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September 10th, 2009 by Speed Budapest (Matt)

Fury over Mein Führer

Without a doubt the fastest way to generate masses of publicity is to do something or say something that is a bit weird or controversial.

Pop stars like Madonna and Michael Jackson have known for decades that controversy sells.  Why else would you choose to adopt a chimpanzee, bear a bleeding stigmata in a pop video or deny reports that you are a hermaphrodite.

Even politicians, such as David Cameron are getting in on the act. In a recent radio interview he commented that “Too many twits might make a twat”

But can you go to far in the quest for publicity? AIDS awareness campaigners in Germany may have done just that. The campaigners have launched an advertising campaign featuring mass-murders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein having sex.

The shocking  ‘Aids is a mass murderer’ campaign has not only been criticised for featuring these tyrants in such sordid scenarios, but also for stigmatising those suffering with HIV and AIDS.

Perhaps this was one idea that should have been dropped at the brainstorm stage?

July 7th, 2009 by Ruth Jones

Newsjacko

As Speed HQ is set to be swamped by Harry Potter fans this evening, the World Wide Web will be flooded with Michael Jackson fans looking to get a glimpse of his funeral. The memorial service is expected to attract more attention than that of Elvis Presley and could become the biggest web event.

So, how will the internet cope? If reports that it collapsed as the news of Michael Jackson’s death broke are to believed, then it is unlikely. Whilst, TechCrunch summed up the web troubles, Interoute rightly points out, that it was not an Internet fail, but more a website capacity fail.

Although the service will be shown on five main US television networks, Internet uses are set to be logging on to check out the live streaming and latest reports. Facebook has teamed up with CNN, MySpace with AEG Live and various new sites, including The Guardian are ready to start live blogging from 4.00PM.

So, will the Internet fail? I doubt it, but you may see the odd whale.