1. Survival essential
Making a shelter, finding food and attempting to escape are going to be high on your agenda -- so which brand will you find most useful in your attempt to tame the great outdoors?
I'd opt for a 20-ft container washed up on my island containing rolls of plastic bubblewrap paper. It's easy to cut to size without tools, waterproof and lets light in, so I've got my waterproof hut set up in no time. It won't rot/decay over time, so my roof stays a roof, and doesn't become a compost heap. It can provide the invisible cover over ground holes (with branches & leaves on top) to catch game/trap marauding pirates, and finally when I've prepared my raft to sail away, it will provide my waterproof cabin and sail. Sorted!
2. Last taste of civilisation
The island has a plentiful supply of nuts and fruit, not to mention a healthy population of fish, so you will have plenty to eat. But which one food brand are you really going to miss from your old life?
If we're talking food, then no contest, it has to be Hellman's mayonnaise. If I think I might want to live a long time on the island, I might just obey my doctor and opt for Hellman's Lite! Without it, the tuna I catch on the island just won't hit the spot.
3. Best reminder of home
Successful survivalists always claim that it is mental attitude which sees them through. Belief that you will get back home is going to be vital -- so which brand will sum up home best?
If I'm allowed, a solar-powered Kodak carousel projector. I'd spend the lonely hours looking at family pictures of my lovely wife Karen and five children, projected on to the walls of my cave... to remind me there's another life I've left behind, and something to hold on for.
4. Most welcome online brand
Eventually you manage to rig up your own connection to the internet using bits and pieces found on the beach but you have only one chance to log on to a website before it goes down -- which online brand will you choose?
Assuming I've managed to piece together my HP iPAQ from the debris on the beach, I'd log on to Navman website in order to download the world maps and help guide me on my long voyage back home. To be honest, this iPod package is so tricky to use, it would keep me intellectually stimulated for years trying to figure out how to use it... The one I've got at present took me 24 miles out of my way and then dumped me in a hospital car park, declaring "destination arrived"!
5. Ultimate luxury
Self indulgence is hard to come by on a desert island, so what brand would you be most excited to find washed up on the beach?
I think it would have to be a chilled wine cabinet containing some Chateau Palmer claret; the finest wine I've ever been blessed to drink and to be kept for my birthday, and plenty of Tequila Tapatio Blanco, the best tequila in Mexico and something to cheer me up at the end of each day. That's what tequila is all about... it cheers you up!
6. Transferable skills
You already work in the jungle of marketing so there are probably skills which you have acquired through your job which will come in handy -- or you may have other hidden talents. Which of your personal skills will help you to get to grips with life on a desert island?
I'm very self contained and quite stubborn. I've learned that if you just obstinately hang on in there things eventually work out. If you give up, then it's all over. The Duke of Wellington said it much better... something about "... victory going to the last side to leave the field..." so where's my island?
Adrian Whitefoord, founding partner of Pemberton and Whitefoord, comments:
The only problem with those rolls of bubblewrap is the amount of static electricity they generate. After building his shelter with it, Dale's hair would be a cross between Einstein and Ben Gunn from Treasure Island -- still that fearsome countenance would probably help to keep the hostile natives at bay.
Hellman's Mayo has to be pound for 拢 one of the world's most satisfying indulgences. Given the temperatures on the island, though I think Dale would have to gobble it up fairly quickly before it evolved into something less savoury. So waste no time fashioning that fishing rod.
I have a great mental picture of Dale hosting a "Magic Lantern Show" for the local tribe. If nostalgia began to turn to melancholy a few glasses of Claret with the local chief would soon wash away the blues. I would advise against sharing Tequila slammers with the witch doctor though, he has a nasty habit of bringing along his own canapes such as gecko skewers with jellyfish dip or his own version of surf and turf, which comprises of clods of mud softened with sea water.
Since most of the island is uncharted, high tech sat nav would be useless. Much better for Dale to download some ancient maps from www.captain.flint.com. If lucky enough to locate the fabled treasure map of Pegleg McGee, Dale's determined nature would ensure that he eventually found the hidden booty. He could even consider chartering the QE2 on the way back (once discovered) -- paid for in Spanish doubloons obviously.
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