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Desperate for their club to become a more powerful force in the A-League, the passionate Wellington Phoenix supporter group 'Yellow Fever' are asking all Phoenix fans to observe a strict 'no shirts' policy at every Phoenix home game to inspire the club's players, a campaign they've dubbed "Shirts Off For A Hat Trick".
Wellington Phoenix are the only current A-League team yet to have a player score a hat trick since they started in 2007, and with the club's fan base disappointed by yet another missed Finals Series berth, the Yellow Fever leadership group have decided to up the ante in an attempt to inspire their club's attacking assets. Well-known for their 'Shirts Off For The Boys' 80th minute celebration when the Phoenix is in the lead, the Yellow Fever want all Phoenix fans attending games to keep their shirts off for every minute of every home game, until a Phoenix player scores a hat trick during the A-League season.
A Wellington Phoenix fan who goes by the Twitter handle '@Ryans_Rovers' said the Yellow Fever have been left with no choice but to resort to such drastic measures.
"The Yellow Fever are a relaxed, jovial supporter group who only want to have a good time while supporting the team – the Shirts Off For The Boys celebration epitomises their desire to entertain rather than complain. However the disappointing 2013/14 A-League campaign left the supporters more dejected than ever. While the Yellow Fever know the players would be feeling disappointed, they want all Phoenix fans to show they're hurting too.
"If all Phoenix fans go shirtless to home games – effectively bearing their hearts, souls and stomachs to the club they love, the players may feel more inspired to fix this blight on the team's record and, in the process, elevate the Phoenix towards new heights in Season 10."
FMF was unable to obtain a comment from the Yellow Fever at time of writing, but a fan close to the group told us the Yellow Fever wanted to emphasise this campaign wasn't the Wellington Phoenix's version of a Wanderers silent protest or a Cove walk-out.
"We know the first thing people will say is 'Oh my God, the Phoenix fans are protesting!', which is totally not what this is about. The Phoenix fans are some of the most light-hearted in the A-League, but even they have their limits.
"The fans need something to cling onto, to rally behind, to use as a launchpad for a fresh wave of enthusiasm. A hat trick is a great starting point."
The club however isn't thrilled with the idea, with a club spokesman telling FMF there are fears the plan could backfire.
"Surely if the fans want to keep our attacking players focused, they would want to limit the number of distractions coming from the sidelines – you wouldn't shine a mirror into a player's eyes to help him perform better, so why shine your stomach? Conditions aren't exactly conducive to skin tans over here, you know.
"Because of the risk to the players' eyesight, we are seeking independent advice to determine if this campaign will represent an OH&S risk for the player group, after which we will liaise with stadium security."
With the regular season not beginning until October, the Phoenix fan base have a long time to plan the best way to use their reflective assets to boost their team's hat trick opportunities without incurring the wrath of the club, its players or stadium security staff.


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Love, flowers, chocolate, cards and a lot more, this is the valentines season. Needless to say TV commercials, Print Advertisements and radio commercial are already doling out mushy mushy love tunes in the hope of turning some love-dovies to head for the nearest stores and surprise the beloved. Here's a look at a few heartwarming and powerful advertising campaigns from across the globe. Some are old. Some are new. But either way they are worth watching, re-watching and sharing.
Head & Shoulders Philippines, Blind Date
In the Philippines, Head & Shoulders is drawing attention to its brand on Valentine's Day with a hilarious filmed stunt in which young guys go on a blind date with a woman, played by an actress, who appears to have outrageously bad dandruff. As they sit with the girl discussing her day, she flicks her hair constantly, sending the "dandruff" over food, drinks and onto the floor. What's cute about this film is that the guys, rather than running a mile, are actually quite helpful and tactful in their responses before the trick is revealed (they were rewarded with real blind dates after the stunt). Ace Saatchi & Saatchi created the commercial, and is encouraging people to share it with the Twitter hashtag #FlakerDate. It's had over 400,000 YouTube views so far, and has been featured in local media, including a talk show.
Heineken Gets Men To Declare Their Love For A Mystery Date In A Box
Many people think that men are not typically sentimental or vocal about their love, so Heineken and Wieden + Kennedy have encouraged them to declare their love on social media for an "adventure mystery date" in a box. To get this date, women could send a tweet to the Heineken US twitter account so that the company will send a box to their beau. The man has to declare his love on Instagram—come Valentine's Day, he will be given the code to unlock the box.
Orange Love Stories Animation
For their 2011 Valentines's Day campaign, Orange, the British based mobile network operator, embarked on a multi-platform, interactive animation project. Their idea was ingenious because of its simplicity. They invited people to submit the story of how they and their other half got together via Twitter using the hashtag #feedlovestories. A lucky selection of applicant's then had their 160 character love story turned into an animation that could be seen on the Orange YouTube channel. Of course not all stories could possibly have been turned into animations but those who submitted would almost definitely have gone to the YouTube page to see if theirs had made the cut (because in fairness, what a cool Valentine's Day present). Orange's benefit? The more visitors to their YouTube account the more who may become customers. Brilliant!
Coca-Cola Sneakily Sells Tightly-Capped Bottles To Match-Make Couples
To help 'match-make' couples, Coca-Cola sneakily filled a vending machine in the most romantic park in Shanghai, China, with bottles that have extremely-tightened caps. As part of its 'Coca-Cola Icebreaker' campaign, the soft drink giant and ad agency Leo Burnett Shanghai knew that unsuspecting females would have trouble opening the soft drink bottle up by themselves. The ladies would have to approach a guy for help, or a guy would offer his help seeing that she's struggling. This in turn helped men and women in Shanghai meet without the need for being formally match-made—and it all started with a Coke bottle. Watch the video below:
This Provocative Ad For Valentine's Day Is Surprisingly Touching
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, most brands will be releasing Valentine-themed videos to promote their goods and services. The commercial below is no different, but it does so with a surprising and heartwarming ending.
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, most brands will be releasing Valentine-themed videos to promote their goods and services. The commercial below is no different, but it does so with a surprising and heartwarming ending.
Search engine colossus Google released a short animated film which played when the user clicked on a picture of a Valentine's Day card on the homepage. The film told the story of a boy trying to win the heart of a girl. Simple, heart-warming and life-affirming, the film also redirects users to various related links afterwards.
Coca-Cola: Valentine's Day, Love is in the air
Coca-Cola: Last year's "Love is in the Air" campaign was heartwarming and charming – which is to be expected from this global brand. It's hard to top their polar bear ads, but this one comes close:
Dove Chocolate "My Valentine"
In past years, DOVE has also paid attention to those not in relationships – a group that often gets left out of the equation on Valentine's Day. This sweet brand broke tradition and included a larger group of women in their seasonal audience. They did not limit their audience to one demographic – couples – therefore connecting with many more consumers.
Love Machine', a last year's viral film from Coca-Cola Turkey. It was created specially for Valentine's Day and featured a vending machine in a busy Istanbul shopping mall, customized with a hidden camera, that dispensed free Coca-Cola to couples who proved how much they loved each other.
This Years Campaigns
Glove of Love: Get your glove on
This is about the love for Human Rights. The love for warmth in the coldest of winters. The love for justice. But most of all: This is about the right to love. For men and women. For men and men. For women and women. This is a glove. To cover-up and protect people from an atrocious law in Russia. Get yours here. An initiative of The Sailing Cows.

subset: commoncrawl