Cycling on busy roads is never the safest of activities, and now the dark nights and dull days are here, it’s even worse. So it’s more important than ever that cyclists wear as much high visibility gear as possible, but many don’t bother. Why? Because most of it looks awful. London based Henrichs are attempting to address the problem by creating a range of hi-vis cycling gear for men, women and children which has a sense of style and glamour.

I’ve seen some of the gear, and I suppose it’s a question of personal taste, to what extent the company have been successful. But anything that encourages people to wear safety equipment has to be a good thing. So is there some other way you might encourage people to wear safety equipment for potentially dangerous activities? The things that seem to put people off are poor styling, convenience and comfort. Solve those problems and it could be the passport to a lucrative business.

www.henrichs.co.uk

I think everyone has heard of the old adage about ending up washing the dishes when you can’t pay for the food, but a restaurant in France has turned it into a reality. Primarily as a publicity stunt, a French washing liquid brand has created the Mir Restaurant, which is charging customers in the form of dishwashing tasks, instead of money.

Customers can order items from a set menu, including starters, mains and desserts. Rather than listing the prices, however, each dish had an icon next to it indicating what each customer would have to wash up in order to pay for the meal.

Now although this is a marketing stunt, designed to promote washing up liquid, it does prompt a few questions:

1. Could you really get some customers to pay for their food in return for work like this?

2. Moving away from restaurants, are there other businesses where it would be mutually advantageous to get customers to pay in some way other than by cash?

3. The ‘paying by washing the dishes’ idea comes from an old adage. Are there other old adages that could be brought to life for publicity purposes in this way?