Much April fools fun was had in the media yesterday, from President Sarkozy deciding to have leg extensions to the creation of a thought controlled iPod. However, the top one has to be the flying penguins created to promote the BBC’s iPlayer. Well done BBC…
Just as the papers were filling up with Heathrow T5 baggage horror stories, Cadburys released their latest ad. The follow-up to the gorilla phenomenon shows us how much fun you can have with the bizarre melange of vehicles found at the airport. It made me want to head out to Heathrow and join the hordes of miserable travellers pining for their lost luggage, to see if any of the redundant baggage trucks takes off or does a wheelie.
Does this ad represent another ingenious piece of randomness sure to have us clamoring after the purple foil at lunchtime, or is it a bit of a let-down after Phil Collins and the gorilla? I haven’t quite decided yet…
Last night twenty or so intrepid Cakers stepped inside Battersea Arts Centre and experienced the theatrical phenomenon that is The Masque of the Red Death. Punchdrunk’s sensational production offers a startling new take on the haunting tales of Edgar Allen Poe and draws the audience into an unsettling world of fear and intrigue.
Cakers were free to choose what they watched and where they went in BAC’s huge Victorian building, so while some of us found ourselves deserted (and frankly terrified) in the vaults, others were immersed in the sights and sounds of a decadent yesteryear in the Palais Royal.
That’s right, we’re back, replenished and ready to set the media world on fire for another year. Gone is the fatigue and grumpiness that plagued us at the end of last year, gone is the constant booze fest that is December and gone is the desire to focus past glories.
We are all now thinking about the year ahead and almost wetting ourselves with anticipation of what’s to come.
Our New Year’s resolution..? We didn’t make one. Instead, we watched this video and decided that New Year’s resolutions are stupid…
Like a marathon runner desperate for a pee and sprinting for the finish line, Cake is about to make it to the end of 2007. Everyone agrees that while it has been a long hard slog, this has been a truly memorable year.
Before we leap back onto the merry-go-round and into 2008, it is customary to stop, look back on the year and have a long hard think about what we’ve done. So, in no particular order, here are seven of 2007’s top Cake moments…
Surely the most memorable image to have graced the front pages of the newspapers this year was the snapshot of the UK’s most famous square transformed into a village green for Visit London’s Villages campaign. Pigeon poo was not a problem for the interpid events team who did a great job creating a picture that has now become famous across the world.
2. Glossop’s hair
Geek chic reached a new level when style guru Paul Glossop and his hair joined the digital team here at Cake. Paul’s gravity-defying hairstyle was misunderstood at first, with many finding its lack of respect for the laws of physics quite disconcerting.
However, over time, Cakers learned to embrace the way of the Glossop-do and a number of copycat cuts began to appear, including the ones below sported by Cake’s fashionista, Fleur, and key coiffeur opinion former, Mark Hindle.
Hats off to Paul’s hair, that’s what we say.
3. Marriages and babies
One of the best things about working at Cake is that it makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. For this reason and this reason alone, we have seen a number of Cake marriages over the course of 2007. Our Art Director, Simon Moore married his lovely wife, Maddie, while Design diva, Jane Tibbetts married her other half, Nigel. Ex-Cakers, Sian, Andrea, Paul and Simone also got hitched this year (the last two actually ended up marrying each other).
As if that were not enough joy for one year, Adrian Pettett, one the proud fathers of Cake, became a proud father to a baby boy called Sonny. Awwwwww.
4. Cake’s Lizzy Pollott replaces Avid Merrion as the UK’s most prolific celebrity stalker
When it comes to harassing celebrities, no one is more accomplished than or very own celebrity blood hound, Lizzy Pollott. She once stayed awake for three days outside Madonna’s house in the hope of getting a free yoga lesson and, while she was unsuccessful on that occassion, the list of celebrities she has wooed into reluctant and awkward friendship makes for impressive reading.
Next year, Lizzie is hoping to add Simon Cowell and Drew Barrymore to her list. Lizzy, we wish you luck.
Check out these snaps from Lizzie’s sleb cam… no, it doesn’t have a flash!
5. V Festival
We all know that V is a Cake highlight every year, but 2007 was no different at all with Foo Fighters and the Killers headlining and Cakers smack bang in the middle of everything. Far too much went on to recount here, so why not check out August’s V blog for a blast of Summer nostalgia.
6. Marines Day
By industry standards, Cake is quite a manly company. A lot of testosterone flows through the arteries of Cake Towers, but we were all made to feel like a bunch of quivering pansies when confronted with the might of the Royal Marines on our team building day. Surviving the infamous ‘sheep dip’ will remain an all-time career high for most of the people brave enough to take part.
7. Cake’s Christmas party
Every January, the countdown begins to the most anticipated social event of the year - Cake’s Christmas party. This year’s extravaganza had a wild west theme and much drunkenness and debauchery did occur but luckily, due to the free bar, no one remembers any of it. Relief all round.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so please find 10,000 words on the Cake Christmas party below.
See ya next year!
