Stunt Watch: Rugby-playing Barbies, stylish Stannah's and Germany’s fork fling

Team Barbie takes the pitch

Mattel has given Barbie a scrum cap and sent her into the ruck. Following the Women's Rugby World Cup success, the brand unveiled Team Barbie, a new line-up of dolls modelled on women’s rugby stars Ellie Kildunne, Ilona Maher, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Narissa Konde.

Following Barbie's successful and simple formula of giving her different professions to empower girls of all ages with its powerful and iconic imagery, this is the next chapter in demonstrating how crucial sports can be in helping build up girls of the next generation.

A touching way to continue the success of the Women's Rugby World Cup this year which saw England lift the trophy — one thing we can always rely on female athletes in this country to do — which will hopefully kick off the next era of Women's Rugby.

The stand out picture of the players, posing with the dolls on pitch at Twickenham caught the attention of the media, landing it various picture spots, coverage and social reach.

For the girls.

Britain's most dangerous protein bar

Britain's lockdown darling and 'loosey-goosey' fitness influencer Joe Wicks has launched a new protein bar called Killer, which has caused quite a stir. Fitness gurus, nutritional experts and the good old crowd on LinkedIn have all weighed in on the bar, which deliberately pushes the legal limits of ingredients often found in processed fitness snacks.

Clickbait or genius? 

It’s a bold break from the endless stream of “clean” and “natural” branding in the wellness space. Others see it as tone-deaf for a man who built his career on healthy living and mental wellbeing, and a bit of a fight not worth fighting.

From a PR standpoint, it’s undeniably effective. 

The word Killer is instantly newsworthy. It gives the product and ultimately his documentary more reach than any paid campaign could have.

The problem is that it doesn’t quite fit Joe’s image as the nation’s cheerful PE teacher. And we ask the question of, yes it’s effective but it also risks eroding the trust that made him so marketable in the first place.

It’s a gamble that walks the line between clever and careless.

Still, in a week of safe, formulaic influencer dinners (which are all about to change), a bar that manages to cause real debate might just live up to its name.

Stannah gets a stunning treatment

How do you make stairlifts sexy? And even more so for a British family-owned lifts and accessibility company founded in 1867? In the world of PR and marketing we often get confronted with such questions, and answer with something brilliant.

The answer? 

You work with an iconic, flamboyant and daring designer famous for styling the likes of Freddy Mercury and Diana, Princess of Wales, who most importantly now uses a stairlift herself.

Dame Zandra Rhodes, known for her maximalist interiors, has partnered with Stannah to design a new Stannah 158 into her extravagant home and the pics rock, and have put stairlifts front of mind.

Beautiful and lovely.

Forking brilliant

My favourite section of my write ups, in which I try and bring you something stunty from somewhere wonderfully weird in the world, this time we’re heading to Germany.

There’s a new trend sweeping TikTok and it’s gloriously weird. Groups of young Germans are gathering in parks, clutching plastic pudding pots to eat them collectively, but instead of spoons, they’re eating them with forks… heathens.

The best bit of this whole thing is that nobody really knows why this is happening. 

What started as a bit of an internet joke or meme as we used to call them, has once again transcended into the headlines, and honestly, it’s kind of brilliant. In a world that feels increasingly over-curated, watching people unite over the shared silliness of pudding and cutlery feels like a small cultural (perhaps not culinary) victory.

Some have guessed that it’s a cheap and easy social moment for people to get behind, that it’s a loneliness respite. Others that it’s just a joke and to leave it as a joke.

There’s no brand, no political message behind it, so in all truth I'm unsure how long it’ll live, but this big question is how brands will eventually shoehorn themselves into this is anyone’s guess. But let’s be real. Even if there's a whiff of viral dessert energy in the air, someone in marketing is already sharpening their (pitch)forks.

Written by Lee Sanders, Frank.