WE'VE SET A NEW WORLD RECORD!

It's not every day that you get to set a Guinness World Record, but this December, it's exactly what we've done!

Golden Goose PR client Woolworths.co.uk created the enormous parcel and filled it with the top toys for Christmas 2010. And the very last toy to be unwrapped was...JEDWARD! Dressed as Buzz Lightyear!

Yes, the crazy pop twins catapulted to fame through X Factor were the celebrity surprise hidden within the very last layer of the parcel.

Jedward - otherwise known as John and Edward Grimes - were a pleasure to work with and behind the scenes we really couldn't stop them from eating their weight in Woolies' pic n' mix. Fans take note - Cola Bottles are their favourite!

We'd like to thank Jedward, the hilarious Woolies snowmen, Stan and Ollie and all ten towns that we stopped at for taking part and for being great sports.

Not even the snow will stop us!

One week in to our road trip and the country has come to a standstill with blankets of snow! But that isn't stopping our Woolies' road trip team, who are touring the country with the largest ever pass the parcel!

Freezing conditions have been doing their best to hamper our journey, but we've made it to our first four destinations - Liverpool, Aberaeron in Wales, Dudley and Littlehampton, bringing presents, pic n’ mix and festive cheer to so many families. The bitter weather has meant that we have had to divert our journey from Ashford to Buckinghamshire today. Because we hadn't planned to stop in Buckhinghamshire, we literally spotted and surprised a local family whilst passing through their town and parked up by their house to let their little girl, Abi, be the fifth person to tear one giant layer off our record breaking parcel. The surprise was a really wonderful moment; this sort of thing is what the magic of Woolies is all about.

Stan and Ollie, Woolies' playful snowmen, were delighted to give Abi such a happy Christmas surprise.

We're continuing our drive further north tonight, heading to Leeds, weather permitting!

The Woolies' road trip team sets off!!!

And they're off!! The Woolies road trip team are zooming round the country with a giant truck carrying the world's largest ever pass the parcel! The parcel weighs 440.9lbs and it contains thousands of pounds worth of presents!

Here are Katie and Suzy decked out in their red Woolies' jumpsuits with Woolies' Dan Rubel, marketing director and the giant parcel, setting off from Woolies' HQ in Speke. You wouldn't know they'd been up since 4am preparing to visit radio breakfast shows with Stan and Ollie Snow, the playful snowmen from the Woolies' tv ads. Next stop after Alder Hey children's hospial and Liverpool city centre is Aberaeron, Wales!

Golden Goose PR launches Woolies' World Record Breaking Pass the Parcel Christmas Adventure

When you were a kid, how much did you love a good game of pass the parcel?

We did! So we suggested that our client Woolworths.co.uk should create the world's largest ever pass the parcel for this year's Christmas campaign.

We've teamed up with creative solutions agency Anthem who are making our enormous gift, stuffing it with the top toys of Christmas (all available on Woolworths.co.uk, naturally!) and wrapping it in reams of festive paper.

If you're reading this and you want to be part of Woolies' Record Breaking Pass the Parcel Christmas Adventure then visit Woolworths.co.uk/passtheparcel before the 15th of November and tell Stan and Ollie Snow, Woolies' loveable snowmen, why the giant parcel should visit your home town.

10 towns and cities will be visited in total, with families in every location invited to peel off one giant layer of the record breaking gift and take away goodies ranging from Jet Pack Buzz Lightyears and Zhu Zhu hamsters to Pumpaloons and Fur Real pets.

Stan and Ollie and our road team of Woolies Christmas helpers will be setting off on their trip on Thursday the 25th of November.

Watch this space to hear how this exciting Christmas story will (quite
literally) unfold!

Networking with the Rottweiler!

This week Golden Goose PR supported client Access Self Storage at its biggest networking event to date, the Access Twickenham Business Expo. Apprentice star Claire Young (also known by her nickname 'The Roitweiler') joined series 5 contestant Kimberley Davis and former England rugby player Gareth Chilcott to offer her advice and expertise to around 300 representatives of local businesses in attendance. Our verdict? A fantastic way for growing businesses to showcase their services, swap advice and form strong relationships with potential customers and fellow entrepreneurs. All in addition to a great lunch and some very amusing behind the scenes tales from one of TV’s most popular TV programmes!

Pyramids named number one landmark

The Pyramids of Egypt have been voted the nations' favourite landmark in a survey by Truprint.co.uk.

Truprint, the online digital photo printing service (and Golden Goose PR client), asked 1,000 Brits to pick their most-loved site. The Taj Mahal, Sydney Opera House, Great Wall Of China and Statue of Liberty were amongst those battling it out for the top spot.

The ancient tombs at Giza came out number one with 20% of the vote, closely followed by London's Big Ben.

So why are the stony peaks more popular than our own chiming clock tower? The Pyramids are breath-taking at any angle, from sunrise to sunset. Just think how often a picture of the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa can look like a strange hat on the top of someone’s head? Even the an amateur photographer would find it hard to get a bad snap of the Egyptian World Wonder.

Everyone Is Art

With the aid of a flock of Golden Geese, Samsung Electronics Europe has launched 'Everyone Is Art', the first giant collaborative artwork to be made and auctioned for breast cancer.

The piece is a recreation of the face of Botticelli's Venus - featuring the faces of 1,096 men and women throughout Europe who are affected by breast cancer, or campaign for breast cancer awareness. 1,096 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Europe each day.

Breast cancer charities face a constant battle to increase awareness and raise sufficient funding. Samsung has raised over $1.5 million for European breast cancer charities over the last 12 months, providing crucial support for breast cancer awareness, prevention and campaigning.

The perfect press release

We were delighted to receive the seal of approval from the head of media at a London high school this week. Upon catching a glimpse of a Golden Goose release, she swiftly got in touch..."it is actually the most perfect example of a press release I have seen and I would like to use it in my teaching."

Hurrah!

So what exactly caught her eye? Our release announcing the global launch of BeautifulPeople.com with tips on where to find the world's most attractive inhabitants landed in her inbox and is now available to students nationwide.

Celebrity sugar highs

The latest must-have celeb accessory, which has got the likes of Lily Allen and Henry Holland tweeting with excitement, comes in the form of the highly sought after VIP n’ Mix card.

This money-can’t-buy piece of purse candy was dreamt up by Golden Goose PR for client Woolworths.co.uk. It entitles holders to a free fix of the famous Pic n’ Mix, whenever and wherever they get the urge.

Dizzee Rascal, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles were also amongst the first to put the card to good use. The geese were particularly excited when Aston from JLS called to find out what sugary delights he could get his hands on.

The Art of Conversation

The Golden Geese have been causing a stir surrounding The Art of Conversation. This talkative card game hit the UK last week and journalists across the country are lining up for a good old fashioned chin wag.

From Toy News to the production team at the TV Book Club these little treasures are set to inspire great family conversations and tear teens away from texting.

We quizzed some media fans on their colloquial skills....

Vicki-Marie Cossar, features editor at Metro
Name your number one survival skill? – ‘I can go without washing!’

Jo Adnitt, commissioning editor at LOOK Magazine
What is the biggest bargain you have ever found? – ‘A vintage Jaeger shirt I won on Ebay for 99p’

Victoria Hall, fashion assistant at Stella Magazine
What is your favourite place? – ‘St. Petersberg in Russia. I went in July and highly recommend it’

Then and There, Here and Now

This week our Goose On The Loose ventured to The Book Club for a night of Cocoa Caipirinhas, ping-pong and a curious preview of framed A-listers courtesy of Peter Anderson.

Anderson is a British photographer whose 'Then And There, Here and Now' exhibition will be on display at the Shoreditch hideaway until 26th September.

‘Then and There, Here and Now’ is a collection of black and white portraits created while Anderson was working in-house at NME in the 1980’s. His subjects are an attractive assortment of musical icons and early hip-hop talent; including a pre-blonde Madonna and Mick Jagger buried among excitable groupies. .

