“ I hear you say – “How unlucky that this should happen to me”. But not at all. Perhaps say instead how lucky I am that I am not broken by what has happened, and I am not afraid of what is about to happen. For the same blow might have stricken anyone, but not many who would have absorbed it without capitulation and complaint.”
A small tribute to Black Sails, one of the best shows I’ve watched in a while. (Transparent).
824 notes
·
View notes
ICONIC & LEGENDARY
Loved when a tagline was when we plumb it so does the price 🤣
Connie's firebombed ducks and stolen gorillas - meet the man behind Glasgow’s most bizarre ads
Anyone who lives in the east end would be hard-pressed to miss the ads which are guaranteed to catch the eye. Those passing Todd Street may have even seen the Easter Bunnies which are only the latest brainchild of Glasgow's marketing genius.
By Jordan Shepherd 20:36, 7 APR 2024
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/firebombed-ducks-stolen-gorillas-meet-28946461
From firebombed ducks to stolen gorillas - this Glasgow company has gifted locals with some of the most unique advertising campaigns the city has ever seen.
Anyone who lives in the east end would be hard-pressed to miss the ads which are guaranteed to catch the eye. Those passing Todd Street may have even seen the Easter Bunnies which are only the latest brainchild of Glasgow's marketing genius.
Glasgow Live went to speak to the man behind Glasgow’s most bizarre advertising. Cornelious Kelly, known as Connie, started as a taxi driver before starting his own plumbing business.
Now 15 years later he is known across the city for his bold and unique way of getting his name and company noticed. Speaking to Glasgow Live, he told us the story behind the ads.
He said: "I've been running Connie's which we recently re-branded to Big Duck Bathrooms for 15 years.
"I used to do the taxis and tile and plumb part-time and my wee girl one day asked me to put this duck on my car. It was an old ex-taxi that I used, so I told her of course I would and I bolted it just above the mirror. The car was getting binned in a year or two anyway so it was a bit of fun.
"Everyone noticed it and I got thinking that I'd had so many ads on cars and vans and no one paid attention. From there it just grew from one duck to another and people were bringing me back ones from abroad and I ended up with a van covered in about 15 ducks."
But ducks aren't the only creatures to become part of Connie's advertising master plan - he's had everything from mannequins in bathtubs to gorillas (that kept getting their legs nicked).
He continued: "We've always had bathtubs on the vans and one day a recycling shop across the road said they had some mannequins and we should put them in them. So I did it and they were a success so I kept them... until they were nicked a month later but they then looked weird without them so I got more.
"It's like with all of my adverts, you either love them or hate them. Some ideas have been a bit stupid, like when I bought Gorillas at £49 each and put them on trailers, the advert was meant to be Go-ri-lax in a Connie's bathroom but It didn't quite work.
"The problem was they kept being stolen and then they were cutting the legs off."
Connie says his favourite ad so far has been of a mannequin of a young girl in a bath which looked like she was on a swing while the van was covered in polka dots. Another he mentions is 'price plunger', which includes his face stuck on 'skinny legs' on a Superman-style body that was placed on a trailer at Glasgow Fruit Market.
Unfortunately on the night he placed it there, someone stole the wheels which cost £250 each. Meaning it is currently stuck there until he can find replacements.
His latest creation was for Easter with him placing huge Easter Bunnies on Todd Street in the East End - something he says has been a huge success with him now booked up for months with work.
However, he admits his adverts aren't always loved but he says that is part of the charm.
He added: "Love them or hate them it doesn't matter. What matters is that people notice them, they tell their friends about what they've seen or they'll complain online.
"You could see a thousand adverts and not remember any. But I bet you'd remember the huge duck sitting at the side of the road or the bathtub bolted to a van.
"I went back on Twitter a couple of days ago and saw a video of some of our old advertising. I had forgotten how mad some of them had been.
"Any advert that gets your name out there is a good one as long as you aren't harming anyone."
However, the love-hate approach has not always been a peaceful one, with him having to secure his vans previously after an unknown person repeatedly slashed the tyres of his vehicles.
Connie said: "We had to carry spare tyres for a couple of years because someone took a major disliking. We had a 16 foot duck we towed about with a taxi - it got firebombed in Easterhouse."
Asked if all the effort is worth it, he said: "The adverts work for us because they are aimed at normal people. I'll admit that people don't want to have mannequins in baths outside their house but it gets seen by thousands of people.
"If less than one per cent of them phone then it keeps us in work and 100 per cent ahead of all of the competition. I've tried to fling money at it with regular adverts and not had one call."
Connie says his next idea will be a large 'magic' box that will be placed where the Easter Bunnies are and if people guess correctly what's inside they win it. Everything from bikes to cash, toilet pans and bathroom suites will be up for grabs.
But growth isn't everything. He says that he was previously busier but downscaled because he had too many jobs and was doing nothing but work.
He continued: "I was doing seven bathrooms a week with no days off. It was getting between me and my girlfriend and then Covid hit and I had to take time off. I liked it and now I only work a couple of days a week."
However, despite being 63 years old he says he has no interest in slowing down or retiring. And despite downsizing, he says he is still tempted to expand, saying he is still 'young at heart'.
He adds that the people of Glasgow need not fear - his adverts will continue as long as he is physically able - and big ducks will continue appearing across the east end.
0 notes
Alessandro Borghi | Play? To Amuse Oneself By Engaging In Imaginative Pretense, Of Course
Written by Constanza Falco Raez
Photographed by Andi Elloway
Styled by Monty Jackson at A-Frame Agency
Groomer: Sonia Lee at Exclusive Artists
https://www.flaunt.com/blog/alessandro-borghi-brave-new-world
1 note
·
View note