Wonder blunder
Red faces at the News of the World’s promotions department after
promising readers a free DVD featuring football wonderboy Wayne Rooney.
The paper was looking to make the most of Roo-mania, then at its
peak, by offering a freebie that promised all manner of action,
particularly copious footage from the Premiership.
“You’ll see only golden moments,” the blurb gushed.
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So imagine the disappointment of the star’s fans when their gift
arrived along with this letter explaining that due to “some legal
issues concerning footage included on the DVD”, there would be no
Premiership footage of the Roonster in action.
Still, I’m sure they’ll have loved the “golden moments” that
remained – thrilling video action of “Wayne playing golf and hanging
out with pals”.
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EDP nuclear story not on the button
Eastern Daily Press readers scanning this headline must have been
horrified to learn of George W Bush apparently pressing the Big Red
Button by mistake – although they might have wondered why such dramatic
news had only made it to page 15.
A closer look at the story showed it to be slightly less dramatic.
“Remembered” would have been a better word, but wouldn’t quite fit.
Alert dog fans will recall our story about the Newcastle Advertiser
in which we suggested that a sub was to blame for this cock-up. It
turns out that our pay-off-line quote: “They thought her subbing career
was all over…it is now” has been proved somewhat inaccurate.
The cock-up in fact was down to a designer, who has since left the
paper for other reasons, and “Amanda” says her career is far from over.
Wishful thinking
Sometimes, gazing into the crystal ball can be a hazardous old
business, as the Hull Daily Mail found at the end of Big Brother 5.
On its thisishull website, under the headline “Done Us Proud”, was
the jubilant news that Hull hairdresser Dan Bryan had stormed to
victory to win the top prize.
It was, said the story, a “result that shocked the nation”.
How true. The more so since the rest of the world’s media had
reported that the winner was in fact the red-hot favourite, transsexual
Nadia Almada – who had been seen live on TV by millions of viewers
scooping the prize.
It wasn’t until five days later that the Hull site finally realised the error of its ways and removed the offending story.
How did it happen? Perhaps a clue can be found in the dateline of
the piece, 14.30 on 6 August – a full eight hours before the result was
announced.
What Car? Any one you like, as long as it’s a red BMW
“Have you noticed,” wonders an anonymous Dog fan, “the remarkable
similarity between the August and September covers of What Car?
magazine? “A red BMW in the foreground.
Small blue car in the background. Main BMW coverline. Group text boxes, etc.” Well, if the formula works…
You have to say it’s a class outfit, the Daily
Mail. Even its memos urging staff to save money demonstrate the finest
production values.
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