The good, the bad and the ugly – our favourite campaigns from January

With Christmas long gone, it is fair to say that many of us had been suffering the January blues. But now it’s snowing! I know there is snow easy way to say this, but icy the snow staying for a while… But don’t flake out on us, and have a read of some of our favourite wins and fails from January - taken from our Tumblr page – Oh Holy Shet! Oh holy shet! Round of applause to the Virgin Trains social media person last month, who heroically stepped in to save Adam Greenwood from his (lack of) toilet paper ordeal. We’re not quite sure what to say about this story, except that it was great PR for Virgin Trains, and we’re sure that if we were the gentleman concerned we’d be mightily relieved, in every sense. Result? Social media hero. Recently there have been a number of campaigns focusing on inspiring women and girls, and changing attitudes towards what is perceived as “acceptable” for them to do. This Girl Can is a recent addition to the list. It’s a campaign from Sport England designed to encourage more women and girls into sport, regardless of their age, shape, size or ability level. The integrated campaign has also been launched with some research into women’s attitudes to sport. Worth checking out on the BBC here. Result? Campaign winner. Christmas is officially over and we’ve already moved on to the next holiday … no, not the dreaded Valentine’s Day, but Easter. Of course! And what more could you want on that choc-lately fuelled holiday than a Pot Noodle egg! No? Well, what about a Marmite one then? What do you mean that doesn’t take your fancy either? Pah. Some people. You’re so hard to please. Or at least that’s what Unilever will be thinking as they’ve announced that exactly these eggs, in collaboration with chocolate brand Kinnerton, will be hitting your local supermarket shelves soon. Nice stunt, but we think you might have to be off your ‘egg’ to try these… Result? Crazy genius.   Oh… holy shet The whole notion of “brand banter” on Twitter is tricky. Some people think it smacks of social media marketers with nothing better to do than tweet each other. Some think it’s a valid way of bringing a brand’s personality to life. Whatever you think, you probably can’t avoid smiling at this bit of badinage between Ryanair and Aer Lingus. All we can say is: #ouch. Result? Social media fail. What’s been your favourite campaign from January? Let us know by tweeting us @Harvard_PR, or commenting below.