column an editor is yet to ask me to write (hi Stephen). 

So yeah, thanks for reading thus far.

Welcome to new readers and returning subscribers. 

Let’s get into this. 

ONWARDS! TO THE THINGS!

PS. Try and stick around to the end – there’s music down there. 


PS. If you’re new here, FToF is a [nearly] weekly collection of things I find the most interesting.

Some chat, some gifs; standard newsletter fair – but doing it with panache, style, and flair. You don’t care. But you do have nice hair. In case you weren’t aware x

1. EXCELLENT JOURNALISM IS EXCELLENT

Every now and then the NYT delivers an incredibly well put together article that mixes an interesting UI with a compelling and often heart-wrenching story. 

This piece on the Beirut port explosion meets that criteria.

It is mandatory reading. 

2. WAP: WOMEN ASSETING POWER

I bloody love this. 

The amazing and great Jennifer Mei has pulled together this ENTIRELY FREE PRESENTATION which looks at everything from the cultural context through to the critical reception of Cardi B ft Megan Thee Stallion’s phenomenal hit, WAP.

30 slides looking at misogyny, power, and the history of exactly how this came to be and what it means today. It is an education. I implore you to read it. 

Then go find @jayemsey on Twitter – and say thank you for being so generous with their research and thinking. 

3. THIS WEEK/MONTH IN GAMING

Bloody hell a lot has happened. And that’s just THIS WEEK. But there’s more to cover than the PS5 stuff. I don’t really know where to begin. Far too much to unpack.

Hmm.

I’m gonna list them off – like a mini FToF inside a FToF (Russian doll style) and add commentary as we go. DEAL? DEAL. 

HERE WE GO. 

a) BURGER KING AND TWITCH. 

Did you see this? It’s a little under a month old but HOLY CHRIST it is such a miss and fumble. Ad Agency (David Madrid) does a ‘disruptive’ piece of Twitch advertising for Burger King 

I’m really not one to poo-poo on an ex-employer (and to be fair, it isn’t directly Ogilvy work) but you gotta ask the team over at David Madrid: were any gamers involved with making this work? I can’t see how the answer can be yes. This is up there with that godawful Google Home Whopper Invasion work. Vom. 

Last thing: Quote RTs are the new ratio. And these ones are A SIGHT TO BEHOLD. 

b) PEOPLE ARE [STILL] DOING INTERESTING THINGS IN ANIMAL CROSSING

– FASHION!
– IKEA! (called it – for real – and Ellie & Elisa got there too)
– BIDEN/HARRIS!

And why wouldn’t you? Animal Crossing is and remains to be MASSIVE. 

c) MARIO KART LIVE: HOME CIRCUIT
This is amazing.

First: watch this 1min 40s video. 

Second: RIGHT? 

MARIO KART!
AUGMENTED REALITY!
REMOTE CONTROL CARS!
FROM INNOVATION LEGENDS, NINTENDO! 

I love it (and have ordered one for… er… THE KIDS… this Christmas). 

Comes out in October. If you have a Nintendo Switch (and have a large enough flat/house with hard floors etc – ahem) then you should absolutely own this. 

d) XBOX COMES OUT SWINGING

As we go to press (sorry, what? – Ed), The PS5 preorders are out (we’ll get to that in a sec) but next week, on September 22nd, Xbox pre-orders go live. And I tell you what, it is pretty much THE BEST and most COMPELLING line-up Xbox has ever had. 

You can get the super spec’d up 4K Microsoft gaming experience with Xbox Series X for £449 (or £28.99pcm + 2yrs of Game Pass Ultimate). OR if 4K ain’t your thing, you can go HD-only with the Xbox Series S for £249 (or £20.99pcm with 2yrs of Game Pass Ultimate). 

Honestly, it’s ridiculous.
All the pre-order details you need for the 22nd are right here.

AND FINALLY. 

e) THE PLAYSTATION FIVE SHOWCASE + PREORDER SHOW

This week – Wednesday to be precise – saw the PS5 Showcase event arrive on social media channels everywhere. Wow. If you missed it, I put together a greatest hits playlist covering the best 4K trailers that the event had to hand – and you can watch that (or ideally cast it to a 4K TV near you) right here.

The event was outstanding. The trailers: incredible (Spidey alone is worth the asking price). And then… well, and then preorders happened. 

And that’s putting lightly. Sold out, everywhere, already(!) – demand is high and confusion over got what stock when, globally, has not gone well. BUT fingers crossed there’ll be more stock arriving soon and those that missed out on this batch of pre-orders can get there’s sorted in time for Christmas.

We hope.

‘Which one did you go for James?’

Good question. Right now, I have a PS5 on pre-order. Looking back at this past gen, I’m ending it with every major console represented in the living room. I don’t doubt that it will end up the same way again a few years from now. But today? Man alive, I just wanna play new Spider-Man on a PlayStation 5 – and no amount of Netflix-for-games is going to drag me away from that.

Not at this moment at least.  

4. WSPD.

September 10th was World Suicide Prevention Day.

I’ve talked about that here before. This time last year in fact.

Preventing suicide is hard.

This is my story.

I hope it helps. 

5. COVID COMMS: PLATFORM POLICIES

For ‘reasons’, I ended up down a rabbit hole of how Covid misinformation policies work across the different social media platforms.

Here’s Twitter’s.
Here’s Google’s.
Here’s Facebook’s.

I think my favourite/preferred is Google’s. But have a look and let me know what you think. This stuff is harder than many make out.

Having this stuff out in the open is helpful.

And just interesting.

Go swim.

PS. Ben’s tangential take is also worth a look.

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE. THE LINKS ARE DARK AND FULL OF TERRORS (THEY’RE NOT REALLY).

• Tom Morton’s strategy diet is a great, informative read. Keep this on file.

• Why London might be a ghost town-ish, for a bit longer (the link drops you into a Tweet thread with a specific stat but read the whole thing)

• For the first time in its 175 year history, Scientific American is endorsing a candidate for President. No guesses who it isn’t. But this is well-written reasoning.

• Creative Brief interviewed Tag Warner, CEO of GAY TIMES. And it is bloody great. So many could learn from this approach.

• Gen Z Mafia: young people against the CLIQUES of Silicon Valley. Taylor Lorenz does it again. Long overdue too. Good luck to em.

• The new B&Q ad from Uncommon is so brilliant it makes you envious. Breathing new life into that endline? Perfect. 

• LIFE? ON VENUS?!

• ‘Was the brief that Greg is drugs?’

• Róisín Murphy: Disco Queen.

• Handy list of orange puns. You know, for when you need orange puns.

• Changing Rooms: An Oral History. Great read. Fun related fact: I once had to look after Linda Barker on the set of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here reunion show. THE STORIES I COULD TELL.

• ,..

YOU ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE MIND YOUR STEP. 

You have reached the end of the newsletter!

Thank you for reading. 

This week I’m closing off this week with a few music choices. First up is the FRESH and BANGING Black Country Disco by Tom Aspaul. This has been my soundtrack of the week and honestly, it is fantastic. 

Once you’ve had that, why not line up the latest FULL DAY OF MUSIC playlist. This is Volume 8, and features Giorgio Moroder, Vampire Weekend, Disclosure, Idlewild, Daft Punk, The Weeknd, and many many more… 

And with that, I shall bid you adieu. 

It is Friday night. 18:17 and I need a shower. 

Until next time, x

Whatley out. 

Things of note for the week ending Sunday August 9th, 2020. 

INTRODUCTION

Well here we are again. I write this intro to you from a Thursday evening and through the fog of a headache and dickie tummy. Not sure what I’ve eaten but it has not been sitting well with me these past 24hrs.

Also: there have been a lot of spreadsheets this week. Important data that needed careful cleaning, analysing, considering, and assessing. ‘Don’t you have people to do that for you?!’ – no, what do you think this is? And anyway, even if I did, I wanted to do it. So there.

Sometimes these things are required. 

The weeds outside the are growing up past the bottom of the windowsill. I should fix that at the weekend. 

How has your week been? 

It is August. Pandemic aside (what else can you do?) this month is notoriously slow. Colleagues and clients disappear on holiday (or at least try to) and work enters the slow sludge and lurch of moving from one waiting-approval to another to another. So instead you turn to those projects that have been gathering dust on the corner of your desktop. The little folder marked ‘Admin/Internal’. You sniff around a few old PowerPoints dated earlier this year, brush them down, and try to pick up where you left off.

That, combined with the data chunking task above, is what I’ve been doing this week. Unpicking thoughts. Thoughts of my own and many thoughts of others in the ultimate ambition to get to… new things. New meanings. New diagnoses. New ideas. New business. Just …newness. There be sparks in this flint, and I’ll keep scratching at it until it catches. 

That’s where I am at.

As for you, you are on the precipice of THE THINGS. So let’s just go ahead and fall right in.

TO THE THINGS!


PS. If you’re new here, FToF is a [nearly] weekly collection of things I find the most interesting. Some chat, some gifs; standard newsletter fair – but doing it with panache and flair. So you being here now is like arriving to a birthday party just as they’re serving cake. Well done! 

