Sideswipe: November 27: Perfect lunch

Crazy campaigns

The animal rights group PETA is famous for its attention-grabbing, and sometimes downright bizarre, campaigns, such as asking Nottingham to change its name to "Not-Eating-Ham" for Christmas and now they're asking the 1000-year-old village of Wool in Dorset to become "Vegan Wool" to raise awareness of their investigation into cruelty to sheep in Britain's wool industry. The name of Wool comes from the ancient word "welle", meaning a water spring, and is not related to sheep's wool. In 2003, a PETA campaign called "Holocaust on your Plate" compared the deaths of animals in slaughterhouses to the experiences of Holocaust victims and was banned in Germany as "an offence against human dignity". Other highlights include: in 2011, PETA tried to sue SeaWorld for animal captivity by using the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, naming five whales as plaintiffs. The case was dismissed by a federal judge.

Home ads fleshed out

A Texas real estate agent who hired a pair of fitness models to pose in their underwear said the pictures succeeded in drawing attention to her listing. Kristin Gyldenege said she had to get creative when the listing for the Conroe home failed to get any traction online. "Because we weren't getting any traffic. We needed to do something that was out there, and really pushing the envelope," Gyldenege told KTRK-TV. Gyldenege had a pair of fitness models pose in their underwear in several different areas of the house.The photos were removed by the Houston Association of Realtors, but not before the listing went viral.

Plastic tips in peril?

While the aim to go single-use plastic-bag-free within six months, where else could plastic be given the heave-ho? "No danger of spearing myself through the hand and dying from blood loss with these handy plastic safety thingies," quips a reader.

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz