Filed under: Coffee Break | Tags: adverts, crimp, crimping, fan, HOney MOnster, Julian Barratt, legal battle, Mighty Boosh, Noel Fielding, poetry, rap, rhyme, sue, Sugar Puffs, tv, YouTube
I know this ad has been out for a while and I’m possibly a bit slow on the uptake with this one but I still wanted to get my tuppence worth said about this.
I am referring of course to the recent Honey Monster adverts. What the hell is that?
As most people at Neoco are aware I am a huge Mighty Boosh fan and I heard this ad (I was in the spare room at the time) and came rushing into the lounge so fast I slipped on the wooden floor, exclaiming to my amused other half, that’s a crimp if ever I heard one.
Some of you may be unaware of what crimping is but it is a style of erm well not quite sure how to describe it…… of rap and poetry, that boosh fans have come to know and love.
It is basically a rhyme of nonsensical words that ensure that you end up with a bizarre look on your face. It is actually very clever.
To give you the idea here are the lyrics from the ad
Sugar Puffs, Sugar Puffs HUP!
Honey coated puffs in a milky bath
Put ‘em in your mouth and they make you laugh
Kept in the cupboard taken out for breakfast
Spoon’s best friend and the fridge’s favourite
Huff! Puff! Huff-puff!
Huff! Puff! Huff-puff!
Wheaty chums that settle in transit
Golden pips of a sunshine princess
The Boosh started to crimp as far as I can tell in their radio show back in 2001. Each TV series has included at least two or three crimps. They are a bit of a highlight to us booshy fans or Mod wolves to those who are in the fan club (yes arguably its sad I’m a member but WHATEVER!).
I’m sure the people at Sugar puffs see this as some sort of hip, cool, down with the kids type of tribute, but that’s certainly not how they see it. They are currently in a huge legal battle over this issue, as they are saying it is a direct copy.To be fair I have to agree, that I think it is.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article934592.ece
After seeing this I sent the following links round at the office to spark some of the usual chit chat and see what they thought. There is only one other Boosh fan in the office, so it was a fair floor to see peoples take on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXMxU-FC1E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSIQ4IJAYfk
This threw up the question of can you really copyright a style of singing? I suppose that is a fair question. The lyrics are original and it is purely the way they are being said that is the issue. Do they have grounds for suing?
I suppose that we shall see what the higher powers in court have to say and see the outcome of the legal battle is.
Apparently the ad is set to run until May, and then again from early July to mid-August. All I can say is that I for one think that in the words of Tony Harrison ‘This is an outrage’
Filed under: Coffee Break, News | Tags: announcement, digital marketing, earnings, Ebay, investors, latest, money, overpriced, report, Skype, Wall Street
The latest earnings report from eBay shows that Skype is now making money! For those of you that are unaware, eBay bought Skype for about $4bn a few years ago when Skype were losing money – and everyone thought it was way overpriced. However, opinions may now be changing, as a result of this announcement:
“Skype continued its strong growth trajectory, reporting $126 million in revenue for the quarter, representing 61% year-over-year growth. Skype added 33 million registered users in the quarter, ending the period with more than 309 million registered users around the world. Skype now has the largest registered user base within eBay Inc.’s portfolio of businesses.”
Although Skype might not be a good fit for eBay, after these impressive earnings it is likely that if eBay were to spin off Skype as its own public company, there would be huge benefits for eBay – it would appease eBay’s shareholders, put money in the bank for more sensible acquisitions, and be one of the hotter Internet IPOs in a few years. After all, few companies of Skype’s size can grow revenue and users more than 10% quarter by quarter – making it a very attractive company to Wall Street investor types. Perhaps eBay has hung onto Skype this long just to let it grow into its $4 billion valuation before offering it up on the public market. Or perhaps they are thinking about selling to someone else? Whichever option, eBay certainly doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to decide.
So, with Skype continuing to grow rapidly, perhaps it was a good investment for eBay after all?
