1. Frisk Special: WOMEN
February 2014

3. Hi there. Welcome to the fancy first edition of Frisk.
OK, so it’s actually the 34th edition of Frisk… Leo Burnett London’s Knowledge Centre
& Planning department have been circulating this internally for some time, and now
it’s burst forth from these four walls like some kind of information-centric Hulk. It
evolved from a weekly internal email to incorporate monthly themed specials, and a
further evolution of this is what you now hold in your hands. (I say ‘hold in your hands’
as if we’re in some kind of sepia-tinted pre-paperless past – I imagine you’re probably
looking at this on a screen, right? That’s progress for you.)
So, er, anyway… these monthly specials have become a newsletter in their own right,
along the lines of the quarterly newsletters and annual Predictions docs we already
circulate – this is the first one to officially leave the building. Momentous, no?
And the theme for this Frisk special? WOMEN. Inside you’ll find a variety of womenthemed snippets from all corners of the LB London network, with stuff from senior
management, account teams, external information suppliers, the chaotic dusty attic
of the internet, and much more besides. It begins with a piece from Canvas8, one of
our information suppliers, looking at ‘a new leadership paradigm’ (which will make
sense when you read it, trust me), before moving on to a glance at the modern female
consumer by resident retail expert Sarah Leccacorvi. We’ve got an overview of our
work for Plan, some keen trend insights from a pair of Planners plucked from Leo
Burnett London and Holler, and some solid insight into the VivaWomen initiative from
our Head of Talent Strategy, Sarah Baumann. We finish with a few cultural snapshots
to pique your interest.
I hope you enjoy it. It took ages. Oh, and I’d love to get your feedback; you can hit me
up – as I imagine cool people say – on Twitter; the handle’s @LeoBurnettLDN.
See you next month for more of this colourful whimsy.
Daniel Bevis
Senior Knowledge Editor
Leo Burnett London

4. We work closely with Canvas8, a deep-dive insight network who ‘make the complex simple
by helping us make the simple significant’.
This ‘Girl power’ piece is one of their most recent published features, and fits rather neatly
into the theme of our newsletter.
GIRL POWER: A NEW LEADERSHIP PARADIGM
image © Dan Queiroz (2010)
Around 80% of purchases are made or influenced by women, but with women making up less than a fifth
of corporate board members, the gap between consumer and designer is huge. Despite this, the modern
woman is setting her sights on increasingly ambitious career goals, and as concepts of power shift, they’re
more likely to succeed now than ever before.
John Gerzema, author of The Athena Doctrine, surveyed 64,000 people worldwide to find out which
character traits comprise the ideal leader. Alongside co-author Michael D’Antonio, Gerzema discovered
that two thirds of participants felt the world would be a better place if leaders were to think more like
women. We sat down with him to find out more about the modern power woman; how her attitudes have
changed, what hurdles she faces and how brands can cater to her needs.
INFLUENCE: THE NEW LAWS OF POWER
Traditional Machiavellian power worked well for thousands of years, but now we’re verging on a new era
that’s far more social, interdependent and transparent. With technology and globalisation making the world
more interconnected, power itself is changing – the way you get it, and the way you express it. Globally,
around four out of five people now believe power is no longer about control, but about influence. As a
result, success is now about being intuitive and having soft skills – being able to listen and communicate.
During our research for The Athena Doctrine, we spoke to hundreds of leaders, finding that ‘feminine’
qualities, like generosity, collaboration and patience, are becoming more prevalent – and this is bringing a
very different approach to leadership from the traditionally ‘masculine’ command-and-control structures.

