All posts tagged: violence

Changing the narrative around alcoholism and mental health.

Look before I start let me make it clear. Everyone loves a tragedy. Shakespeare made a career spanning half a millennia out of writing some of the most heart-wrenching tragedies ever put to paper. Humans, as a species, seem compelled to get the popcorn and take a comfortable seat when someone else’s life is imploding. Perhaps it’s the distance from our own lives, or the Tall Poppy Syndrome the media love to talk about while tearing people apart. Whatever the reason tragedy sells papers and magazines, and ensures television ratings.

Merry Christmas, here let me spike your drink

Yesterday afternoon I was on twitter. Ostensibly I was searching for inspiration for a content piece I was writing for the work blog. Social media marketing may sound like a fun topic to write about, and it is, but coming up with fresh angles on a topic it appears every person and their dog is writing about can make life difficult. While I was putting together the bones of an idea, I came across a tweet from the Washington Post about an advertisement released by American department store Bloomingdale’s and I’ll honestly admit my first thought was “fuck off, that can’t possibly be real.” Turns out it is real. The image I’m talking about is the featured image of this post and even today I’m struggling to understand the mentality of the creative team behind it. I just can’t picture how a room full of educated professionals thought that advertisement was a good idea. I found myself wondering whether or not the whole point to it was to create outrage to start a discussion on …