The hallow apology returned to the news this week, courtesy of retailer H&M. The cheap and chic retailer said it was sorry after the Swedish Cancer Society slammed the company for using a deeply tanned Brazilian model in its latest swimwear ad. But H&M has not pulled the ads from its website. Guess it’s not that sorry.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is apologizing for a trading loss that cost the company $2 billion, hurt its image (even more), and riled markets worldwide. “There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment,” Dimon said. Advocates of increased banking regulations say this loss should come as little surprise.

Meanwhile, accidents surprises of the world, unite. Sparing further generations the hardships happiness of parenthood before they’re ready, Pleasures, America’s first adult store drive-thru, is honoring Mom’s big day be giving out free condoms, as well as other grown-up goodies as part of a special gift bag. Says the shop’s owner, Sherri Williams, “When people are equipped with the right tools, motherhood is a choice.”

Speaking of choices, seeing all of these menu options at McDonald’s from around the world sure makes a trip to Japan look tempting right now. So there’s cheese inside of that thing, you say?!

Adding cheese to anything sounds like a pretty solid trick of the trade when it comes to marketing a new menu item, but marketing events is another story altogether. According to Forbes, relying merely on the taste isn’t enough—marketers must appeal to all the senses these days.

As for the world of advertising, “authenticity” might be a strategy to avoid—if Johan Liedgren is the director of your next commercial. Read the filmmaker and brand consultant’s satirical response letter when requested to shoot an “authentic” new project.

Looks like Prince Charles has a new project if that whole King of England thing falls through. When the heir to the throne dropped by BBC Scotland this week, he surprised everyone with a royal weather report. Eh, don’t quit your day job … whatever that is.




Meanwhile, the Lakers couldn’t get the job done in Game 5 of its NBA playoff series against Denver Nuggets, but is the team really blaming its loss on the laptop on the opposing team’s bench? Yep, true story—that you can get the full details of here.

Maybe using laptops is unfair or breaks some unspoken league rule—we’re not sure. What we do know is what Grammy winning rapper and “Law & Order” extraordinaire Ice-T would advise advertisers and marketers to say when it comes to playing by the rules as opposed to pushing industry limits: “F%#k it.” Sans the language, this is an insightful minute and a half:



And on that note, we’ll heed Ice-T’s advice and say, “F%#k it—it’s the weekend. Any more work can wait until Monday.” Have a good one, and Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there.

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