Something Wicked This Way Comes

Halloween has been all over social media for several weeks now, with over 4 million posts on social, according to The Drum.

leads to over 4m posts on social, with parties and promos top in UK and pumpkins and pets hot topics in the US
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/10/30/halloween-leads-over-4m-posts-social-parties-and-promos-top-uk-and-pumpkins-and-pets#1k67FAC0eHjZxTct.99

leads to over 4m posts on social, with parties and promos top in UK and pumpkins and pets hot topics in the US
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/10/30/halloween-leads-over-4m-posts-social-parties-and-promos-top-uk-and-pumpkins-and-pets#1k67FAC0eHjZxTct.99

leads to over 4m posts on social, with parties and promos top in UK and pumpkins and pets hot topics in the US
Read more at http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/10/30/halloween-leads-over-4m-posts-social-parties-and-promos-top-uk-and-pumpkins-and-pets#1k67FAC0eHjZxTct.99

Something that's really caught my eye over on Twitter, is several consumer product oriented brands using Vine to market their products over Halloween. I'm personally a huge fan of Vine and love how these brands are not only making excellent use of the platform but also giving their products that extra spooky twist with catchy, memorable hashtags such as #ScaredStainless and #marksandspectres.

Whilst engagement levels aren't particularly good - the number of retweets & favourites on each Vine is pretty poor, considering most of the accounts are pushing well over 100k - 200k followers & Target is nearly at 1 milllion - the videos themselves are slick, funny and certainly creative.

Check out my top 10 favourite brand Halloween Vines below.

Happy Halloween!

Original Rogue

Captain Manchester Launch & Losing my Solita Virginity

Not that long ago, I stumbled across an intriguing tweet from someone referencing a character known only as Captain Manchester.

An unemployed guy patrolling the streets of Manchester in a mask and cape, performing selfless acts and inspiring good will in others. He popped up at all the best known Manchester hotspots - All Star Lanes, Solita - and it seemed everyone in Manchester was getting snapped with the elusive caped crusader.

From paying for random parking tickets to handing out umbrellas in the rain, giving out scratch cards and persuading Australasia to give food to the homeless to decorating the the city centre with 200 balloons, just to perk everyone's day up, our local do-good er was taking over the city.

Captain Manchester quickly gained thousands of followers and piqued the attention of the national press, with the Mirror, the Metro and the Express all publishing articles on the mystery man.

However it was soon revealed that Captain Manchester was a guerrilla marketing campaign in aid of Manchester-based charity Forever Manchester and when I heard they were launching a comic, as a self confessed geek, I had to be there.

I popped on my best comic inspired dress and trotted off to the launch at NQ2022 with two friends. Upon arriving at the venue, I was chuffed to be able to grab a picture with the man himself before heading inside for drinks, live music and of course, the launch of the comic.

The Captain Manchester comic produced by Smudge Jones from Tunafish Media and illustrated by Chris Spain, only costs £4 and all proceeds go to the charity. You can find out all the details and grab a copy of the comic here.

As LT and I were heading back through the Northern Quarter, we came across the infamous Solita restaurant. It's harder to get into than Fort Knox but we decided to chance it. Lucky for us, they happened to have a table available. We were seated straight away and decided to indulge in a cocktail whilst we perused the menu. 

We both chose Cool as a Cucumber and The Twelve Dollar Shake.

 After lots of umming and aahhing, over a menu where I could have literally eaten everything on it, we opted to have the  Lucky 7 to start with. 

7 exquisite layers of guacamole, re-fried beans, sour cream, salsa, cheese, lettuce, olives, served with blue corn tortilla chips.

It was delicious and I could have quite happily polished off a portion three times the size!

LT had gone for the bacon double cheese with 4 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese, crispy bacon and toasted brioche bun, all held with a slice of bacon candy.

 And I had chosen deep fried mac ‘n’ cheese with pulled pork and beer battered onion rings. Just look at it....

Foodgasm was the only way to describe each bite of that meal. 


 

It was delicious, filthy, naughty food that tempts you from the moment you lay eyes on it. If you fancy indulging in a little food porn, check out their menu or follow them on Twitter.

They do get filled up out quite quickly and the venue isn't enormous (though I prefer the intimate feel of the place) so either head down early on a weeknight - we went around 8pm on a Wednesday -  or if you're a party of 6 or more, you can book a table.

Original Rogue