I certainly can attest to Colin's fashion past - there's a picture of a gawky teenage me wearing his creation here: http://www.tictocfamily.com/blog/824_80s-tastic

Ah, those were the days....

Hi Ishbel - thanks for that. I didn't see it, and I'll bear in mind where it is next time. Wouldn't in-copy links be more user-friendly and be better for SEO? But thanks for helping me out anyway!

I'd love to look at this site - and obviously I'll just go and search for it now - but a link would be very helpful. It's the wonder of the web, you know - unlike print where you can only print the address, the web allows you to actually insert a hyperlink to it. It's a marvelous thing! (Sorry, I'm clearly just a bit narky this afternoon)

Hi Gordon

I disagree. I've been involved in the campaign to save North Kelvin Meadow in Glasgow, and we have found that Twitter and Facebook have been really helpful in keeping people up-to-date with what's going on, inviting them to attend events, and directing them back to new content on the blog.

Of course, we've still had to do all sorts of offline campaigning - letter writing, actual real-life meetings, as well as get-togethers to plant bulbs and pick up litter on the land. Yes, we've mourned the lack of a clear way to engage with the local population (we do have some local freesheets, but delivery is not perfect), but we've found social media to be a great way to build support, engage with other groups, and spread the word.

Of course it's only reaching a proportion of the local population (those who are regularly online and using those tools), and it's also reaching a population outside our local area, but what's the problem with that? Social media is never going to be a magic bullet, it's just another way to communicate with people if they're already using those methods.

Just to clarify - my problem isn't with the art direction or how beautifully they're shot. It's that this doesn't, to my mind, communicate anything positive about the brand or the product. Strangely the images don't suggest that by buying their suits you'll have women falling all over you, or you'll become amazing at shagging. In fact, mostly the women seem pretty unengaged. Bored? Resorting to self stimulation? More interested in their cup of coffee certainly! Further images here: http://www.joannasusie.com/?p=148

I'm also not sure that a shopping centre is the place for this kind of imagery, whereas you could make an argument for these adverts targeting their audience better by being placed in men's mags. However, I still bet you would have no idea what the product or brand being advertised is. So: great photography, but not great advertising.

I do recognise that I'm not the target market, thanks Mike!