Filed under: Comment
Following my post about the decline of my beloved home city [which some people agreed with and some didn’t] I spotted these articles on the BBC Nottingham website.
A POTENTIALLY LETHAL STUN GUN DISGUISED AS A MOBILE PHONE HAS BEEN FOUND IN NOTTINGHAM, OFFICERS REVEAL …
It was seized in the Hyson Green area on 28 February. The illegal weapon can deliver a 900,000-volt electric shock which could prove fatal for a small child or an elderly victim, police said.
Two men in their early 20s have been charged in connection with the seizure of the gun. They have been remanded in custody until June.
Det Sgt Dave Bola, of Nottinghamshire Police, said …
“It’s a shock that we found it. We investigate offences thoroughly and work very hard at getting these items off the streets.”
A 21-year-old man, from Hyson Green, has been charged with aggravated burglary of a business and possessing an offensive weapon.
Sure it happened in a ‘bad part’ of town, but this is not an ‘everyday’ crime and further highlights my view Nottinghamshire Council [and thg British Government] are more focused on their image than investing in schemes that could give the whole of the population a sense of hope, optimism and belief in the future.
OK so this might be an isolated incident – but someone somewhere in power has got to start realising [or more accurately, acknowledging] that while gun/violent crime is on the up, there are deeper issues causing this than just more ‘bad people’ on the streets.
While nobody should expect things to be handed to them on a plate [and some people’s idea of success is extreme] everyone deserves the right to feel they have potential to make something out of their life – and while family has a pivotal role to play in giving people that belief, I believe Government also has a moral obligation to help create an environment where society has a sense of hope because without that we have nothing and ultimately that affects more than just an individual, but the country as a whole.
Given I don’t think this situation is going to change for the foreseeable future, I believe brands have the opportunity to take these issues and, through their actions and communication, help make things better for the country as well as their shareholders.
To a small degree Tesco’s have already shown the potential in this approach [Their “Books For Schools” program was one of the most powerful programs ever seen and helped change the way the nation looked/treated them] however that was just the tip of the iceberg and with Governments/Council’s seemingly becoming more and more selective in what services they invest in, the situation is only going to get worse – or better, depending on your perspective.
[As an aside … what with cameras, music players, business card scanners and now stun guns being shoved into mobile phones, I can only assume it won’t be too long before we see the Nokia ‘House’, which incorporates a shower, wardrobe and small 4×4 car]
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maybe the arnold agency bosses should hire the bastards behind this for their r&d thing, at least them they can be sure their department will actually produce something other than just fuckloads of hype. allegedly
Comment by andy@cynic May 8, 2008 @ 7:28 amForget that Nokia thing. I am waiting for the iPhone with build in Death Ray or something that involves world domination.
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 7:33 amHello boys, nice to be back. Again. I said that before at some points, did I?
What did you expect from Arnold?
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 7:33 amSomething groundbreaking?
Come on.
Perhaps we should have brand neighbourhood: ikea house, nokia house and pot noodle house, which looks remarkably like a student share house.
Comment by lauren May 8, 2008 @ 7:44 amwhat about an iphone with inbuilt “blitzgreig attack mode”? i can ask baz to make it happen. would that be better for you and the german market seb?
love from mr petty and pathetic
Comment by andy@cynic May 8, 2008 @ 7:45 amor the fucker from the babyshambles petit maison. now theres a guy who deserves 10000 volts though his album is suprisingly good. hey im down with the fucking kids but not in the dodds sense
Comment by andy@cynic May 8, 2008 @ 7:49 amThat’s it Rob, drag up the whole Nottingham crime wave thing so your old friend can get the hump again. You’re now the “terrier of advertising” relentless, energetic and always wanting the last bark 🙂
Comment by Pete May 8, 2008 @ 7:52 amIt’s Blitzkrieg. But I like you’re wrong spelling.
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 7:57 amThough it probably only would hit the East German market.
And maybe parts of Poland. Ha.
The German market would require something that helps them being correct. Maybe a water-level and measuring tape will do it.
Don’t judge Dodds only because he’s down with the kids.
Though I wonder if he maybe is from Austria.
Has Dodds any subsurface chambers?
i always liked you seb but with that retort, i think it could be turning sexual.
poor fucking dodds, i wonder if you do a google search on his name you find him listed as “marketing genius and perv”?
dont worry dodds, some of my best mates are pervs
Comment by andy@cynic May 8, 2008 @ 8:02 amNope, no John Dodds perv on google.
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 8:10 amBut he sells kitchen equipment.
And is an Australian motorcycle racer.
And plays with the Greenbay Packers.
Quite a savage lifestyle for a marketing guru.
I bet Seth Godin only plays golf.
By the way…what did Rob do that you all have these goddann ethno-hippy-fucking thumbnails next to your comments?
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 8:13 amSounds like the Singapore govt should step in and teach govt of Nottingham a thing or two !
Comment by fan May 8, 2008 @ 8:29 ami agree with seb. sorry rob, but those thumbnails suck.
Comment by lauren May 8, 2008 @ 8:37 ami believe you now… about nottingham being the most dangerous place to live in (in England).
sharks… considering that my size (is that of a small child) it’s gonna take 900,000 volts to kill me!
**gulp**
Comment by Emah May 8, 2008 @ 1:22 pmThe icons, are part of the new WordPress release and I don’t think Rob can really do much about them.
If you go to http://en.gravatar.com/ you can set up your own icon, which will appear on every wordpress blog running the 2.5 release.
Please do it (andy get your hacker or wife or George’s kids to do it for you) because the icons were currently see are fucking terrible.
Thank you. And good morning.
Comment by Marcus May 8, 2008 @ 2:16 pmThey probably need a 900,000 volt jolt in order to rouse them from their Nottingham narcolepsy and realise that somebody is calling them.
Comment by John May 8, 2008 @ 3:29 pmMy god, the icons are annoying. I could do woth 900,000 volts to take away the pain hurting my eyes.
Comment by northern May 8, 2008 @ 4:01 pmOn the other hand, it could be applied to all the bastards who voted for red wine……..
I’ve been in a workshop since god knows what time and what is the main comment on todays post? The fucking shitty icons that have appeared like some bad Ben & Jerry’s new flavour logo.
Thank you Marcus for defending my rather crappy honour – and to the rest of you, bugger right off or I’ll send you to Nottingham with a big sign on your back saying “TOURIST”
Right, back to the meeting …
Comment by Rob May 8, 2008 @ 5:13 pmThat’s a bloody misjudgement, Campbell.
Comment by Seb May 8, 2008 @ 5:50 pmApart from that really annoying, horrible and shitty fucking icons we talked about Nokia, Arnold, Death Rays, John Dodds being a far more savage marketing guru than Seth Godin and living in a chamber in Austria.
My god, do you every read our comments with such enthusiasm that we have when it comes to reading your posts?
I would – but the last 3 days have been hell and even now I’m sneaking a go on my blog under the guise of ‘getting a report off the net’ while about 20 marketers wait for me to prove a point I basically made up just so I could see what was going on here 🙂
Comment by Rob May 8, 2008 @ 6:16 pmYou expected a comment no doubt! Change subject to Hyson Green: R&D Centre for the Criminal World and that would be accurate. As you know Rob my problems is that Nottingham(shire) as a whole gets labelled when there are one or two trouble spots and it gives those who do not know the area like Emah’s comment suggests a very wrong impression. I say again if it was that bad would you be letting your dear Mum still live here?! Would I of let my sister take my 3 year old shopping into Nottingham yesterday? Yes the sister you and the entire male population of West Bridgford used to fancy the pants off 😉 !
Comment by BTBB May 8, 2008 @ 10:14 pmrobs mum is italian, she probably runs the gangs in nottingham but fuck that, the big question is did rob ever get the pants off the sister everyone fancied?
im guessing no more because of his shit seduction skills than your sister being an upstanding teenage citizen of nottinghamshire youth society
Comment by andy@cynic May 9, 2008 @ 1:49 am