Sideswipe: iSee a poor marketing strategy

The marketing geniuses at Kraft have decided the new name for the iconic tar-like spread with the added fat of cream cheese will be ... not Spreadgemite or Ruddymite but ... Vegemite iSnack 2.0. No, it's not a joke or a deliberate promotional move to kick- start an online slagging-fest, it is 4real. Kraft says iSnack 2.0 was chosen to "to align the new product with a younger market" - and the "cool" credentials of Apple's iPod and iPhone. But the kids are jeering and spreading the derision. The name was decided by 48,000 entries in a public vote, proving that sometimes it is best to leave it to the professionals. (Via Crikey.com.au)

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Gaylene wonders if she's been scammed. "Last Saturday around 6.30pm on Great South Rd in Newmarket, I was approached by a middle-aged man who asked for help. His car had run out of petrol on the motorway. He had gone to Newmarket where the ATM machine would not let him access his account and he was trying to get to Helensville. I took pity on him and handed over $20. But about an hour later, I was parked outside Liquorland in Newmarket and a middle-aged woman and a young girl of about 8 approached me with a similar story. So now I am thinking - was I scammed? Has this happened to any other Sideswipe readers?"

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This week Andrew Turner tried to obtain a truck driver's licence to add to his collection from VTNZ. "To obtain a class 2 learner licence you need to provide a medical certificate. No problem, as I already have a CAA Class 2 medical certificate required for a helicopter pilot's licence and a Motorsport NZ medical certificate and even a very recent medical certificate for my International Race Licence. But no, they don't recognise any of those; I must go to the doctor and get their form completed, even though I just did a far stricter medical last month. So I can drive a car, drive a race car, fly a helicopter, but can't learn to drive a truck. That must be why our roads are so safe."

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In Melbourne two con-artists convinced three business operators to let them double their money by soaking it in a special substance overnight. In doing so each bill produces another bill of the same denomination. The grifters even "demonstrated" it to each investor with a A$100 bill. The businessmen lost a total of A$160,000. (Source: News of the Weird)

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Mark needn't worry about mixed messages from road safety adverts on the back of buses, says Andrew. "National have shown that they are no better than Labour and, now that cell phones have been banned, it shouldn't be long before bus advertising, billboards, stereos, GPSs, pedestrians wearing brightly coloured clothes and even talking in cars have all been banned, and all speed limits reduced to 30km/h."

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View today's Herald cartoon

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Today's Webpick: A skier with a camera attached to his helmet gets buried in an avalanche, then dug out by his friends. Scary. Go here.

Follow Ana Samways on Twitter here.