5. We interviewed Silvia Loli, who runs the private Women’s House in Peru for female victims of domestic
abuse. Frustrated by the Peruvian police’s indifference to the mistreatment of women, she started her own
private women’s police force. Up until then, the police force was entirely male, but she made history by
forcing integration between the female police officers she’d trained and regular police officers. She reacted
to public anger over corruption, and her work lowered that corruption by around 32%. She’s one of many
who are going after huge problems in innovative ways – showing the courage to do what’s right regardless
of social barriers.
Some of the most interesting places we visited were countries where extreme change was occurring –
many of them developing countries. In Colombia – a society trying to combat issues like drugs, violence
and decades of civil war – we found courageous women taking on these extreme circumstances. We
found Catalina Cock Duque, who was helping ex-rebel soldiers reintegrate into society. Her foundation,
Fundación Mi Sangre (My Blood Foundation), has helped 30,000 former soldiers give up their arms and
become citizens again. In these emerging societies, you find creative thinkers – enigmatic men and women
who aren’t bound by rules or conventions. http://youtu.be/ybaz3JPNq_8
CAN WOMEN BE POWERFUL
AND PREGNANT?
Despite
this
talk
of
high-powered
women,
Take Orna Barbivai from the Israeli Defence Force.
traditional paradigms haven’t been cast aside;
When she considers military strategy, mothering
the working woman’s challenge of a work-life
ties into it – because, as it turns out, mothers are very
balance won’t go away any time soon – and to be a
protective (she actually told us that the last person
housewife is still hugely respected amongst these
you want to provoke is a mother). She created
women. A high-powered career takes devoted
programmes designed to de-escalate conflict at
partnerships between couples – spouses that are
check points, and it’s been very successful. She
supportive and involved. Without that partnership,
created measures to reward soldiers who keep
you’ll continue to see women forced to make
the peace – things like accommodation. She even
choices between career and a life outside of work.
stations her own daughters on checkpoints. By
Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, is a perfect example
of a woman who’s both powerful and pregnant
adopting her ‘feminine’ qualities, she went about
strategy in a completely fresh way.
– but the controversy she faced earlier this year
highlights the underlying tensions. She banned
working from home for her employees, to an
extremely poor reception. Yet when a male CEO
made a similar decision a month later, nobody said
a thing. These double standards create imprinted
biases against female leaders – but those women
who have the courage to assert their ‘feminine’
values are thriving.
image © Fortune Live Media (2011)

6. A SECRET SOCIETY: THREE
BILLION AND RISING
Women are very conscious of their role in inspiring
Many of these women stay motivated by looking
other women. Anne-Marie Slaughter, a writer and
to each other, but also by looking for companies
editor at The Atlantic are rallying women to power.
who support their needs. Companies are realising
“Only when women wield power in sufficient
that they need to be more flexible, collaborative
numbers,” she writes, “will we create a society that
and nurturing to be relevant to the next generation
genuinely works for all women.” Kirsten Gillibrand
of talent – and all our research shows that younger
is a Democratic senator from New York, and she’s
generations aren’t into gender labels.
really pushing her campaign to be more inclusive
of female politicians and to promote more women
in corporations and on boards.
Regardless of the dynamics that exist between
some women in powerful contexts, women who are
generous with their time – nurturing young talent
and sharing with their ideas – are going to thrive.
Our research shows that 77% say collaboration
is essential to success, and when I speak with
executive women, they talk about needing to be
forceful and fighting to be heard – but also being
generous with their ideas and time, and sharing
credit.
Compare two cultural icons, thirty years apart –
Madonna and Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga has this huge
anti-bullying campaign; she’s expected to give
back to the people who put her where she is. This
the modern price of stardom, and power – to be
generous or selfless. And this isn’t just about pop
music; around the world, many women are using
their careers to try and make things better.
There
are
some
tremendous
organisations
image © Girls Who Code (2012)
THE RISE OF AUTHENTICITY;
THE DECLINE OF SHOULDER
PADS
connecting and empowering young women around
A few decades ago, when Duran Duran were really
the world. Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who
big, women were wearing huge shoulder pads as
Code, is working towards closing the gender gap
business attire; it was a bid to play into ‘masculine’
by encouraging young girls to work in technology.
approach to power. A lot has changed sinced then.
Likewise, the UN Foundation’s Girl Up programme
Our research shows that modern leaders thrive
– where all proceeds from The Athena Doctrine
when they have the courage and conviction to be
go – is helping build esteem in young girls, and
themselves – and to put their whole selves into
encouraging self-belief. These girls are raising
a problem, being genuine and authentic. It’s not
money in their schools to help girls around the
about conforming and losing your own identity,
world, forming a kind of sisterhood in challenged
nor is it about being more ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’;
countries and developing skills that will make them
it’s about an increased authenticity. Maintaining
the leaders of the future.
identity is the key for effective leaders – people
who are open and honest about who they are.

7. We met these amazing women and men that just
Great brands are brands that anyone could buy into
threw their personalities and values into a problem
because of great attitudes or mindsets – whether
and wouldn’t accept the status quo. Ultimately,
Apple, Nike or Virgin Atlantic. It’s a brand you buy
a balance of ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ values is
into because you believe in it, because of who you
essential to leadership – so it’s a great time to be
are – not because you’re a man or a woman.
a man as well. Some of the best reactions for the
book have been from men – young guys who’ve
said “I can be more myself at work”.
It pays to be inclusive when it comes to gender,
but that’s not to say there aren’t exceptions. We
laughed for hours at Old Spice, who marketed to
Consider Berlin-based scientist Dr Ijad Madisch,
men through women, with “The Man Your Man
who created ResearchGate – a social network
Could Smell Like,” but there are certain boundaries
for scientists. It all started when he went to some
that marketers need to understand are not to be
colleagues at Harvard and admitted he was stuck
crossed.
in his research. People thought he was ridiculous
for admitting he didn’t know something, but soon,
he discovered plenty of other people with the same
problem. Together they formed a social network
to share their ideas and collaborate, which now
has more than three million members. These kinds
of ideas prove that projecting ‘feminine’ values
into traditionally ‘masculine’ industries can really
drive innovation.
Yet men still form a large part of the innovation
to attempt to appeal to women. Despite the fact
something like 80% of all products are purchased
or influenced by women, still only around 1618% of corporate boards are female, and the gap
between female consumers and women as product
designers and innovators is huge.
But things are changing. For The Athena Doctrine,
we interviewed Eriko Yamaguchi, the founder of a
Japanese clothing line called Motherhouse, which
specialises in high quality handbags. The entire
brand ethic focuses on helping factory workers
in Bangladesh, whom she taught to make these
expensive, high quality handbags – and she pays
them twice the average rate. Eriko’s approach is
about building values into her business model. We
see that here in the US with Toms Shoes, where
every time someone buys a pair of their shoes,
Founder Eriko Yamaguchi has built ‘feminine’ values into her business model
Motherhouse (2013) ©
they donate a pair to someone in an impoverished
country.
INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Our book came out at roughly the same time as
Soft drinks like Dr Pepper Ten whose latest
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, and to paraphrase her
campaign is specifically for men, under the
book, business, politics and society need to lean in
caption “It’s not for women,” feel ridiculous to
to the ways of women, because ‘feminine’ traits are
me. Advertising campaigns depicting women in
essential qualities that all of us can share: they’re
submissive states or in contexts that are outdated
largely absent from these fields. That’s what our
need to be avoided.
story’s about.

8. Storebites is a regular in-house roundup of tangy titbits relating to shopper marketing and the
goings-on in the retail environment. Here, Sarah Leccacorvi summarises some recent findings to
create a picture of the modern female consumer.
GET FEMALE CONSUMERS TO SAY ‘I DO’.
With women’s spending power continuing to grow across the globe, retailers and brands are now reframing
their approach to meet the needs of this evermore influential audience. Women are faced with different
social, cultural and lifestyle challenges, so traditional approaches to segmentation are fast becoming
irrelevant; women are a complex and diverse group of archetypes, differentiated through lifestyle and
behaviour.
Take “Urban Independents” for example: they are late-20s/early-30s who have decided to put getting
hitched and having kids on hold. They have a large disposable income at their fingertips and are ready to
spend it, whether it’s dining out, entertaining at home or choosing the latest must-have for their highly
fashionable apartment. Or how about the “Millennial Mother”, who uses more than five different digital
channels each day including apps, blogs, videos to multi-task and get advice from other like-minded
women? And did you know that “50+ Boomers” are huge online shoppers; spending more than Gen X or
Gen Y online? Understanding the needs and desires of these groups, as well as others, is where brands can
truly adopt a relevant approach.
adidas
Women’s expectations have also risen. They want brands that are empathetic to their needs, providing
fresh experiences that encourage learning and sharing. They also expect products that are individualised to
support their ever changing lifestyle. Consequently, there is a new breed of retail spaces born from brands
responding to this growing change.

