“Blah blah fishpaste,” a friend said to me the other day. It’s the sort of thing I write in this blog all the time, but it’s starting to worry me. Who gets to be a friend these days? Does saying that you are “friends” with somebody have any meaning now that you can have 5 000 […]
Sarah Britten
During the day Sarah Britten is a communication strategist; by night she writes books and blog entries. And sometimes paints. With lipstick. It helps to have insomnia.
Posted inLifestyle
Biological clocks and shifting demographics
So here I am, tugging the price stickers off the baby clothes I’ve bought for my sister. She’s due to give birth to a little girl within the next month. The child will be the first grandchild for my parents, who’ve had to wait a long time for this. It’s lucky that my mother is […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, Sport
Rugby and the nation: Tweeting our devastation
“Sympathies to the Wallabies,” tweets the comedian Brendan Jack. “After the tournament, they still have to go back to Australia.” It’s a sardonic comment on a morning which for many across South Africa has been an emotional rollercoaster. I’m very aware of this because I’ve watched my fellow citizens veer crazily from hope to despair […]
Posted inBusiness
My favourite words of wisdom from Steve Jobs
This morning I woke to the news that Steve Jobs has died. At first I thought it was another ghastly Twitter hoax, but then I saw the links coming through and I realised that no, this time #iSad was anything but a sick joke. I thought immediately of the quote I keep on my Facebook […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Can a feminist talk about bitches and bunnyboilers?
I’m terrible. I make blonde jokes. I pass bitchy remarks about other women behind their backs. I make fun of myself and my female failings. I refer to “chickies” and “bokkies” and bunnyboilers are one of my favourite topics of discussion. Technically, I can be a terrible misogynist, though my baleful attitude applies equally to […]
Posted inMedia
Will tweet for Crocs
Crocs shot of the day It’s amazing where a blog entry will get you. A little more than a month ago, I wrote about Crocs here on Thought Leader. Why, I wondered, did everyone hate Crocs? Why the need to be seen to be hating the brand? It struck me as rather theatrical, a form […]
Posted inLifestyle
My unfortunate weakness for Interesting Men
I have a weakness for interesting men. Sadly, 90% of the people I meet — male and female — are horrifically boring. I’d imagine they’d say the same of me; one person’s fascinatingly entertaining friend is another’s eye-stabbingly dull social chore. But the problem remains that I find it very hard to find men who […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
An open letter to MTN
Dear MTN, Recently I trudged through the plains of Mordor, chucked the Ring into the Mount Doom and emerged in one piece on the other side. Which is to say that I’ve just crossed my self-payment gap and Discovery will actually start to pay for things again. This is just as well for you, because […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Media, News/Politics
Why South Africa should be run like the Loeries
Two icons meet on stage Photo: Gallo Exhilarating, exhausting and, most of all, enlightening. I’ve just returned from a two week road trip and social media campaign, travelling down to Cape Town for the Loerie Awards. (You can read all about the campaign here.) It was unbelievably hard work and worth every Red Bull-fueled moment […]
Posted inMedia
New! Improved! The nation, on sale now
In 30 seconds, an ad can tell you more about the South African psyche than an entire day spent wading through a dissertation. A contentious statement to make, I know, but with the Loerie Awards festival taking place this weekend (I’ll be blogging it all here), worth some reflection. The significance of advertising’s role in […]
Posted inMedia
Rugby, braaivleis and Peter Stuyvesant
It’ll be interesting to see which campaigns win big at this year’s Loerie Awards this weekend in Cape Town. What will their legacy be? As a member of the very first group of South Africans to grow up with TV, the ads I grew up with are etched into my memory. My childhood was Knight […]
Posted inMedia
What is the fascination with Riaan Cruywagen?
As I type, Riaan Cruywagen is one of the top ten trending topics on Twitter in South Africa. He’s climbing fast, and will probably soon overtake Gareth Cliff, #BlackParentsQuotes and #SteveBiko (Twitterville isn’t completely shallow you know). It’s all because he stars in this ad for this weekend’s Loerie Awards*, conceptualised by Loeries CEO Andrew […]