1. THE LAST OF US PART II

IMPORTANT.

There will be no spoilers to the game in this newsletter.

There will be spoilers in the linksthat I share within this section.

We good? 

OK, let’s go.  

So I finally finished The Last of Us Part II last week. 

In fact, since starting the draft of this newsletter and actually getting around to finish it (you might figure out why there’s been a delay in it going out shortly), I’ve managed to hit the plat.

For the non-gamers among you, ‘hitting the plat’ is gamer-lingo for literally completing every aspect and achievement in the game. The plat is a platinum trophy that is awarded when you do this. I don’t have many, the PS4 is the first PlayStation I’ve ever owned, but the ones I have I EARNED.

And I think it is easily my Game of the Year (GotY). The character development – more so carrying over from the stories told and emotional bombs left from the ending of the first game – and the sheer effing journey your character, the world, the people you encounter – goes on, is second to none. When I finished the game I announced on twitter that THIS IS ART. A game, A GAME, that can make you feel so many different emotions, so many different beats… it is a MASTERCLASS, a SHEER masterclass in storytelling. This is the best drama you’ve ever seen, with the most believable and emotionally wrecked characters you’ve ever encountered, set against the backdrop of post-apocalyptic America – about love, hope, and the choices we make. Wow. I’m tearing up thinking about it now. A GAME DID THIS TO ME. A GAME. 

Buy a cheap PS4. Buy a copy of The Last of Us Remastered and the The Last of Us Part II and have your world and mind completely blown away by what can be achieved. 

I am still breathless. 

…

To those among you who game, the ones who might’ve in fact already completed #TLOU2 (but also to those of you who will never game, or play this game), then if you are down then you should absolutely read this incredible (POST-GAME-COMPLETION) piece  “Broken People, Broken Worlds: Thoughts on The Last of Us Part II“. It is the best thing I’ve read about it so far and I love how this game reflects differently in all of us.

Wow. 

2. PERSEVERANCE

Here’s a thing. Did you know that every couple of years or so, Earth passes between Mars and the sun?

This ‘opposition’ means for a very short while, Mars and Earth are as near as they possibly can be. 

If you’re not looking up at the sky when this happens, or have forgotten to look it up, you can normally tell when Mars is closest because someone will probably try and land a robot on it. Which leads us nicely to PERSEVERANCE. 

Fun fact: Mars is the only planet in the solar system that is entirely inhabited by robots.

I know the world is on fire but there’s something [still] so inspiring about the reach for interplanetary travel and discovery.

Perseverance is our – well, NASA’s – most recent attempt to find out more about our nearest ginger cousin. It lands in February next year (MADNESS) and so maybe when we’re talking about this then, there’ll be more to share.

Until then, this NASA site about all things Mars 2020 is well worth your perusal time.

3. THIS WEEK IN MY FACE

Last week, in a weird twist of scheduling fate, two entirely different video adland interviews, both in the works for a good few weeks, happened to fall on the same day.

The first one, for my friends at The Drum, was a bit of decent-hearted fun answering social media questions to an unseen voice. All very STAR TEST but instead called SOCIALLY CHALLENGED (amazing).

Coming in at just under 5mins in length, this one features my face, against floating social media symbols, providing responses to burning questions such as ‘What do you do in a social media crisis?’ and ‘What’s the thing annoys you most about social media?’ – among a handful of others. 

Watch Socially Challenged right here.

The second video interview that went out last week (literally went live a whole hour after the one above!), was completely different. 

“Thriving Creative Partnerships: Oreo and Digitas on how vulnerability empowered their partnership”

You wouldn’t have known this but – believe it or not (like a fair few many others in my industry) – when lockdown happened we were literally on the cusp of going into pre-production on a campaign that we had been working on since January. 

In the space of LITERALLY THREE DAYS we stopped, pivoted, re-pitched, re-worked, and recovered into a whole new campaign platform and idea. Creative idea, strategic positioning, and sign off – all the way – achieved in THREE DAYS. It’s incredible to think about it now, looking back.

Which is what the amazing – and newly anointed editorial director at Creative Brief – Nicola Kemp, asked us to do when she sat us (myself, representing Digitas, and Aislinn Campbell, Senior Brand Manager for Oreo at Mondelez) down to grill us about what it means to pivot in a crisis.

28mins long and featuring a full on lockdown mane/near-mullet (since cut – sorry), this was really lovely. It’s not often that you get to sit down and reflect on what has just happened. At any point in this mad career choice of mine. Let alone with a client or even after a post-pandemic pivot.

Genuinely, I hope you like it.

Watch ‘Thriving Creative Partnerships: Oreo and Digitas on how vulnerability empowered their partnership’ right here

4. MOVIE AND TV STUFF TO LOOK FORWARD TO

No real structure to this section. This is just some stuff that you may or may not find interesting.

Let’s go.

Here’s a trailer for RAISED BY WOLVES.

A new series from RIDLEY SCOTT and from HBO MAX (so for the Brits you expect it on, I don’t know, maybe Netflix or Amazon or maybe even BBC2 or something at some point). 

Sci-fi. Show. Ridley. In! 

NEXT. 

Here’s a trailer for I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS.

A new Netflix film from CHARLIE KAUFMAN and from NETFLIX (so for the Brits, you can expect it on Netflix). 

It looks MAD AF. It’s KAUFMAN. And it’s Netflix. In!

NEXT. 

Here’s a trailer for JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH. 

A new film starring DANIEL KALUUYA telling the true story of the Black Panther leader, Fred Hampton. 

Watch the damn trailer. In! 


Bonus.

The frankly WONDERFUL Sarah Paulson gets an honourable mention for a) RATCHED (a prequel to American Horror Story) – TRAILER – and b) coming to my rescue on Twitter earlier this week after I got bodied by one of her fans. Oops. Thanks again! (also: great trailer)

5. STOP DOOMSCROLLING


“Checking your phone for an extra two hours every night won’t stop the apocalypse—but it could stop you from being psychologically prepared for it.”

The irony that this warning comes near the end of this newsletter is not lost on me HOWEVER.

A warning it is and it is a warning you should heed.

“Doomscrolling will never actually stop the doom itself. Feeling informed can be a salve, but being overwhelmed by tragedy serves no purpose.”

Read STOP DOOMSCROLLING over on WIRED.

And then, y’know. Stop.

THE BONUS SECTION:
L|NK ME BABY ONE MORE TIME

• No E3? No problem. 

• Stone Henge? Completed it mate. 

• An important question about one of adlands ‘cool’ examples of ‘great marketing’. Difficult reading. But necessary. So do that. 

• I’m all outta gas on the whole TikTok for sale thing BUT when it comes to CULTURE this thing has it in spades. The Weeknd performed a gig there this weekend. Read more about that RIGHT NOW.

• OK fine, while we’re here. It means nothing but Instagram announced Reels on Twitter and TikTok’s reply got twice the amount of likes. TikTok then Quote-RT’d the launch and got something like 300x the likes. It means nothing. But still. This is going to go well then.

• While we’re here ‘Tik-Tok and the Sorting Hat’ is a great piece of writing and therefore, reading.

• More Tik-Tok? FINE.

• The US declared war on TikTok because it can’t handle the truth.

• TikTok and the evolution of Digital Blackface.

• FRONT DOOR TROUSERS!

• ‘I accidentally became a meme‘ (MUST WATCH)

• Did I mention Nicky Kemp was ace? Of course I did. Well Nicky Kemp is also ace here as well. READ THIS: ‘Mummy, what did you do in the great Covid crisis?’.

• Briony here with a GREAT 2hrs of the Hoxton Hotlist.

• The power of the unstructured meeting (essential).

• Black Minds Matter.

• I miss serendipity. I’m not alone. But here are some potential solutions (in the replies).

• I’m still at a loss about what happened in Beirut. LONG time readers will know my love for the city. I miss it. These two satellite photos show the incredible before and after. I still can’t believe the negligence.

• James Boodt nails it.

• Brands celebrating Pride when it isn’t Pride should be a Tumblr.

• I bet this Stings. 

YOU ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP. 

You have reached the end of the newsletter!

Thanks for reading this. 

As I write to you now it’s 2306 on a Sunday night. I’ve had a bloody lovely weekend and I sincerely hope you have too. 

For what it’s worth, this week’s edition was brought to by the playlist ‘A Full Day of Music, Vol 4‘. A classic. 

Thanks for reading. 

And if you’re new here, why not hit that reply button and say hi. 

Until next time, 

Whatley out x 

x

Things of note for the week ending Friday July 24th, 2020. 

INTRODUCTION

In the hurry (HURRY HE SAYS) to send the last email, I actually didn’t spend any time talking about or thinking on the THINGS that have happened since the edition that I was supposed to send on Feb 14th.

I had Valentine’s stories to tell.

In fact I think I still have them. Maybe they’ll come out again soon. But the point is there are some actual things I can update you on. (I mean, we’ve not spoken in a while – not properly at least). Some of which you might know already, some of which you might not. We’ll get to it. 

