The NHS rolled out a £25,000 ‘Cocktales’ campaign designed to highlight the dangers of drink to young people specifically in Derbyshire, only to see it taken off YouTube.

The video shows a young woman who urinates in the street, falls over and is then jeered at by a group of passing young men. When I saw this clip, I just presumed it was a fly on the wall documentary about Preston, and didn’t think anything of it. However ‘Bloody Mary’ received 15,000 hits in the eight days it was on YouTube and was also distributed to local media.

Alison Pritchard, from Derbyshire Primary Care Trust said: ‘This video does have a dark humour in it designed to capture the imagination and show what can happen if you overstep the mark on a night out. ‘It has been banned from YouTube because of its content which we realise some people may find controversial. We want people to think about the main messages of safe drinking and use the information to make informed choices on their nights out, particularly around the Christmas period.’

If you’re the kind of person who likes to go out of their way to be offended, just to confirm they will be offended, it can still be viewed at the campaign website. The second instalment tantalizingly involves a man dressed as a turkey, who unfortunately gets run over.

The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming and Coca Cola have unveiled there new marketing strategy, which I have to say is questionable to say the least. Coca-Cola has hired Peter Andre as a celebrity busker as part of its sponsorship of London Underground busking spots. No I haven’t just made that up.

Andre commented: “I love Christmas and everything associated with it so I jumped at the chance to help bring a little extra festive cheer to shoppers. To be honest this news has actually put me off walking down Oxford Street on the off chance I bump into him.

On a serious note the event will help to raise funds and awareness for 95.8 Capital FM’s, Help a London Child, which helps London’s disadvantaged young people.

The centre of everyone’s universe, Facebook is set to make a few more changes to its design, even though their tech people have only just finished re-jigging things. These are set to be alterations to their homepage, as well making their search function more important.

However there is no pleasing the general public, as people’s lives were turned upside down, when previous alteration about notifications and the general layout of things came into place. These tweaks have come from screen shots seen on a French technology blog PCinpact.com. However Facebook has not confirmed whether the pages shown by PCinpact are genuine.

Would you like some interesting facts about Facebook? Well you’ll get them anyway; more than 350 million active users, 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day, more than 35 million users update their status each day, more than 55 million status updates posted each day, more than 2.5 billion photos uploaded to the site each month and pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans!

The sports merchandise sector is one of the biggest parts of the promotional products industry, as we all know how fanatical supporters can be of their particular team or sport. With the World Cup in South Africa not too far away, Gift Selection is preparing to offer a wide range of promotional products for what is the sporting highlight of the year.

They have a great range of low cost promotional sports items that are great giveaways for football fans watching the games in bars. There range of corporate gifts for the world cup, is a great opportunity for practically any organisation to get patriotic, and raise their profile this summer.

Some of the branded promotional items on offer are a: foldable pocket flat, supporters rattle, horns & noise makers, Supports hats & caps, car sun protectors, hand clappers, football scarves and even promotional footballs.

They can even supply Fair Trade footballs, which will ensure a great quality product along with guaranteed socially responsible conditions.  It is not true that these footballs have to be much more expensive than no-certified products due to the comprehensive measures taken. Remember that all of their branded sports items can be fully personalised, my particular favourite are the painted horns! Bespoke horns and promotional noisemakers will give your corporate image involved in the festivity, and will certainly gain attention.

For 2010 Giftselection and Pens2order are launching a new range of low cost promotional pens – the Scripto series.

Scripto being the Latin word for ‘I write’, this budget pen brand is actually rooted in early 20th Century American ingenuity and design. Scripto went into business in 1923 and was known as the M. A. Ferst Company. It was a major supplier of graphite leads. The following year the company name was changed to Scripto. The company hasn’t looked back, and is popular in the U.S promotions market.

In the New Year they will offer a collection of “noteworthy” promotional items, in a range of smart designs and expressive colour ways. There is the eye catching Scripto feather ballpoint, right through to the cost effective Stockholm and Marcos models, set to rival popular models such as the Senator Superhit or the Alaska Frost.

 So if you are looking for a low cost promotional pen, the sort of thing to give out at trade stands, or to send out in the mail, why not make some enquiries about the new Script range of branded pens.

 Yesterday I touched on promotional products with the Fairtrade logo, but what exactly does this mean?

Fairtrade is all about ‘decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.’ The fair trade market in the UK is growing, and has a estimated retail value of £493 million in 2007.

The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). It helps improve the position of producers in the great scheme of things, by assuring a fair price for their goods. How does it achieve this? By certifying produce groups that meet its minimum social, economic and environmental requirements; setting a minimum price for particular products; then allowing registered licensees to apply the mark to products that meet its criteria.

In regards to the promotions industry, it doesn’t just apply to branded confectionery, but also to textiles too. If you require Fairtrade cotton shoppers or cotton T shirt for example, then contact the friendly team over at ecoproducts2order who will be happy to help. Eco friendly promotional items can be utilized by any number of organisations, and need not cost the earth. If you require eco promotional items for the home, office or for conferences and exhibitions – ecoproducts2order can meet your demands.

Controversial confectionery supplier Nestle has announced that Kit Kat bars will be Fairtrade certified from 2010. They have launched a print ad campaign to coincide with the certification, carrying the line ‘Have a break, have a Fairtrade Kit Kat’.

The ad explains Nestle’s on-going sustainability drive, ‘The Cocoa Plan’, through which it promises to invest £65m over the next 10 years to increase agricultural assistance, promote sustainable farming methods and improve social conditions for farmers working in the Ivory Coast.

Funnily enough it doesn’t mention their; marketing of processed cow’s milk as a substitute for breastfeeding, their connection with Robert Mugabe, selling of contaminated animal feeds, GM ingredients, child labour and price fixing. On the other hand their Kit Kat Chunky caramel bars are bloody good.

If you are looking for promotional chocolate items, that have to be specifically Fairtrade certified then this is something that sweets2order can help you with. They have a range of explicitly ethically manufactured chocolate items that are great for promotional use. The most popular is their branded Fairtrade hot chocolate sachets, which I think would make a great mailer for this time of year. If you have any questions at all about branded confectionery, contact the friendly team over at sweets2order.

I’m sure you’ve all seen branded mints before, such as branded mint cards or printed clic clacks. However if you’re looking for some branded mints that are more recognisable, then we can now offer Tic Tacs with bespoke packaging!

They were first produced in 1969 and have been a popular product throughout their history. They are usually sold in small transparent plastic boxes with a flip-action living hinge lid. Originally, Tic Tacs were dyed the specific colours, such as green, red or orange. Now, in many countries, the transparent plastic boxes are coloured for the specific flavours and the actual Tic Tacs inside are white.

Branded mints are a breath of fresh air (sorry), but on a serious note, they do create a novel and effective way of promoting practically any organisation. If you require any sort of branded mint, then contact the friendly promotional confectionery experts over at sweets2order who will be happy to help.

In the world of marketing and promotions, there isn’t much more important than one’s logo.

The logo for the 2014 Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia, was unveiled, becoming the first Olympic emblem to feature a web address. I must admit that I’d never heard of Sochi, but I prefer this logo to London’s confused looking emblem for 2012.

Their brand consultancy is carried out by Interbrand, with their organising committee featuring key figures from sport, branding and marketing, and the arts - strangely enough I wasn’t consulted. The word “sochi.ru” appears above the number “2014″ in an apparent reflection, symbolising the southern city’s water-based location on the Black Sea, something that was lost on me, but is pleasing to the eye non the less.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, the CEO of the Sochi organizing committee, said the new logo would help break Western stereotypes of a Russia stuck in the past, instead promoting the country as a dynamic and modern nation capable of reaching out to new audiences in a digital age. By “capable of reaching out”, I presume he means pointlessly spamming people 24/7 with completely useless information.

My favourite comment on the subject was made by Fred Burt, managing director of design agency Siegel+Gale London, said: “I’m no fan of London 2012 identity so it’s a relief to see Sochi 2014 restore some sanity.