Anderson works closely with his subjects and opens a door to an era when music, fashion and politics first collided. Anderson’s giant photographic prints currently sell alongside Warhol, Basquiat and Banksy and his next project, ‘Here and Now’, capturing the local street style at the Arch Gallery in Deptford is sure to be a must-see.

Christmas comes early

The Golden Geese were surprised by the arrival of a festive delivery this morning! These fluffy reindeer escaped from Truprint HQ in Devon, ventured up the M3, snuck in to the goose nest at Smiths Court and cordially requested to be delivered to the their favourite magazines.

We have vowed to help our furry friends on their quest and have dropped them off at media houses throughout London.

These reindeer will be available over the holiday season at www.truprint.co.uk. You can even add your favourite photo to the removeable t-shirt.

Let them eat cake

Mia Magnolia Holt hand delivered some delicious cupcakes to the new office today. Each was is adorned with our favourite thing in the world - pic n' mix.

The Geese fly the nest

The Geese have officially flown the nest, moving from High Street Kensington to the heart of Soho and can now be found in 11-29 Smiths Court, London, W1D 7DP. Our new telephone number is 0207 734 2002.

Being a Goose is so in Vogue

Golden Goose PR's fashion credentials sky rocketed on Sunday as our very own Felicity Hardingham was Style Stalked by no other than Vogue.com.

Felicity was photographed while working at the Chinawhite enclosure at the Cartier International Polo.

Other guests who attended the event included models David Gandy and Louis Dowler, Singer Katherine Jenkins and presenter Cat Deeley.

For more pictures log on to Chinawhite.com/polo

The Beautiful Game?

After England’s swift exit from the World Cup we couldn’t help wondering do looks play a part? Never one to shy away from honesty, the world’s most controversial dating website BeautifulPeople.com asked its members to vote on the most attractive and least attractive players this World Cup. After tallying more than 200,000 votes, England striker Wayne Rooney was named the ugliest footballer on the planet. He was closely followed by Franck Ribery from France, Carlos Tevez from Argentina and Serbia’s Vladimir Stojkovic. The most beautiful football player- Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro beat the likes of playboy football player Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry. The BeautifulPeople.com 'dream team' and 'scream team' sparked debate and made headlines all over the world about what we look for when it comes to our sporting superstars.

Golden Goose PR win Best Global Campaign at the CIPR Awards

Golden Goose PR officially joined the international jet-set last night as the agency won the Best Global Campaign at the CIPR Awards in London even beating Tourism Queensland’s 'Best Job in the World' campaign to win the role of island manager on Hamilton Island off the Queensland Coast. The agency scooped the award for their controversial Festive Fatties campaign for client beautifulpeople.com.

The award was picked up by account director Laura Hind and senior account manager Felicity Hardingham.

Elephants on Parade

At the start of May, 260 model elephants took to the streets as part of London’s Elephant Parade. Each is the size of a real life baby elephant, glittering with the decorative genius of the UK's leading creative talent.

This fantastical scheme is the brainchild of The Elephant Family, a charity that works towards the conservation of Asian elephants. Each colourful creature has been sponsored and will be auctioned at Sotheby’s on 30th June.

Golden Goose PR client, the Royal Exchange is host to four such magical beasts, created by Cartier, Sir. Paul Smith, Tarun Tahiliani and London-born artist, Benjamin Shine.

Benjamin's Taxi Elephant is set to be the object of a fierce bidding battle and the Royal Exchange has employed a 24-hour guard to deter potential ellie-nappers. The sleek black elephant is powered by a solar cell so that the taxi sign lights up at night and its eyes are transformed into headlamps!

Go Go Goose

So after five months of pounding her local pavements and a last minute massage on some worryingly tight hamstrings, Golden Goose PR’s most active member of staff Laura Lou Hind found herself standing at the starting line of the 30th London Marathon.

After getting her breath back she remarked; “I had heard people rave about what an amazing experience taking part in the marathon is but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of friendly camaraderie and support I received as one of 35,000 runners (omitting poor Gordon Ramsay who had to pull out at 20 miles!!). Seeing my friends and family at various points (19 miles being my ‘wall’) made it even more worthwhile as did the £700 I knew I was raising for my chosen charity the Blue Cross! Definitely one of the most incredible things I have ever done... bring on the Marathon Des Sables!”