How are you? 

YESTERDAY, Thursday, I actually saw my utterly gorgeous strategy team of Digitas unicorns in person. We’re a tight bunch and, aside from instigating daily check-ins since lockdown (the ’10@10′ is still going) and getting to see each others’ faces that way on a screen, we’ve all (I think all) missed just hanging out with each other.

So yesterday was our socially distanced planner’s picnic down in Regent’s Park. 

And it was lovely. 

If you’re yet to find ways to connect/see/hang out with people you work with yet – and this is something that is a safe option for you – then do please pursue it. 

It was refreshing. Revitalising. Required.

What else can I tell you? 

Oh, yes – that’s right.

You are all lovely!

So many nice replies saying nice things about how nice it is to have this nice newsletter back. One nice reader (with arguably/easily the nicest testimonial this year) said: 

“A welcome human in a mailbox of adverts and mundanity” 

Thanks Rob. Very nice of you. I’m having that.

And you, you’re having these… THINGS! 



PS. If you’re new here, FToF is a [nearly] weekly collection of things I find the most interesting. Some chat, some gifs; standard newsletter fair – but doing it before it was cool. So you being here now is like turning up fashionably late to a very swish party. Well done! 

1. GET DICE

Way back in February, before EVERYTHING HAPPENED but after FToF went on its little hiatus, me and some friends launched a little thing called The DICE Charter.

Sick and tired as we were of never-ending pledges, words, and inaction – we decided to get our heads together and try and create something tangible and practical that would actually make a difference. Let’s get into it. 

WHAT IS DICE?
DICE provides certification and guidance to help conferences and events deliver a representative and diverse set of speakers, perspectives, and attendees. It does this by asking conference and events organisers to sign up to and abide by the DICE Charter. 

OK SO WHAT IS “THE DICE CHARTER”?
Great question. The DICE Charter is a set of scored guidelines based upon the 2010 UK Equality Act. It covers includes details on speaker line up such as gender, age, race – as well as other elements such as the content and themes presented and even the attendees themselves. Y’know what, just go ahead and read it. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?
To get DICE certified, an event organiser fills out a set of online questions about their event. Once the answers are in, one of the DICE team (normally Amy but sometimes me) goes through the answers and helps get to a DICE score. 10% is available for each part of the charter with 100% being the highest possible score. 

To be certified, you need to score 40% or higher. Under 40%? NO DICE! The scoring system works like this:

<39% Poor – NO DICE. 
>40 <59% OK – DICE CERTIFIED. 
>60 <89% Great – DICE CERTIFIED AND APPROVED.
>90 <100% Perfect – DICE CERTIFIED AND RECOMMENDED. 

WHY IS CERTIFICATION SO LOW?
Because this shouldn’t be hard. Getting 40% should be easy and the jump from 40-60 isn’t much more difficult. By going through the process, our plan is that events organisers will realise what easy changes they can make to get to the next tier. And if it’s only 50% this year, maybe next year you can get 70%. This is a journey and we want it to remove as many hurdles as possible. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Becoming DICE Certified is COMPLETELY FREE. It literally costs NOTHING for an event to check, apply, or even receive certification. NOTHING. FREE FREE FREE. FOREVER. 

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
I’m glad you asked. Whether you’re an event organiser, speaker, panel participant, or even just an attendee – simply just by asking the question ‘Are you DICE certified?’ is the best and biggest thing you can do. If you want to do more, we’ve got a link for that as well.

Thanks for reading.

I am so proud of the work to date – and the events that have signed up along the way – if you’ve got any questions about DICE, just hit that reply button. 

2. BRILLIANTLY EASY, STUPIDLY DIFFICULT

In a neat segue from thing one to thing two (don’t get used to it), one of the founders of the above charter appears in one of the episodes of this podcast I’m recommending to you now.

Hint: it ain’t me. 

Featuring not one not two but three of my favourite people, I am two episodes in and, aside from hearing my best friend’s weird-ass/ever-so-serious radio voice (sorry Robbie), it is a VERY good listen.

OH! And the episodes are actually really tight and relatively bite-sized (people who do 3hr podcasts – really wtf just stop). This is less ‘podcast’, more ‘interesting radio stuff you might hear on Radio 4 by accident while waiting for something else and then you end up tuning in next week to hear the next one’. That.

Whatever, give it a go. It is officially: recommended ear gubbins. 

3. THIS WEEK IN GAMING

SO MUCH STUFF TO COVER! 

First, this is excellent: GAMES, PLAY, AND JOY.

Second, it’s been a big week for Xbox.

For those that are interested, here’s the link to the full 57mins of 4K 60fps gameplay ALL coming to the new Xbox Series X around the end of November. 

Some of the games look great. Some of them, not so much. Xbox have a strong hand this gen – and I’m fascinated by their strategy above all else. We’ll see…

What’s truly amazing about the announcement mind – as I understand it – every game shown is going to be available on Gamepass (think Netflix for gaming – but only for Xbox). That includes my main addiction of choice: Destiny 2. Destiny 2 being available on Gamepass pretty much means my Stadia days are completely done.

Is Stadia done? I don’t know. It ain’t looking good is it? 

And what about Sony? Well, you can see/read my thread on the PS5 launch announcements last month right here. Excite.

Where are you on this stuff? Xbox? Sony? Tell me. 

Whichever you way you look at it, it’s never been a better time to be a gamer.

Ever. 

Wait, there’s more.

Jason Schreier doing the hard yards and getting the big behind the scenes words out in the public where they belong. 

Ubisoft (among many many many others – looking at you Twitch) finally FINALLY finally FINALLY cleaning house? FINALLY?

The stories that have come out over the past month or so have been awful. From Super Smash Bros to Destiny and more – streamers, developers, and industry faces have all been shown up.

Let’s hope this is the reckoning that finally cleans it all out. 

—

Finally, what am I playing right now? 

It’s funny, in the time we didn’t spend together we never got a chance to discuss Animal Crossing. Funny how that kinda came and went huh? Well I played that to death and full on hit the wall with it. 

Right now I’m sticking to my standard ‘one single player, one multiplayer’ rule and playing The Last of Us Part 2 (phenomenal) and Destiny 2’s Season of Arrivals (natch). The stunning Ghost of Tsushima is on the playlist for after TLOU2. And I might go back and finish Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Then there’s DAYS GONE as well… Aye carumba. 

There’s a lot of time between now and November (there isn’t). So let’s see how we go? 

Oh, and some Labo. Done the robot (my son loves this). And fishing (super hard – to play, not build). Might make another one at the weekend, we’ll see. 

What are you playing? 

(Not you, Paddy – keep your Madden).  

PS. This seems like a decade ago now but Henry Cavill building a PC is the content that many of your Venn diagrams will align on. 

4. IN PRAISE OF SARAH COOPER

You know who she is.

When not having her best jokes ripped off by ‘ad legends’ Sarah Cooper is doing incredible and hilarious voice-sync-dub work for/with the 45th President. 

You’ve almost certainly seen her stuff. Today’s is another banger.

Trung T. Phan does a great job here at examining the 10,000hr rule and how that might apply to just how good Sarah Cooper is and why (clue: she put the graft in).

Great reading (and watching).

5. PLANNING, CREATING AND PUBLISHING ACCESSIBLE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS


Government Communication Service, aka GCS, has put this actually really bloody good guide on how to plan, create, and publish truly accessible social media campaigns.

Honestly, this is should be essential reading and training for all social media managers.

Pass it on.

THE BONUS SECTION:
L|NK ME BABY ONE MORE TIME

• Donate your masks. 

• 20 (ish) great questions to ask instead of ‘How are you?’ 

• Randomly found a photo of my great uncle. He is awesome.

• If you’ve been on Twitter today then you’re probably considering buying a nice rice cooker (you should watch the whole video).

• Using Teams? Update your app yo.

• 1941 Superman cartoons upgraded to 4K using machine learning… WHAAAAA

• Related: Tokyo 1913-1915 (same/similar treatment). Mad.

• Has Jeff Bezos decided to end world hunger?

• Meanwhile.

• Performative authoritarianism.

• For the one person reading this for whom it matters most: the jury has decided.

• NBC went ahead and hid a cake recipe in theirPeacock T&Cs. Amazing. Also, follow Zoe. Great recent follow of mine. Brilliant ouput. On top of her innovation smarts.

YOU ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP. 

You have reached the end of the newsletter!

Thanks for making it this far.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for sticking with me. 

I’m off to listen to the new Taylor Swift. 

Enjoy your weekend.

Whatley out x 

x

Things of note for the week ending Friday July 17th, 2020.

INTRODUCTION

The last time I hit send on one of these it was February 7th 2020.

And to say “A LOT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THEN HASN’T IT?” would be an understatement.

So let’s start from a place of you not needing yet another email that goes over the hot takes, hits, and messes of the past 160 days and let’s just CRACK ON with what is interesting, what is now, and what has caught my brain over the past however long it’s been. 

All I will say is that I hope you are well.

I hope you and your family are safe, coping, and finding new ways to breathe through it all – one day at a time. I know that with good grace I am thankful here, I am alive, and I think… 

I think I have missed you. 

…

But let’s not faff. 

We have some stuff to get to.

So let’s go… TO THE THINGS! 

PS. If you’re new here, FToF is a [nearly] weekly collection of things I find the most interesting. Some chat, some gifs; standard newsletter fair – but doing it before it was cool. So y’know, you’re an early adopter. 

1. CELEBRITY CULTURE IS BURNING

I swear I’ve read this about six or seven times now and it gets better and better every time. 

“America is in crisis, but the celebrities are thriving. They are beaming into our homes, reminding us to stay indoors and “stay positive,” as “we’re all in this together.” When I watch their selfie public service announcements, I find my attention drifting to the edges of the frame: to the understated wall molding visible behind Robert DeNiro’s shoulder; to the Craftsman beams on Priyanka Chopra’s balcony; to the equine wallpaper framing Zoë Kravitz’s crackling fireplace.

“Staying home is my superpower,” the “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot reported from her walk-in closet. Ryan Reynolds urged his fans to “work together to flatten the curve” from within his rustic loft.”

Wait. 

There’s more. 

Actually. 

Oh.

No. 

No there isn’t.

Any more would be to spoil it. 

Please read the whole thing.

If only to see for yourself that Gal Godot left that damn ‘IMAGINE’ video up on her Instagram.

I said at the top that I’ve read this several times now. It’s good to know and understand that the article in question was published on March 30th. Seven days after the UK went into lockdown. The fact that this piece still resonates should tell you something.

Shy away from the vacuous; it is not worth your time.

2. THREE THINGS ABOUT A PLINTH

Thing one.
The toppling of the statue of known slave trader, Edward Colston, is a good thing.

Some may argue ‘Oh wait, but we should’ve had a conversation about it’ or ‘No no no, this wasn’t done in the right channels’ or better yet ‘This is actually illegal and if we all went around doing this we’d all be living in anarchy’.

Respectfully: do one. 

And that may seem crass. It may seem out of step with what you believe. Well I beseech you: before you say, or do ANYTHING further, PLEASE take less than two minutes out of your day and listen – just listen – to this stunning poem by Vanessa Kisuule. 

Thing two. 
The recent if extremely (and entirely planned to be) temporary replacement statue for the above named slave trader is a STUNNING and BEAUTIFUL piece of work. 

Jen Reid, by Marc Quinn.

The work, if you are unfamiliar, is based upon Reid’s own pose struck upon the removal of hollow Eddie. 

I wish it had stayed.

It did not.

But this is probably a better thing. 

And here’s why.

Thing three. 

Given the flashpoint of anger, conviction for change, righteous demand for effective difference –  you could easily be so caught up on why this is beautiful and not, as I didn’t, see why this replacement could be seen problematic – if not emblematic – of the problem we are collectively trying to solve. 

I do not have the words. 

I could not find the words if I tried. 

These are the words. 

And firetruck me they strong words. 

When the plinth that the slave trader comes to be replaced, I hope it comes with the agreement and consultation with the community and voices that matter most.

Listen. Heed. Remember. Act. 

3. THIS WEEK IN PROFILE PIECES

Ahh section three. A weekly (really? – Ed) thing that has morphed in a new beast known as ‘THIS WEEK IN (or AT)’.

(For the record, the last ‘THIS WEEK IN’ was ‘THIS WEEK IN FACEMASKS’ way back in February – so y’know, make sure you’re tuning in to my VERY TOPICAL CONTENT every week)

This week: two great profiles, the man behind them, and a KILLER quote to end them all. 

Fair warning.

There is some reading ahead of you.

It’s funny, I read this first profile piece and I thought: “I think I can feel a Five Things coming on” and then the second and ‘Yeah, it’s coming’ and then I found the third and I knew it was Thing Three in an instant. 

So settle in (or open a new tab for later), these are coming at you fast. 

PROFILE ONE: MICHAELA THE DESTROYER
I read this first. I must confess, I am not quite yet in the headspace ready to watch I MAY DESTROY YOU (I want to but given the subject matter, I’m just not there yet) but my God, Michaela Coel is an incredible person. I watched her MacTaggart lecture after I read this. The fire. It is intense. It runs and burns at such heat. And yet you can’t keep away from it. You are drawn to it. And like all warmth, it should be nurtured – and allowed to grow and warm others. 

PROFILE TWO: IN CONVERSATION: THANDIE NEWTON
Now this is a bloody good read. I don’t know why I feel connected to Thandie Newton. This is weird. But true. She used to shop at the same farmer’s market I used to go to (yeah yeah whatever). But it’s one of those things where you think you know someone because you’ve actually seen them in the real world a couple of times (a good few times actually) but whatever – the point is: the interview is superb. And Newton’s answers, constructs, and reflections are all worthwhile. Take the time and consume them all. There are lessons there. 

[NOT A] PROFILE [BUT THING] THREE: A NEW YORK MINUTE WITH E. ALEX JUNG
I love a good profile piece. What you don’t get much of is what MAKES a good profile piece. There is a lot in this piece but this question – and answer – made the whole thing for me. 

“It’s been really important to me to approach people the way I would want to be approached, which is as artists with full, bright, complicated lives.”

For some reason or anot` stayed with me.

I hope it stays with you. 

4. (ISOLA)TED TALKS

This.

Is.

Excellent. 

The brainchild of Giles Edwards and Glenn Fisher, IsolaTED Talks (geddit) is a purpose driven platform that takes the freedom of ideas as encouraged and endorsed by TED, powers those ideas by the finest minds in advertising, and then uses that power to drive funding to The Samaritans. 

It is an incredible project. 

My favourites so far (in no order) are: 

– Gem Collins
– Nick Childs
– Amy Kean

Please watch them all.

Amy makes you hold your breath. Gem makes you breathe. Nick reminds you why you breathe.

A perfect trio.

But by no means the be all and all of the abundance of talent that Fisher and Edwards have managed to pull in. 

Go swim. And then donate to The Samaritans. Please. 

5. TIK-TOK, HUAWEI, AND THE VERY REAL TREND OF VERY REAL TRENDS

I had a whole piece planned for this where I looked at the potential ban of TikTok that is rumoured (and in some instances happening) across the globe; combined that with the relatively lengthy unrest regarding Huawei’s integration into the telecommunications systems, and what the future holds ahead.

The two are arguably intertwined. 

As much as I don’t trust our government to FUNCTION let alone make any kind of coherent decision, the work that has been going on behind the scenes for the past few years is undeniable and, if you have been tracking their output, the decisions of the past few days would be unsurprising. 

July 2018. 
March 2019.
July 2020.

There is a slight point here re: if you need to set up a security evaluation centre for the one company you’re working with then maybe you’re already starting off on the wrong foot? But maybe that’s not for now. 

That’s a lot to unpack – and that’s just Huawei. Move ahead. Forward. And you see TikTok on the horizon… This is provocative.

I’m still noodling.

Could TikTok be banned because:

– Trump had a bad event?
– The US puts pressure on the UK? 
– Government is racist/xenophobic/isolationist?
– People don’t understand it?
– All of the above?

Truth is: none of us know. 

Point is: challenge and question everything you read.

STOP. BONUS LINK TIME. 
OH YEAH. HERE WE GO.
HOOK IT IN.
LINK ME BABY.

Bonus things that may or not include the actual things that would’ve been featured in any and every edition of FTOF that I didn’t write between now and Feb.

LET’S GO!

• In praise of the office.

• Zoom (but replace with Teams or whatever) Fatigue.

• Mountain Lions are NOT allowed to snack on human flesh.

• Sit down. Shut up. And pass it on.

• Hamilton but Muppets.

• 10 ways to step up as an ally to non-binary people.

• The difference between ‘not racist’ and ‘anti-racist’.

• The end of schmooze?

• This seems small but it isn’t. My therapist once told me that I my singular life ambition should be to write the eulogy that your children will read but you will never hear. I was reminded of that when I read this farewell to Carl Reiner by Steve Martin. How are those life plans looking?

• Advertising has no stomach for a fair fight.

• The photographer’s ephemeris is worth a look. Mainly driven by this really quite bloody lovely video from Paul Clarke. Racing across a Mongolian mountaintop, chasing the sunrise, I made these photos. But this with this app I would’ve known exactly where to be. Related: I took this of the ISS the other night. USING MY PHONE (Pixel 3, if you’re asking). 

• The best games of 2020 (so far).

YOU ARE APPROACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP. 

You have reached the end of the newsletter!

Three things to leave you with.

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

TRANS LIVES MATTER.

WEAR A GODDAMN MASK.

Other than that, I have a whole other monologue about how it’s been like-oh-my-god-like-so-difficult-to-like-write but for real it has. I don’t know what my voice means right now but I’m finding it again and I’m OK with that.

Sometimes you should just stop.
Take your hands away and stop for a moment.

Words to stay with you. 

Thank you for reading. 

Whatley out.



..

PS. Write back.