A quick look at the bizarre world of management conferences excerpted from John Vidal's book, McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial.

. . . of the D.A., the F.B.I., the Jo'burg attorney, the Sheriff, and the consul who was supposed to be divine -not forgetting the hit man, two feud-to-the-death businessmen, and Agents “A” and “B”.

In mid August, Amway, a multi-level marketing organisation originating in the States, launched in South Africa. Want to make a quick and painless buck? Here’s how not to do it.

Maureen Barnes gives Hugh Murray a well-deserved rev - in her inimitable style - after the egotistical sometime publisher retracts his support of Julian Askin in the controversy that followed the collapse of Tollgate.

Do recent events indicate that sport may have been over-traded as a vehicle for the marketing and advertising industry, and, if so, is South Africa bidding in the last Great Sale of the Games – only to be landed with a lot of obsolete and over-priced “goods”?

The players for Olympic gold aren't exactly sportsmen.

Bidco propaganda is reminiscent of Nat election campaigns in the days of Total Onslaught: opposition is portrayed as not merely stupid, wicked or mischievous, but as a serious threat to the community. But, in fact, by presenting itself as our last hope, Bidco has muddied the waters of more realistic, sustainable programmes of social development and economic growth.

In the new, democratic South Africa public opinion can be inconvenient to those with grandiose plans. Fortunately, as Edward Bernays, doyen of the PR industry, has noted, “the engineering of consent is the very essence of the democratic process”. Is that why the men behind Cape Town's Olympic bid are telling such porkies about the economic benefits of Cape Town hosting the 2008 Olympics?