A golden egg

Free range Goose Laura Wood has been busy keeping watch on Doris the duck who has been nesting happily by the back door of her home for the past six weeks.

Unfortunately however Mr Fox paid a visit last night and after much commotion headed off with all but one duckling. With Doris (Snr) nowhere to be found and a weeny Doris (Jnr) getting cold after a good half hour left in the nest Laura took the advice of a duck expert and brought the duckling inside. A heat lamp was borrowed and Doris (Jnr) was tucked up for the night in the kitchen.

The following morning Laura was met by a very happy, warm duckling who she carefully placed back in her nest in the hope that Doris (Snr) would return. As soon as she'd turned her back, Doris (Jnr) was in the pond and was soon reunited with not just Mum Doris (Snr) but Dad duck, Doug!

Sugar coated tweets

Today at Goose HQ we got the thumbs up from our friends at T4 Towers! On hearing that that team T4’s computers had crashed we thought the only way to cheer them up would be with a lovely bag or two of Pic n’ Mix. It obviously went down well with the team as their tens of thousands of Twitter followers were inundated with pictures of the team enjoying the sugary treats or should we say “sugary tweets” throughout the afternoon!

Let them eat pretzels

Excitement levels were at fever pitch in the office today as Golden Goose PR took delivery of the first ever batch of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels from their new West London store which opens its doors on Friday.

We gobbled our way through 8 freshly-baked doughy goodies in record time, barely stopping to lick the cinnamon sugar off our lips.

Another cracking campaign shortlisted for an award

Golden Goose PR is delighted to have been shortlisted for the Global Public Relations Award by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. The campaign we will be presenting to the judging panel is Festive Fatties for Beautifulpeople.com, a publicity generating idea that we are immensely proud of. This year the CIPR Excellence Awards received over 750 entries across the 27 award categories and so it is a great achievement to have reached the final stage.

CIPR Acting Director General Ann Mealor said: “Congratulations to this year’s finalists. It’s great to see the profession rise to these challenging times to produce such outstanding work. Having faced a rigorous judging process to reach this stage, we look forward to recognising and rewarding the best in the profession at the Excellence Awards 25th Anniversary dinner on 16 June.”

GGPR introduces Woolworths.co.uk Toy Testers

Carlsberg don't do dream jobs for kids but GGPR client Woolworths.co.uk do. News of the eight kids who landed the dream job of testing toys hit headlines this week as the News Of The World reported which toys, according to our mini expert panel, will be this summer’s hottest. The hilarious footage of what our Toy Testers had to say can be viewed on You Tube and Woolies World.

BeautifulPeople.com strikes once again

GGPR’s controversial client BeautifulPeople.com once again commanded the features pages of the media this week with two double page spreads in Metro and The Times (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article7095612.ece). Both pieces were written off the back of our ‘Meet the members’ event at London club Chinawhite, an opportunity for members to meet face to face and for us to introduce case studies to the press (and something that was very successful indeed if these articles are anything to go by!) And our very own Rupert goose even got a special mention! ‘A Satyr?’ we gasped, in response to the journalist’s description of our delightful exec, surely he must be mistaken? His comment on the BeautifulPeople.com team being ‘reliably attractive' on the other hand... now that’s more like it! Judge Rupert’s doe eyed look for yourself below!

When Gail Porter tweeted that she needed some Easter Eggs for a charity egg hunt for ‘The Childrens Trust’ we were more then happy to oblige. We contacted our client Woolworths.co.uk and supplied the team at Tadworth with a variety of Easter goodies for the day ranging from chocolate to bunny ears! We were delighted to hear that the event was a success and that over 2,500 guests raised over £12,000 for the charity. A very happy Easter indeed!

Lizzie Goose takes Woolworths.co.uk's diet cola bottle onto the streets of London for a taste test challenge

Woolworths.co.uk launches UK's first ever negative calorie sweet - APRIL FOOL'S!

World’s first negative calorie sweet unveiled by Woolworths.co.uk

Pic n’ Mix now includes the Diet Cola Bottle

Liverpool, England, Thursday 1st April, 2010. Woolworths.co.uk has today launched the world’s first ever calorie negative sweet - the Diet Cola Bottle. The sweet, part of its Pic n’ Mix range, burns more calories when eating and digesting than the sweet actually contains.

Matthew Jacques, Head of brand at Woolworths.co.uk, says “The Diet Cola Bottle looks almost identical and tastes equally as good as the original cola bottle, but without the calories.”

Woolworths.co.uk has worked closely with health and nutritional expert Prof. A.Prilfoolius to develop the Diet Cola Bottle. The slimming sweet contains seven calories, 50 per cent less than the original.

Energy expended on chewing and digestion uses nine calories* meaning each sweet effectively contains minus two calories per bottle. Eating 100g of Diet Cola Bottles can clock up minus 140 calories. The negative calorie content makes the Diet Cola Bottle a great choice for slimmers and is a bold move by Woolworths.co.uk.

Matthew Jacques adds, “Woolworths has long been the king of Pic n’ Mix and we wanted to make sure that people who have loved it for years now have a greater choice, especially if they’re worried about their waistline.”

Other foods containing minus calories include celery, tomatoes and raw broccoli. *calories burned are based on the average 10st adult.

The science bit:
1 calorie = 4.184 joule
1 negative calorie = -4.184 joules
Commonly Calories refer to kilocalories.
1 kilocalorie (kcal) = 4.184 kilojoules (kJ)
Negative calorie foods are foods that use more calories to digest than the calories food actually contains!

How it works?

All foods have a nutrient (carbohydrate, fat, protein), caloric (calories), vitamin and mineral content. Vitamins stimulate living tissues to produce enzymes that breakdown the caloric nutrients of that food. Foods with negative calorie contain sufficient vitamins and minerals to produce enzymes in sufficient quantities to break down not only its own calories, but also burn additional calories to aid the body’s digestion as well. This is called "negative calorie effect".

Click to see coverage in the Mirror

Click to see coverage in The Telegraph

The Geese embrace augmented reality

Never ones to shy away from technology, Golden Goose PR's retail team has fully embraced this week's 3d issue of Grazia. We've been loving augmented reality for sometime but it is brilliant to see it being used by our favourite weekly. As well as dancing with Flo, we've also been pulling silly faces at the Grazia web cam, see pic.

AggyDeyn loves Pic n' Mix!

This morning at goose HQ we were delighted to wake up to a tweet from our favourite model and Pic n’ Mix fanatic Agyness Deyn. After downloading the amazing Pic n’ Mix game for the iPhone from Woolworths.co.uk she was so happy she tweeted about it to all her followers!

Download the app here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id360708707?mt=8

Miriam Clegg goes green with Bottletop

We were delighted to hear that there is another front runner in the political fashion charts. Miriam, eco-conscious wife of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, was spotted sporting a shoulder bag made by Golden Goose PR client and charity, Bottletop. The piece was hand-made in Brazil from 1000 recycled silver aluminium ring-pulls.

Miriam bought the bag from Eco Age, a Chiswick store run by Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth. Sales of these bags go to Bottletop’s programme empowering young people through sexual health education.

Stay tuned for the launch of Bottletop's limited edition gold Luciana clutch bag available from mid-April at www.bottletop.org.

Star intern makes the grade

There was a collective WOOP at Goose HQ today when star intern Rupert received his A level results. Rupert, who re-took his exams this spring, was awarded an A grade in media.

Jasmine Harman's Arctic adventure for Dogs Trust

Golden Goose PR client and TV presenter Jasmine Harman is embarking on a chilly expedition to raise awareness for Dogs Trust. Normally on the look-out for hot properties on tropical shores, this will be a very different mission. Armed with a large coat and team of Alaskan huskies, Jasmine will travel 180km through Sweden by sled in just five days. Temperatures average -28 degrees and she will be just 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle!

To help drum up some last minute sponsorship, Jasmine and Golden Goose PR joined forces to host a pooch themed quiz at The Roundhouse in Wandsworth.

