FEATURE MOBILE
[IN BRIEF ]
Merry Weihnachtsfest!
Christmas is all about giving rather than receiving, or so someone once foolishly said. Here at the Gun, we disagree, and look forward to the “vast” array of festive freebies. We say vast, this year was arguably the most barren of them all with operators and suppliers clearly cutting back on the journo treats. No whole smoked salmon for the editor’s Christmas brekkie, no colourful baubles for the reporters’ Christmas trees and no cookies for the office dog (the reporters really). We did get a few cards though, the best of which (pictured) was from those great guys at mybet in Schleswig-Holstein. One tip for next year: just because you’re upset at Germany’s northernmost state siding with the unworkable State Treaty that will impose a limited 20 sports betting licences, a €1,000 a month betting limit and ban all other forms of gambling, there’s no reason to commission an illustrator to draw a bunch of scary caricatures of individuals involved in the uncertainty. The chap in the bottom right hand corner made us all want Christmas to go away. Cheer up chaps!
Horseplay
The news that horsemeat has been found in some of supermarket Tesco’s “beef” burgers caused much hilarity on Twitter in the middle of January this year. And who capitalised on the trending topic? Who else but Paddys Irish mischievous marketers who quickly jumped into action by putting together a “free mobile horse burger bar” in Dublin just hours after the news. Not only that, their (meat) “traders” then set up a book on what will be the next species to contaminate Irish beef burgers. Deer comes in top at 2/1, dog at 4/1, rabbit at 6/1, squirrel at sixteens, penguin at 100-1 and our personal joint favourites Bigfoot at 1,000/1 and unicorn at 2,000/1. I’m sure Paddys is hoping that following Tesco’s mishap their amounts wagered will go through the hoof… (these horse jokes just aren’t funny aneighmore. Ed)
CHEGGERS GETS STOPPED
s the face of Genting Alderney’s brand partner Publishers Clearing House, Keith Chegwin presumably thought he was simply doing his job when he implored his Twitter followers to sign up to the sweepstake site to win a few grand each week for life, only to see the overlords of the Advertising Standards Agency come crashing down on him. This isn’t the sort of treatment our Keith was used to in his Saturday Superstore heyday, but this man could go far in the industry – as his official website tells us, he’s even got his own home recording studio. So TSG is going to take it upon itself to find Cheggers a new job in gaming, and here’s where we think he’d fit in best. Zynga Just like Cheggers in the early nineties, Zynga is a former industry giant which has fallen on hard times, so after his Lazaruslike career resurrection of the 2010s, who better to advise Mark Pincus on restoring past glories? Though Cheggersbingo.com may tragically be no more, he’s got the experience of egaming that the bulldog brand will need if it’s to make a success of its real money offering.
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Paddy Power Carlton Palmer in the bath. Imogen Thomas in a Man United shirt. Erm, a dwarf dressed up as a leprechaun. Paddys clearly knows how to get the most out of its talent, and, as we all know, sex sells. So, why not hark back to the days of Naked Jungle with Cheggers prancing around in his birthday suit with half-time odds painted on his chest? Last time the show was on TV it ended up being discussed in the House of Commons, and Paddys loves a bit of publicity. This could be a winner, Keith. Bet365 Let’s face it, we all loved Ray Winstone rasping at us to bet in play “naaah”, but all good things must come to an end (apart from Bruce Forsyth, obviously), and you need someone who can command punters’ attention to continue Ray’s sterling work. Who better than our man himself, rousing players to have a flutter with his immortal Big Breakfast battle call: “Wake up you beggars, it’s Cheggers!” Keith, no need to thank us. A few grand a month and unlimited use of your home recording studio should suffice.
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