Jumbotron

You'll have come to know by now that a commitment to high quality photojournalism is largely absent from the Big Bum Jumble blog, and that I'm perfectly happy if I can bodge something together crappily and make a stupid story out of it.

Hence I bring you: BBJ's debut on The Stratford Circus Jumbotron.

Point one: it's not actually a Jumbotron, it's much smaller, I just like that word and want to use it as much as possible. Jumbotron, Jumbotron, Jumbotron etc.

Point two: I took the picture on my phone. Clearly my phone can't cope with taking a picture of another screen, which is why these pictures have intrusive lines over the screen. Sorry.

Point three: Everything's a bit blurry and wrong because I had to sit through the whole cycle of current announcements on the Stratford Circus not-Jumbotron, which was quite boring, and I got freaked out when the BBJ screens appeared, and fumbled with my phone, and didn't quite do any of it in time. Then I couldn't be bothered to sit through the cycle of announcements again to wait for our screens.

This has all been quite pointless, yet I remain strangely excited that the Jumble is up on the Jumbotron.

Next...watching paint dry.

Guerrilla Marketing: Sublime Juxtaposition

I have no doubt that Cultural Studies professors of the future will write windy academic articles about the sublime juxtaposition of fat/obesity discourse represented by these two posters. Just tell them you saw it here first.

5 ways in which you can help publicise the Big Bum Jumble

There are two weeks to go to the Jumble and we need your help for the final push for publicity.

Here are some of the ways in which you can help.

1. Use the flyers and posters
Download the flyer and poster and print some copies. You can do this on a printer, or you can take one copy to a photocopy place (like a newsagent, a post office, or just sneak some copies off the copier at work) and run some off there. Give flyers to people, or leave a little pile at local places, like cafés, libraries, community centres, pubs, anywhere that people leave flyers. Go to shops and any kind of place you can think of and see if the owners will let you put a poster in the window. Put posters in crazy places, be daring, take pictures and send them to us so that we can stick them on the blog. The first person to put a poster on the railings of Buckingham Palace wins a prize. That is no empty promise.

2. Use your big mouth
Tell your friends. Tell them in person over a cup of tea, call them up and tell them, send them a text about it. Go round to their house and put a note or a flyer through their door, telling them that you bet they'd really enjoy supporting the Jumble. If you have a job, tell your colleagues, even the annoying ones, they will think you are a cool person who does interesting stuff, which of course is true, and your boss will give you a pay rise, ok, maybe not, but you never know. Tell your Facebook friends too, and invite them to join the Big Bum Jumble event page. Use Twitter. Use anything!

3. Take over the media
Tell your local paper and radio station. They will be in the phone book, or you can Google them. Encourage them to have a look at the Big Bum Jumble press release. If you feel brave, present yourself as a Jumbler and invite them to run a story about why you think the Jumble is a great idea. Drop us a line if you need help with this.

4. Link link link
Link to anything you like that has been published here, or that mentions the Big Bum Jumble. Even if it says: "The Big Bum Jumble is a giant waste of time and anyone who likes it is a loser". All publicity is good publicity. You can use the share buttons at the bottom of each post, or Google 'Big Bum Jumble' and see what comes up.

5. Random stupidity
Do something really ill-advised in the name of the Big Bum Jumble. A tattoo, for example, or some kind of performance art. Try not to get arrested.

Thanks!

Kay's Flyering Tales

Kay's been out and about flyering for the Big Bum Jumble. She says: "I've been carrying around flyers and posters from the Jumble in my bag for a few weeks now. Maybe I've given one to you? I've heard a few people say that they would be too shy to give out a flyer, or worried that giving out a flyer for a fat thing to a fat person might cause some offence. I'll tell you a bit about my experience and perhaps this will embolden people to go out there and start telling strangers about the Jumble.

"I've been flyering in my local shopping streets, East Ham High Street on a Saturday, Walthamstow Market during my lunch breaks from work. My best technique involves skulking around outside Bon Marché or Evans to catch disappointed shoppers on their way out. I find saying "Can I give you a flyer for my Jumble Sale, all plus sizes!" gets people taking them happily. I've had lots of people thanking me and saying what a good idea it is. Quite a few have said that they'd had similar ideas themselves.

"The other thing is that I found out where slimming clubs met. Where better to find potential Jumblers, eh? A pub on my local high street hosts a slimming club and I went in to leave posters, which they happily accepted. The customers were interested. I said: 'You don't have to be fat to come,' and they answered, 'We're all fat here!' 

"Of course, some people don't want to take a flyer but I've only had two negative experiences in all these weeks of flyering, both of which I loved. One woman said that the name Big Bum Jumble was 'not very flattering' (tee hee!) and the other was a super-cool teen girl who gave me a drop dead look. Thrills!"

You too could have adventures like these! We really need help in the final run-up to publicise the Jumble as much as we can. Simply download and print our gorgeous flyers and posters and get busy. You can also post digital versions on your blog or website, or just link to the download page. Let us know what happens.

Guerilla marketing: the chill cabinet

Jumble madness is hitting East London and there are still weeks to go until the ribbon is cut and we all pile in to the Big Bum Jumble. Witness this example of guerrilla jumble marketing, offered by an anonymous jumbler of Bethnal Green.

We still need help getting the word out about the jumble because a) we want people to come and b) we want donations of clothing to sell. Take a leaf out of this saucy jumbler's book, download the Big Bum Jumble posters and flyers, stick 'em up all over the place, and send us pictures of your most demented publicity coups.

Guerilla marketing: the sociologists are in the house

Dr Bill Savage rose to the challenge thrown down here and has offered her own example of Big Bum Jumble guerrilla marketing – at her university's Sociology department! She tells us: "I am carrying posters with me wherever I go." You should too.

Phooey to those dullards in Cultural Studies, their part of the noticeboard looks crap!

Got pics of your genius Big Bum Jumble marketing strategies? Send 'em please.

Mobile Advertising Campaign!

No expense has been spared on promoting the Big Bum Jumble, hee hee hee.

Kay has thrown down the gauntlet for insane Big Bum Jumble guerilla marketing via the most uncool car of all time: the Nissan Micra. Can you top that? Send in your pics and we'll publish them. No promo tactic too bizarre!

Remember: the more people who come and bring stuff, the better the pickings.

Click for flyers and posters to download and spread about.