Giant, multinational corporations may spend millions on public relations, marketing and advertising, but it's amazing how wrong they get some product launches. The latest example is Lego, who've just released a character called Turg, which they described as: “Part frog, part chicken, part back-of-the-bus window-licker.” The term 'window-licker' is a highly offensive one often used to refer to people with learning disabilities, and sparked fury among disability charities. Unsurprisingly, Lego have been forced to apologise. So what's in a name? Here's a few organisations who learnt the answer to that question in spectacularly painful style. Launching a social event with such a handy title seemed like such a good idea at the time - good enough to warrant misspelling a word for. But switching a C for the K spelt disaster for Krispy Kreme donuts who suddenly carried the title of white supremacists from America's deep south who used to commit horrendous acts of cruelty and violence towards black people.
The launch of Susan Boyle's album naturally required a bit of fanfare, but this online hashtag got all the wrong kind of attention. Of course, the Britain's Got Talent icon was having a shindig to mark the occasion but, despite how the hashtag reads, it wasn't that kind of party. Her official Twitter account hastily changed it to #SusanBoylesAlbumParty - here's a few more hashtags that went badly wrong. Releasing a burger inspired by the tastes of a particular continent isn't a bad idea in itself, unless of course 12 million people are starving in that continent. That's exactly what was happening in 2002 when McDonald's unveiled the McAfrika in Norway, one of the world's richest countries. Aid agencies said it was "insensitive, crass and ill-considered" to use Africa as a marketing tool for fast food at a time when countries like Malawi and Zimbabwe were suffering one of the biggest humanitarian disasters in history. The designers who dreamed up this ironic board game in 2003 must have thought they were being terribly droll, instead they were just offensive.
Originally sold in Urban Outfitters, Ghettopoly "made fun of "gangsta-rap and ghetto culture", but it was just seen as consolidating a raft of cliches and prejudices. Reverend Robert P. Shine Sr, president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, said the game was "a corporate endorsement of the denigration of African Americans." After a public backlash, the clothes store eventually stopped selling it. What could be scarier than someone with mental health issues? That was the, er, "logic" behind Tesco and Asda stocking frightening "Mental Patient Costumes" in time for Halloween in 2013. The costume itself was a bit of fun, but its description was deemed outrageous since it stigmatised a section of society already facing prejudice. The £20 costumes were quickly pulled by the supermarket giants.MP clarifies refugee ‘fleas’ commentClaire Bickers A LIBERAL Senator has been forced to clarify his incendiary comment on the stalled refugee deal between Australia and the US.
'I was just crushed' AU SA: Eastern Brown Snake Babies Hatch February 25 What really happened on the 2017 Oscars red carpet BLINK and you missed, these were the best red carpet moments from the 89th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood.Inside the 2017 Oscars ceremony FROM the audience to the stage, check out all the star-studded actions from the the 89th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood.“Family Guy” fans probably remember the 2001 episode, “There’s Something About Paulie,” where Peter Griffin shows off his on-board computer system. Griffin says “Yakov Smirnoff,” to which the car responds, “In Soviet Russia, car drives you.” But the lovable fat man from the imaginary town of Quahog probably wouldn’t have guessed that in 2016, there’d be a Russian tank that can drive you. The Russian military-industrial company VPK LLC developed a version of its armored vehicle Tigr, which soldiers can drive using a remote control, according to Russian news outlet TASS.
Soldiers are also able to remotely operate the weapons mounted to the vehicle. “We’ve managed to mount a 30 mm gun on a two-axle armored vehicle with a mass of under nine tons,” Aleksandr Krasovitsky, CEO for Russia’s military-industrial company VPK LLC, told TASS. “The vehicle can use ordinary roads without any restrictions.” The Tigr is designed to seat 10 and can be manually operated, but Krasovitsky told TASS the purpose of this experiment is to have it be able to track targets on its own. The vehicle is still going through testing, but it seems like the military vehicle can take the beaten paths as well.The Toyota Prado gets put through its paces on the 4WD test track"Two-in-one" products generally mean there's a compromise. A desktop replacement laptop is great until you've lugged its weighty frame through five airports in two weeks, a road-trail motorcycle is fine until you hit a really snarly stretch of dirt, and a keyboard that becomes a mouse when you turn it upside down, well, lets not even go there.
So when Toyota introduced its new Prado Landcruiser mid-size 4WD as a "best of both worlds" solution for both the highway and the rough stuff I was a little skeptical. But after taking on all types of terrain - including, open roads, tight forest trails and a formidable purpose built 4x4 track - I may just have been convinced otherwise. The vehicle's versatile performance owes particular thanks to a sophisticated new suspension system and electronics suite, and although there's no point pretending that it can be a sports coupe one minute and a monster truck the next, as a two-in-one auto solution the fourth-gen Prado comes very, very close.On the inside, the cabin is longer, wider and there's more legroom for third-row seat passengers. There's also keyless entry and push button start, a very handy 220V accessory socket in the rear and you no longer have to wrestle with a lever to shift into low range - it's been replaced by a simple dial control on the center of the dash. Another useful addition is the lockable gas strut on the side opening rear door, meaning no more getting slammed in the back when a gust of wind catches the open door.
Standard equipment across the range includes ABS with Brake Assist, stability control, uphill and downhill assist, seven air bags, LEDs on the door-mirror indicators and rear lamps, plus Bluetooth compatibility and USB connectivity.High-end models have park assist, a rear diff-lock, 18-inch alloys, heated seats, rain sensing wipers, parking sensors and four cameras including a new forward facing camera with a 190 degree field of view which, when combined with the steering angle overlay on the dash mounted 4.2" touch-screen monitor, becomes invaluable when cresting steep hills off-road. The spare wheel cover (which houses the rear facing camera) is also now standard on all models.The top of the line Kakadu which we drove boasts many useful extras and desirable trinkets like radar (adaptive) cruise control, height adjustable air suspension, a 14-speaker Pioneer Audio system - which has close to the best, warmest bass I've heard in an off the shelf unit - refrigerated coolbox and a rear-seat entertainment system with three wireless headphone sets.
Toyota quotes fuel economy figures of 8.5 liters per 100km for the turbo diesel 5-door married to the auto transmission (11.5 for the petrol variant). As you might expect from a smaller vehicle, the three-door turbo diesel does slightly better at 8.3 liters per 100km.A combination of traction control and ABS technology takes the name "Multi-terrain assist". This gives the driver a choice of four surface modes - Mud and sand, Loose Rock, Mogul and Rock - which are adjustable via steering wheel mounted controls. Mud and sand work in high range as well as low range while the other three are low range only.Seeing where you are going is made easier with the Multi-terrain monitor - a system that links four cameras to an in-dash monitor with a choice of single and split views. The wide angle cameras are mounted front, rear and in the side mirror housing. Anyone who has ever felt the unnerving sensation of cresting and beginning the decent with nothing but blue sky visible through the windshield will appreciate both the front camera and the very clever steering angle overlay.
This draws two boxes over the camera image on the screen which represent the wheel direction, meaning you can negotiate rocks and other obstacles that cant be seen from the driver's position as you creep down a steep slopeCRAWL has 5 speed options (up from 3 on the 200 series Landcruiser) controlled with a dial on the center console. And it works - more on that later. The only drawback is that it's only available on the top of the line 5-door and 3-door models.The first leg of our test was on the bitumen where the dynamic suspension system proved itself in smooth, flat cornering with minimal body roll. It's still a big, heavy vehicle with plenty of rubber for off-road adventures, so it's not razor sharp, but it's definitely solid through turns and in stark contrast to the older 4WD sitting in my garage at home.Although the V6 has more poke, the torquey 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel (410Nm at 1600-2800rpm) delivered smooth acceleration all the way through the six-speed transmission. From a driver's perspective it's comfortable in terms of seat and steering wheel adjustment, visibility is good for a vehicle of this ilk, and cabin noise is very low.
But it was the off-road experience that we came for, and Toyota wasn't shy in ensuring the full-range of it's capabilities were on display.Over a series of moguls, creek crossings and steep descents, the Prado didn't put a foot wrong, with the electronics package getting traction to the right wheels at the right time. The test track also showcased the advantage of the shorter 3-door with one section - a steep gully crossing with a tight turn thrown in - being off-limits to the 5-door models.The CRAWL worked sensationally. The system does create a lot of noise as it creaks and groans over the bumps, but with the luxury of taking both feet off the pedals and simply steering, its easy to forgive that. The all-round camera system also comes into its own in these situations. The usefulness of the steering wheel overlay and front camera becomes obvious when there's large rocks to be avoided on a sharp downslope and the side mirror cameras help you squeeze through tight gaps. It's nice to know exactly what's around the vehicle and the system will certainly save on a few visits to the panel-beaters.
Changing camera views and the Multi-terrain assist mode is fairly intuitive, with easily accessible controls on the steering wheel. After a little practice there's no need to look at what you are doing, just glance at the screen dash to ensure you've got the right setting.The side camera view is also handy on tight trails where there's heavy vegetation and large rocks on the side of the road - and that's where we headed next. Having already proved it could climb hills, the Prado did it again, this time longer on loose rock and clay surfaces. The suspension soaked up the bumps at higher speeds and traction was maintained nicely through trails, even where one side of the car was on a firmer surface and the other on loose gravel. The 220mm of ground clearance also meant the vehicle was untroubled on rocky surfaces.A full day in the saddle of the new Prado has left me in no doubt that it's off-road prowess is way beyond the level the average buyer will require.... and it does it very comfortably.