9. Adidas, for example, has three women-only concept stores, in Korea and Russia, designed to take a holistic
approach to sport, via wellness. They repositioned the bold, almost clinical, style of unisex ‘performance’
towards a feel-good fashion retail experience, creating a more tactile, sensorial and uplifting environment.
They have also incorporated a community area detailing local fitness classes, as well as a zone for style
advice. Cycle Surgery is another brand that ran a series of women-only workshops for runners and cyclists
utilising female sports influencers. Kevin Young, Group Marketing Director said ‘Our female consumers
perceived the women experts as credible, but also accessible, as opposed to their male counterparts, who
tended (in their view) to relay the same information in a purely technical way, which creates a barrier’.
And then there’s Vodafone, who are leveraging their “Angel Stores” in India, staffed only with women to
support social change. Ram Iyer, Head of Retail said ‘The store gives women exposure to cross-functional
opportunities in the telecom and retail sector, from finance, logistics, and customer relations to security.
We believe this platform is a great building block in social and economic development.’
Further female centric-trends include brands taking cues from fashion to empower individuals to reflect
their personal style and customise products accordingly. Sportswear is a perfect example that demonstrates
how to combine high-tech functionality with style, while still delivering high performance. Take a look at
The Cambridge Raincoat Company, they produce chic and versatile raincoats for cyclists that looked good
both on and off the bike, alleviating the need to wear ugly waterproofs or hi-vis clothing. Then there’s the
rising popularity of personalised digital accessories with fashion brands diversifying into smartphone and
iPad covers. After the success of Kate Moss’s collaboration with Topshop, Kate has now designed a suite
of mobile and tablet accessories for The Carphone Warehouse. With a high-end approach to the mass
market, the focus was on quality materials, texture and detail to reflect an aspirational lifestyle.
The Cambridge Raincoat Company / Kate Moss, The Carphone Warehouse
So as you can see, engaging female consumers requires an inherently different
strategy, needing a much more empathetic approach to truly understand their
lifestyle and the challenges they face. Try leveraging online communities to bridge
the gap and identify the fast moving trends. Or why not provide a platform to
encourage conversations and emotional connections? Most importantly, get to know
them, understand their lifestyle and, who knows, you could increase the chances of
them saying ‘I do’…
Sarah Leccacorvi, Client Service Director

10. For the last two years, Leo Burnett London has been working with the global children’s charity
Plan UK, a non-profit which recognises that if you give a girl in the developing world an
education and support, she will raise herself, her family and her community out of poverty.
PLAN TALKS
QUESTION: WHAT IS THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE FOR CHANGE ON THE PLANET?
ANSWER:
A GIRL.
Yet in many developing countries around the world girls are denied the right to an education. In fact every
day girls are taken out of school and forced into work, or married off to strangers where they risk isolation
abuse. This is something that Plan UK fights to stop, and we here at the London office teamed up with Plan
to support that fight.
IN THE BEGINNING
At first, we created a powerful TV spot that has been running on CNN for over year, but we realised to
create such a huge societal change in the developing world we needed something much bigger than a
TV or print advertisement; we needed to bring girls and women together to start a global movement that
would fight for and support girls around the world to allow them to achieve their potential.

11. LB London’s ‘Mass Construction’ TV spot for Plan International.
MORE THAN A TV AD
Our idea – to create a series of inspirational talks hosted by influential women, about how education
transformed their lives. These influential women are those who have overcome challenges, achieved the
impossible, pioneered and paved the way for the others. And so the Plan Talks were born.

12. ASKING THE QUESTION
Asking anyone to host a Talk is no easy request, and asking women who are leaders in their fields, extremely
busy and receive charity requests on weekly, if not daily, basis made the challenge to get inspiring women
involved a big challenge. Further still on the list of women to contact were names like Kate Winslet, Vivienne
Westwood, and JK Rowling – if this was for a TV ad the fee to involve all these women would be in the
millions, and we were asking them to give a Talk for free.
Fortunately, our talented creative team of Laurie Smith and Steve Robertson, had an idea that would allow
us to cut through to these women. We created hand illustrated school jotters that were sent in school
satchels that formed the invitation to host a Plan Talk. The response was fantastic.
LET THE TALKS COMMENCE
The Plan Talks launched in London with flourish on the first International Day of the Girl. The talks began
with Georgia Arnold, Senior VP Social Responsibility for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation speaking and
with a mentoring session for young girls which was held on the London Eye and included a number of
inspirational women in a range of careers (including some from Leo Burnett). Each lecture is promoted
with a portrait of the speaker made from the words of their talk. The talks were inspiring, intimate and
personal, and women who attended were tweeting and posting – the message was spreading.

13. Since the first Plan Talk, three more have taken place in the last year, including talks from Sarah Brown and
Jude Kelly.
RESULTS SO FAR
The Plan Talks have been a great success, with
hundreds attending the Talks live, thousands
then sharing on social media, and in turn reaching
millions of women. And more importantly, many
of these women have made a pledge to support
Plan’s cause.
MORE TO COME…
We are lining up a number of inspiring women to
give Plan Talks during 2014. If you want to find out
more about the campaign visit Plan’s website at
http://www.plan-uk.org/news/events/plan-talks/

14. XX vs. XY
Leo Burnett Planner Rebecca Fleming teamed up with Holler Planner Bianca de Sousa to take a look at
modern gender roles, and how the issues surrounding today’s perception of masculinity really impact
women today.
‘Planners are a curious (read: nosey) bunch,’ says Rebecca. ‘With the launch of VivaWomen and the release
of a new year’s worth of trends updates, we’ve taken a long, hard look at how gender roles are being
impacted by key issues and movements in society. We wanted to explore what masculinity really means in
2014 - do Millennial men admire Ryan Gosling’s active support of feminism and are they all yearning to be
Old Spice-doused gentlemen? Meanwhile, do women need a rallying cry to encourage them to lean in? Or,
are they looking for role models who accept that to do well you need to focus on doing one thing well, not
everything quickly...? We’ve produced a snapshot of 6 key trends from both the XX and the XY perspective.’
Click here and take a look: http://www.slideshare.net/juicypips/xx-vs-xy-2014
A look at key trends from both perspectives, from the planners at Leo and Holler.

15. THE LAUNCH OF VIVAWOMEN
Naturally, the subject of women as leaders is one that is very close to our hearts. Barely a day goes by
without some new research proving the commercial value of women in business, the unique contribution
they make to society and regrettably, the fact that we are still a long way away from true equality.
The communications industry is no different to other sectors. According to the IPA’s 2012 census, 25%
of Executive Management positions are held by women. It’s an improvement on 2011 but still under
representative when you consider that it’s only 3% of the 10,000 women who now work in advertising in
the UK.
So, to ensure that Leo Burnett is helping women progress and achieve their career ambitions, we have
launched VivaWomen, a women’s network open to all women within Publicis Groupe agencies in the UK.
Spearheaded by Sarah Baumann, Managing Director of Atelier and Group Talent Strategy Director of LB
Group, it’s an initiative supported at global level by the Publicis Groupe and chapters are launching across
the world.
The premise is very simple – to provide support, help and inspiration to women as they forge their own
career path. We do this through a cross-agency mentoring programme, a series of seminars and speaker
events that enable women to meet and network with their peers and colleagues within the Groupe. It’s
echoed within the agency with a growing internal Leo Burnett London network. Critically, this is not
a network that excludes men but recognises that both men and women need to understand this as a
fundamental talent issue. It’s about creating a positive leadership and development culture throughout our
agencies that recognises men and women may need different things to succeed.
VivaWomen’s initiatives are based on research conducted amongst the Groupe’s male and female
employees. Some headlines are to be expected, some were surprising.

16. 1) IT’S MOST IMPORTANT THAT WORK IS EXCITING AND
PROVIDES A STIMULATING ENVIRONMENT
This is more the case for women than men. 85% of women say that interesting and exciting work is very
important to them, versus 75% for men. It’s particularly true of younger women, and is deemed even more
important than a good salary and benefits - which 80% of women deemed as very important.
2) FLEXIBLE WORKING IS IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN AND MEN
Overall, flexible working practices are significantly less important to people than salary and the nature of
their work but of course, flexibility is greatly desired by parents, and particularly mums. The industry has
improved significantly in terms of delivering against flexible working requests -
71%
of mums had
made a flexible
working request,
and
27%
88%
of them were
given a more
flexible working
arrangement.
Additionally, 27%
of dads made a
flexible working
request.
But, flexibility will of course continue to be a priority.
3) BECOMING A MUM DOESN’T CONSTRAIN AMBITION
Our research also over-turned another common perception – that women with children might be the ones
who are less likely to go for the most senior or autonomous roles. In fact, when we split out women with
children and women without, there is a clear distinction between their career planning. Working mums
are more likely than those without children to be envisaging moves into consultancy, freelance, running
or setting up their own agency. So, whilst they may be seeking more control over their working life, it’s
further proof that ambition and drive isn’t always compromised by changing life circumstances and that
in working mums, we have an incredibly driven talent pool within our organisations.

17. 4) CAREER ASPIRATIONS
FOR MEN AND WOMEN ARE
SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT
54%
Another key difference between men and women
in career planning is where their aspirations lie
(among those who do claim some clarity over
their future ambition). Women are more likely to
see themselves staying at their agency for the next
of women wanted training
in self-promotion skills vs.
48% of men.
3-5 years than men. Men however, are more likely
to set their sights on the bigger roles –
And,
32%
to
continue
the
debate
around
any
misperceptions of women with children - only
13% wanted confidence training, but their need
for self-promotion shot up to 56%, suggesting the
issue is with cultural misperceptions rather than
motherhood suppressing ambition.
of men see themselves running the agency
vs. only 13% of women.
5) WOMEN ARE PARTICULARL
Y
INTERESTED IN IMPROVING
THEIR CONFIDENCE AND
SELF-PROMOTION SKILLS
No doubt linked to the level of projected ambition,
the most popular areas of training and development
for women were: Improving confidence at work
and learning/ improving self-promotion skills.
6) MEN LIKE MEN AND WOMEN
LIKE WOMEN – IN TERMS OF
MANAGERIAL POPULARITY...
BUT FEMALE LINE MANAGERS
ARE PERCEIVED TO BE BETTER
Men tend to be more positive about their male line
managers than women, whilst women are more
positive about female line managers. However,
overall job satisfaction for both men and women
is higher among those who have a female line
manager.
Both men and women agree that female line
managers are better at “supporting a good
work/life
balance”,
“providing
strong
career
development” and “supporting flexible working”.
40%
of women wanted help in
improving their confidence at work
compared to 25% of men.

18. THE BECHDEL TEST
Hollywood has long been pigeonholed as a maledominated industry – male-oriented movies, starring
men, directed by men, about man stuff. So the Bechdel
Test is a useful barometer of how accurate that
stereotype is in modern film-making. Its three rules
are simple: in order to pass the test, a movie needs to
(1) have at least two women in it, who (2) talk to each
other about (3) something besides a man. This isn’t
positive discrimination, it’s just an interesting eye on
cinematic behaviour and construct. So, how did the
major blockbusters of 2013 figure?
Well, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Of the top 50 movies,
17 of them passed cleanly, with another 7 technically
passing but in a questionable way. However, of
these fifty flicks, just one was directed – co-directed,
actually - by a woman.
Interestingly, a number of the movies that passed the
Bechdel Test in 2013 were the biggest-grossing ones
at the box office too, suggesting that pictures with
strong female leads are more of a money-spinner.
Let’s see how that pans out in 2014…
http://www.vocativ.com/01-2014/hollywoodmovies-strong-female-roles-make-money/
http://bechdeltest.com/
LITTLE ROOSTER
Pity the alarm clock. It’s pretty much the most hated item in your house, aside from that enormous gas
bill that’s sitting on your sideboard, and the tin of fancy pâté you received as a gift and don’t really want
to eat, but feel obliged to hang on to. Alarm clocks are designed to disrupt and ruin one of the most
enjoyable things we do, by making a noise that makes us jump up and swear while we’re all fuzzy-headed.
It’s never a sound you’ll grow to like. And you can’t circumvent this ire by setting your phone alarm to play
a song you like, because you’ll inevitably end up hating that too. Why, oh why, can’t somebody invent a
likeable alarm clock…?
Well, by gum, they have. The Little Rooster is a device designed just for women, which wakes them by
bringing on what its makers call a ‘snorgasm’. You may be able to guess where this is going…
The user places the Little Rooster inside their pants at bedtime, setting its built-in alarm to, ahem, rouse
them at the appropriate time by gently vibrating. The brilliance of this system is that, unlike conventional
alarms that make an annoying noise, it will only wake up the one person it’s intended for. And they won’t
wake up grumpy either. http://www.littleroosterstore.com/

19. EQUAL PAY DAY
Every now and then a story pops up in the news about an incorrectly-loaded cashpoint that’s gone rogue
– local news teams will be interviewing hapless but excited locals who’ll be saying things like ‘durn it, I
couldn’t believe it when I asked for a tenner and it gave me a twenty,’ neatly sidestepping the very obvious
point that you’d then try to withdraw everything you could and then pay it all straight back in to your
nearest branch. Naturally.
The flipside of this, of course, is something that’d leave you dumbfounded. You ask the machine for money
and it doesn’t give you enough? Why, this is cause for RAGE!
…which is exactly what happened
in Switzerland a little while back. In
order to demonstrate the yawning
chasm of wage inequality – namely
that women receive on average 20%
less pay than men for equivalent
jobs – Publicis Zurich teamed up
with
the
International
Women’s
Media Foundation, to arrange a
situation whereby cashpoints would
shortchange
male
customers
by
20%. You can see how that went here:
http://youtu.be/ZcAOwYmpZW4