Marketing deportment

Once upon a time on a magazine beginning with "P", we were suddenly informed that we had a marketing budget which could be spent however we liked (within reason).

DL voted for installing a garden shed in our high-rise office. Presumably, it could be used for a funny photo shoot or two starring a half-naked model. He always voted for a shed, and I'm not sure he didn't eventually get his wish, after I'd moved on from the mag.

Of the many other suggestions, my favourite was sponsoring a racing greyhound. We could report on its progress within our pages. Go watch it live. Best of all, we could give it a nickname that was secretly rude...if you were one of our readers who knew the lingo, e.g. Smootown Boy.

It briefly looked like it might happen, until the idea was nixed from above. We ended up giving away a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. From memory, the winner wasn't into bikes and said he was gonna sell it. Other readers who would have traded their left nut for a Harley were irate.

I call that bad marketing!

Instead of a picture of a greyhound, here's the clip for the classic Hoodoo Gurus song "My Girl" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWxbVuhivkA