Chris Saul's Blog

Monday June 02, 2008

Dunkin' Drivel

I have to add my weighty voice to the chorus of astonishment - just what is the fuss about this Dunkin' Donuts advert all about?

An American celebrity called Rachael Ray wears a scarf in an advert. It looks a bit like the sort of scarf you might have seen various Arab people wear when you're watching the news, if you look closely.

Some blogger calls it a symbol of terror and 'jihadi chic'.

Regardless of whether the lady in the ad is wearing a keffiyeh or not and regardless of whether the blogging lady's opinion matters much to anyone, Dunkin' Donuts pull the ad, causing a storm in a teacup to turn into a tornado in a polystyrene takeway coffee cup.

What nonsense. I think one of the comments on the BBC article sums it up best -

"Can we please move on to the bigger issues at hand? Such as why Mrs. Ray's image appears to advertise deep-fried bread and sugar at a time of record child obesity?"

I hearby vote to ban German teenagers, who have persisted for years in wearing their Palistenenser Tueche in a blatant national act of jihadi chic. And the Marlboro Man, who blatantly advocates killing Red Indians and drinkin' whiskey to excess by wearing a cowboy hat.

Wifi taxi

I was pretty impressed with my drive to the hotel yesterday. Apart from his shiny new Skoda Octavia, the driver told me he also had wifi onboard!

He uses an ethernet to 3G gateway and a wireless hub, powered from the car's electrics.

I didn't use it, but I was pretty impressed. Not everyone has Blackberries yet (hint hint, Sun) and even if you do, sending off that last minute quote from your laptop without the need to pay roaming charges, could be a lifesaver. As could checking Facebook.