Brand – Page 13 – The Consulting Artist

Waltzing Matilda – A Song for Rupert Murdoch

A few days ago whilst I was away cycling in the Peak District Rick tweeted and pointed me in the direction of the excellent Democracy Fail blog, and in particular he referenced a song they’d written on the blog around the time of Rupert Murdoch’s 80th birthday. Rick suggested I might try and sing it, the good people at Democracy Fail agreed so the scene was set. As we all know the News International saga took another turn today so I’ve recorded the song and taken the liberty of adding a new verse, just to keep things fresh. Hope you like it.

I’m an Aussie rag man with a global media empire,
Pommies cannot move for my papers and TV.
Strewth I always get my way with the PM of the day,
An exchange of favours beats democracy.

I’ll keep you in office, if you boost my profits,
The fairest dinkum deal you are likely to see.
Strewth I always get my way with the PM of the day,
An exchange of favours beats democracy.

Whatever side they represent, most MPs are heaven sent,
Their re-election prospects are assisted by me.
Politicians watch your backs, Rebekah’s had your mobiles hacked.
Just stand aside while I take BSkyB.

I’ll keep you in office, if you boost my profits,
The fairest dinkum deal you are likely to see.
Politicians watch your backs, Rebekah’s had your mobiles hacked
Just stand aside while I take BSkyB.

Though 80 now and getting on, I’ve sorted it with Cameron,
Shoring up Great Britain for the Murdoch dynasty.
Our family corporation plans to eat your Pommy nation and
You’ll soon see James is no pussycat like me.

I’ll keep you in office, if you boost my profits,
The fairest dinkum deal you are likely to see.
Our family corporation plans to eat your Pommy nation and
You’ll soon see James is no pussycat like me.

Now the hacking things gone off the scale, I’m feeling sick, feeling pale
I’ll try and blame everybody else but me
I’ve had to pull the TV bid because of what Rebekah did
Maybe I’ll have to try and buy the goddam BBC

I’ll keep you in office, if you boost my profits
The fairest dinkum deal you are likely to see
I’ve had to pull the TV bid because of what Rebekah did
Maybe I’ll have to try and buy the goddam BBC

Jelly Bean Clown

You may have seen news of the discovery of a jelly bean said to resemble Kate Middleton, the Royal bride to be. Apparently the bean is to be auctioned on Ebay and may fetch up to £500.

What Goes Around are pleased to announce our own jelly bean find, which is set to rival or even outstrip the royal wedding tale.

This afternoon we discovered a jelly bean which (vaguely) resembles an evil clown. It was down the back of the sofa. We will be watching the Kate Middleton jelly bean story and if the bean does indeed sell on Ebay for £500 we may consider listing our own evil clown jelly bean for sale.

Experimenting

Home Made Christmas Cards

As many of you know, we have been experimenting with cards a lot lately. For me this experiment started way back in the mid 1990s, when I was employed by BT. Back then some of us were encouraged to have our business cards made to double up as prepaid payphone calling cards. The stock images we could choose to go on the card were typically corporate and boring. So I decided to design my own. I took a photo of a cloudy sky and retouched the photo with BT blue and red. The card manufacturer happily took my design and made a run of 200 cards from it. I received a mild rebuke from my boss for going it alone, an early sign of “Proceed Until Apprehended”, and the card became quite collectable due to its limited nature.

Doug Shaw’s BT Business Card

Fast forward to 2010 and Vandy Massey helped to reignite the experiment fantastically with her beautiful hand painted water colours. We encouraged folk to design their own cards for a workshop and the response was excellent.

Last week I designed a few more cards with a distinctly festive theme. I gave them to friends, they chose their favourite colour then I added a little note to the card. And as you can see from the picture at the top of this post someone has since taken the design and made their own interpretation of it. Well done to Alison Chisnell’s daughter, the experiment grows.

This morning I heard from Vandy Massey again. One of Vandy’s friends has been inspired by this hand made experiment and she too has designed her own Christmas card. Fantastic!

I was recently asked “how do you find the time to do this – when do you do any work?” Truth is I’m lucky enough to see this experiment as part of my work. I fit it in – sometimes even making cards when I can’t sleep.

I don’t know where this experiment will go in 2011. It’s already been contributed to by more people than I expected and I hope it will adapt and emerge in more places next year too. I’m looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far.

How do you like to make your mark? I’d be very interested to hear from you if you want to participate in this experiment or if you are already doing something a little different then please share it with us.