Food, Food, Food, Dissertation, Food

For those of you who know me well, my main passion in life is food.  As unflattering as it sounds I can't deny it and when the time came to choose a research question for my dissertation I knew it would need to be about something I had an interest in (supposedly to keep me focused - so far not been as successful as I had planned!), but over much deliberation I created my research topic:

Do restaurant review food blogs affect the behaviour of consumers?

I have created a short and very quick online questionnaire for those inclined in the same way as myself.  Any of you readers who have an interest in food, food blogs and in particular restaurant reviews please help a sister out.  I can't say there is much for you to be gained back - but I assure you, your reward is in heaven.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MDFW2T7

Love as always,

Alice x

I Want a Knight in Shining Armour, Not a Fool in Tin Foil

Being a student is an exciting time in many people’s lives.  A time when its almost protocol to go to the Spar in your jammies, five nights out in a week seems pretty normal and your standards of whether it is acceptable to eat that yoghurt 3 days past its sell by date have changed dramatically since your Mum did the shopping.  Whilst many of us are happy to experience these amazing years as a single person (think Carrie Bradshaw before Big came into the picture and messed things up, rather than good old Christmas jumper Bridget Jones) there are a number of us who blissfully glide into relationships.  A particular classmate, who shall remain anonymous, sticks out in my memory as stating the reason she came to uni was to ‘get married’.  I’m all for being a housewife, or even better a lady who lunches, but that does seem a bit ridiculous.  To quote an over-used cliché, dating is a minefield. We’ve all had those nights which I would describe as ‘a waste of makeup’ and I will try and provide a go-to guide of those who should have ‘AVOID’ emblazoned across their foreheads.

1.       The Mummy’s Boy

This type of guy is usually pretty easy to detect, often wearing his mummy’s boy status like a badge of honour.  Yeh, we like it when you love your mum but there is a limit.  We want a man who can stand up for himself and be the brave one when there’s a bang in the house at night so we can be scared.  It isn’t going to be often that we refuse your help with the washing up like your mum does – maybe this isn’t going to work.

Usual Habitat:  Love Rouge Bakery, they do cakes in there like Mummy makes.

2.       The Really Healthy One

There is a fine line between eating healthily and looking after yourself and becoming a pain in the ass.  I want to order a large meat feast pizza from Dominoes and eat it in one sitting by myself and I don’t want to be judged.

Usual Habitat:  Sainsburys  Otley Road, stocking up on bottled water, lettuce, lean mince and cottage cheese.

3.       The One That Borrows Your Clothes

Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with letting people borrow my clothes and I might even force a guy into a dress for my own amusement, but when I wanted to wear that t-shirt tonight and you are – things are going to get tough. 

Usual Habitat: Oxfam, sifting through mounds of clothes trying to find that Topshop sweater from 2011 in an 18 so it doesn’t look like it was made for a girl.

4.       The One Who’s Stories Are Always Better Than Yours

I love a good story and being interesting is high up on my list, but I really did meet Neil Buchanan from Art Attack and no story of any magnitude is better than that.

Usual Habitat:  Quaffing Sauvignon Blanc at the Arc regaling his mates with that story of when he met Kate Moss in the Kirkstall Greggs.

5.       The One Who Pouts in Pictures

Admittedly, this is a rare breed of man.  It has been a skill of ours, crafted over many years of experience to develop the perfect photo face (known to some as the pout) and I don’t think there is enough room for both of us to do so.  Things could get weird, rumours could be spread, and next thing you know people are saying we are brother and sister.

Usual Habitat: Glancing too often at his reflection in any nearby shiny surface in The Box.

Readers, please, go forth and conquer.  But remember to spread the word, make up is expensive you know.

People Power

As I’m sure most of you are aware, in the past few weeks a momentous feat was achieved.  For those of you citing X Factor revelations or the latest blow ups in TOWIE, I think you might be on the wrong tracks.  On the 14^th October 2012 Felix Baumgartner made the death defying leap from space to set the altitude record for a manned balloon flight, parachute jump from the highest altitude, greatest free fall velocity and he became the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power.  Felix is truly an astonishing man – but his sponsors Red Bull Stratos have also achieved a pretty amazing (possibly accidental..?) feat.

Red Bull Stratos’ Facebook page was buzzing as Felix dropped through space and following his landing his proud sponsors posted a message to let the world know he had landed safely.  The message they posted, complete with a spelling mistake of pretty enormous magnitude, soon became viral. 

For those of a sensitive disposition please forgive me for what I’m about to post!

Many people, particularly those in the PR profession, have been skeptical about the “mistake” Red Bull Stratos made.  This type of mistake be considered to be potentially detrimental to Red Bulls public image but despite the offensive language it seems to have only benefitted their popularity.  At the time the status was posted the Red Bull Stratos Facebook page had 4136 likes and as of today, two weeks after the jump, almost 33 million people have liked their page.  This is a huge leap and a massive boost for Red Bull Stratos.  Accident or not, it certainly got people talking. 

Tench and Yeomans state that as most people gain information from broadcast media which is normally the most effective route to generating opinions and if it’s really successful a ‘buzz’ can be created by media coverage leading to word of mouth endorsement.  Word of mouth could actually be considered one of the most important PR techniques, a method which I’m sure Red Bull Stratos are thankful for.

50 Shades of Grey, published in June 2011, has really taken the world by storm.  Millions of people around the world have delved into the X-rated world of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey.  Usually we are very judgmental of those around us but seemingly due to the popularity of the book it seems everyone has read it.  Try not to gag but I would put a pretty good bet on your mum, aunty, that snobby tutor you have at Uni and maybe even your guy mates have had a pretty good flick.  It seems that the world is divided about the storm 50 Shades of Grey has created.  In many ways it has helped shatter the taboos that we as a culture still cling on to, seeing that old lady reading it at the back of the bus rarely requires a second glance – it has become the norm.  As much as many people may disagree I for one quite like the fact that a book, as naughty as it may be, has helped to open up our closed minds and become less stilted in our opinions.

Amazon UK stated on the 1 August 2012 that 50 Shades of Grey has over taken the combined series’ of Harry Potter to become their best seller.  Who could have predicted that a book that had not even been out for a year has over taken a series of books which span over a decade? E L James is now Amazon UK’s best-selling author a mean feat for a previously unheard of author.  I think it is safe to say that when it comes to 50 Shades of Grey, what many consider to be socially acceptable soft porn, the readers really did the talking.  The PR Team of the publishers Vintage Books might as well have stayed at home with their feet up as the millions of people who devoured the book, my best friend included who read the trilogy in a matter of days, were the best advertising any product could have wished for.  Whether the reviews were good or bad – people still wanted to get their hands on a copy. 

Word of mouth is a seriously powerful tool – handle with care.