Forty eager dog lovers battled it out for prizes and were entertained by Shadow, the Bernese Mountain dog and love of Jasmine’s life.

Jasmine raised £500 during the evening bringing her even closer to her target of £2,500. This will help the Dog’s Trust to rescue and re-home unwanted, abandoned and stray dogs. Please do visit www.justgiving.com/JasmineHarman to find out more about Jasmine’s Arctic trek!

This morning at Goose HQ a mad hatter’s tea party took place in celebration of Miki Goose’s imminent arrival. We celebrated with a scrumptious spread of pain-au-chocolat, cakes, muffins and Woolworths alcohol free bubbly all served on a vintage tea set which belonged to Laura’s granny. The Geese were also treated to wonderful homemade brownies by Lizzy which were extremely yummy. After tea we all watched in amazement as Miki hit her pram piñata with glee (4 more days and counting till our next fix) leading to a shower of sweets over the office floor.

Brando Mott visits the nest

The Golden Geese love nothing more than a friendly visitor, especially when the visitor in question has four legs, a waggy tail and a lovely snuffly nose.

We are of course describing Brando Mott, the extremely handsome canine son of the legendary journalist, Joe.

Brando, Joe and Joe's very gorgeous lady Laura popped in for a cup of tea and a catch up with the team. It turns out that Joe and Laura are helping rescue dogs by walking them every Monday and Joe is busy getting active with some of the UK's leading canine charities. It is one of GGPR's ambitions to work with a pet brand and with friends like Joe, Laura and Brando we are sure we can do a lot of great work! If any brand managers would like to be our pedigree chums, please contact laura.hind@goldengoosepr.com!

Jedward's rock & roll rider

Upon hearing the news that Jedward have a penchant for sugary treats, Golden Goose PR swiftly dispatched 10 kilos of Pic n' Mix from Woolworths.co.uk directly to their dressing room for the start of the X Factor tour.

Whereas most bands prefer a large Jack Daniels and coke, the Nation's favourite blonde pop sensation asked for fizzy cola bottles to share with roadies and fans during the first gig at the Liverpool Echo Arena.

The big haired duo are not as demanding as some celebrities. Mariah Carey is rumoured to have asked for puppies and kittens on her rider whereas Lady Gaga prefers a plate of chilled cheese. Brie on ice anyone?

Behind the big blue doors...

With one of the UK’s leading storage companies as a client we are used to unearthing hidden treasures behind big blue doors and last week was no exception! In preparation for a feature entitled ‘Room without a view’ for the Trends section of the Evening Standard this week, we travelled to Access’s stores in Isleworth and King’s Cross to oversee photo shoots of some of our more unusual case studies; Aideen, a ballet dancer who uses her unit as a studio space and Eddie, a keen musician who visits his storage unit to practice on his piano and guitar. The full page piece, which ran on Monday, provided some more brilliant exposure for Access and has ensured that the phones have been ringing off the hook ever since!

Trumpeters and Lederhosen... just an average day in the GGPR camp!

Last week had us visit once again the wonderful Punch Bowl Tavern in Mayfair for another cracking Comet quiz. Teams from The Daily Telegraph, News of The World, The Press Association and the Evening Standard, as well as presenters Caroline Feraday and Natalie Pinkham all swotted up to pitch their brains in a bid to win the 40” plasma Samsung TV provided by Comet. Funny man Hardeep Kohli Singh quizzed the teams between mini shepherd’s pies and bite-sized chocolate brownies. Visual entertainment was provided courtesy of two Golden Goose PR members who donned some very fancy attire so each team could ‘guess the national dress’. We will leave you to decide which goose was hidden behind the moustache! Team Telegraph claimed the Comet Cup leaving one luck-struck journalist to manoeuvre his new flatscreen down the stairs past a bemused crowd at the bar!

PR Week praises BeautifulPeople.com campaign

News about our festive fatties campaign for BeautifulPeople.com is still as rife as ever. PR Week has dedicated two pages to the subject this week, with some very nice feedback from Deliberate PR. We wanted to share the article with you...