Kit Kat "Ghost"

One of the few iconic brands in confectionary that are truly global. No gloating, but also one of my favorite brands personally and one which I get to work on here in Dubai. Perks include free Kit Kats and well...more free Kit Kats.

(Credit: "Ghost" by JWT Italy)

It's official...Sharjah's hot

Finally, a little bit of geographical humour in the UAE. Unless you've been an expat in Dubai, this ad would probably fly right over your head.

[Inside joke: Sharjah is another emirate within the UAE which funny enough is very much like a hospital - everyone knows where it is, and you sometimes have to visit but you never really want to go nor do you ever want to stay too long.]

(credit: not sure of agency name. Will credit once I find out.)

Lady driven...to where?

I bought my car, a VW Golf, 3 years ago. The market for used cars hasn't changed much since then. You still see the same German and Japanese cars up for sale, newer models, different specs. What I have noticed, however, is a larger incidence of classifieds specifying the car as being 'lady driven'. It's a curious thing actually when you think about it. What's the hidden message behind such a statement? Lady driven?

Is it that a 'lady' drives the way a lady should ergo she has followed all rules of the road, never had an accident or done burn-outs on the back streets of Dubai? Which therefore implies the car must be in good condition? Does it automatically mean you can charge a premium for the car? Is it not clustering all women (or should I say ladies) as sensible drivers and men as insensible ones? Is the term sexist at all? I'm pobably being a little overanalytical here. In the end it's just some bloke's smart way of pre-selling the car to a wary customer who probably lets his guard down the second he reads the car's been 'lady driven'.

I'm never selling my car; not if I can help it - it's my baby. But how curious would it be if the classified read:

VW Golf, 2.0 2001 model, white, fully automatic, 100,000kms in VGC, Dhs 35,000, never driven by a lady / call 050-xxx xxxx.

As far as selling is concerned, it probably would fail abysmally. But it would be one hell of an interesting social experiment, don't you think? Hold on...my phone's ringing.

The Rule of 150

I came across a fasincating concept the other day - from Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

The number '"150" siginifies the maximum number of people we can have a genuinely meaningful relationship with. This is a number calculated through an equation involving the size of part of the brain responsible for social behavior. So in layman's terms: the 151st person on your phone book is probably someone whose name you'd forget at a chance meeting.

Here are a couple of interesting examples of the number at play.

• A study found that the average number of certain hunter-gatherer type tribes in Greenland and Australia turned out to be 148.8.
• There is a rule of thumb within the army, as well, that the most efficient and effective units tend to be under 200 soldiers.
• Also, a religious community known as the Hutterites have over 100s of years stuck to the code that once they have grown past 150 individuals, it would once again become time to split the community and separate.

Through trial and error, all these communities have learned the Rule of 150.

How cool is that?!

(credit The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell)