The Stag Company didn’t make a new year’s resolution this year. It’s not that we feel like we’re some specimen of absolute perfection, or anything, oh no, just that we know better than to weigh ourselves down with some flimsy pact that we’ll beat ourselves up with once we break it in 6 weeks time. No, friends, we didn’t make a new year’s resolution but if there’s one thing we are doing a lot more of in 2012, it’s giving stuff away. With the Mayans or Nostradamus or John Cusack proclaiming the apocalypse as imminent, we want to leave this world a better place and it’s in that spirit that we resolve to make like Jesus and give a ton of stuff away on our Facebook page.

Regular readers of the blog will already know that a Newcastle stag do is at stake in our hunt for Britain’s Most Under the Thumb Man in conjunction with Zoo Magazine, but we’ve also teamed up with the fine fellows of Zomball to give away their latest offering, Stag Night of the Dead.

Stag Night of the Dead is a new independent British film starring Sebastian Street as Dean, the groom-to-be who is faced with an army of the undead in a comedy horror film that has been described by one reviewer as “The Wedding Singer meets Shaun of the Dead”. We should also add that it contains a pretty tidy zombie as well as Sophie Lovell Anderson (type that one into Google, trust us) as the eye candy that will distract you from the brain-eating and the blood.

If you’re the impatient type and can’t handle the tension of waiting to see if you’ve been chosen as a winner, you can order a copy here and the trailer is below…

We’re giving away 2 shiny new copies to you fine readers, all that we’re asking is that you get over to our Facebook page, like it and answer the stupidly easy question that we’ve set in a bid to get as many entrants as possible… well, honesty’s the best policy, innit?

Once you like our page you’ll be given a discount code to use against your stag do too – don’t say we don’t give you anything, now, will you?

HOW TO ENTER: Visit the afore-mentioned Facebook page and answer the following question:

Q: Which computer game is this zombie taken from?

A) Silent Hill
B) Dead Rising
C) Resident Evil

As you might be aware, The Stag Company announced yesterday that it was teaming up with Zoo Magazine to find Britain’s Most Under the Thumb Man to be in with a chance of winning a Newcastle stag do or lad’s weekend. So, what better time, then, to delve into the murky world of celebrity to uncover some of the most under the thumb men in show business? Through the ages, there’s nothing new about being totally whipped by the missus – Samson was kept on a tight rein by Delilah, John Lennon by Yoko Ono and former US President referred to his wife as “Mommy”. Who are the present day equivalents, though?

In no particular order

1. Jusin Bieber

I confess to asking who Justin Bieber was to a colleague last month, but now I’ve been clued in, this list couldn’t pass without mention of the helium-voiced troubadour. His relationship with Selena Gomez is immediately obvious, probably because he’s always got an arm around her or tweeting declarations of love.

2. Denzel Washington

The actor has been married to his wife for nearly 30 years, which you would think takes an enormous quantity of “give and take”, not so according to Denzel himself, “I do what she tells me,” was his secret. Training Day will never be the same again.

3. Seal

Matching outfits do not a good look make. Seal starting seeing model Heidi Klum while she was pregnant with someone else’s child and hasn’t looked back, storming the red carpet in the same clothes. Bad times.

4. David Beckham

Beckham turned down a lucrative opportunity to end his career at Paris Saint Germain in this transfer window because Victoria insisted on keeping their children in school in LA. Kiss goodbye to the Champions League D-Beck, or grow a pair.

5. Tim Burton

Any director who casts his wife in 99.999999% of his films is seriously not wearing the trousers. This also poses some tricky questions about his relationship with Johnny Depp too, we reckon.

So there you have it, 5 men who really need to redefine the lines of their relationships. If you have a friend who has a similar problem keeping his iron lady in check, visit our Facebook page and find out how to submit your pussy-whipped pal as “Britain’s Most Under the Thumb Man 2012″ with the home of stag do ideas and Zoo Magazine.

There’s no better place to put together your stag do ideas than the local pub over a few jars of the cold stuff and before, we admit, perhaps we’d been slow to move with the times when it came to embracing new technologies. Sure, we’re no Neanderthals, banging rocks together to light our fireworks, but the experience of planning stag nights on a smartphone was probably similarly hard work – good thing, then, that we’ve been at work over the last few weeks to make booking your stag do on the move as easy as… y’know… using matches or a lighter to light the afore-mentioned fireworks…

Ahem.

Screen grab of mobile site

We’ve taken our streamlined quote builder and planted it onto the touchscreen of your smartphone meaning you can select the activities that you want in the destination of your choice, all gloriously presented in the palm of your hand, good eh? We found that over a quarter of our website traffic was coming from mobile devices so we sought to make sure that the experience was as simple and user-friendly as possible.

Marketing Manager Keith White said: “The new mobile site makes it incredibly easy to book a stag weekend – when we recognised that a quarter of our visits were coming from mobile phone devices, we knew it was time to do something,

“The new site is optimized with the iPhone in mind and it means that when stag do groups meet up in the pub of a night, they can put together their perfect weekend right there and then in front of the football over a pint.”

We’d love to hear your feedback on your experiences using the new mobile site, so please give me an email at mark.booth@thestagcompany.com with your thoughts and you’ll be in with a chance of winning a discount code for a Riga stag do.

Stag Do in Europe

British Airways were first to announce that there will be a number of last-minute deals available on their website, especially for customers looking for a stag do in Europe.

“Yet again the Great British summer has proved a complete wash out so we are seeing a heavy demand from our UK customers for last minute overseas holidays,” commented Claire Bentley, managing director of BA Holidays.

Easyjet were next to move, apparently the Royal airline of choice at the minute with Prince William flying back from Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips’ wedding on the provider. Easyjet have announced a whole new line of flights out of London Southend, with at least half an eye on London 2012. The Barcelona, Ibiza and Amsterdam stag do will be serviced by the new routes which promise a budget alternative to more heavyweight providers.

“The people of East London and Essex will love having more choice and a greater range of destinations to fly to, and I’m sure that easyJet services to Southend will also be popular for Europeans wanting to fly to London next year.” Managing director of Southend Airport, Alistair Welch, added “easyJet passengers will experience the state-of-the-art terminal and easy access to the dedicated railway station.”

Big licks from Alistair there, meaning if you’re living in the south, there’s never been a better time to book your stag weekend that gives you air miles without hitting your pocket hard. No excuse to stay home this winter/next year – Europe awaits.

We’ve been feeling the pain of all the stag groups that have had their party weekends ruined by the volcanic ash cloud that has grounded flights during the past week. So we at The Stag Company have decided to do our best to ease the disappointment.

If you have had your stag do plans ruined then give us a call and we’ll arrange an emergency weekend to remember for you and your group for a bargain price.

Call us on 0844 826 3119 and we’ll do the rest.

Guys, up and down the country people are feeling the pinch of the economy, but even if you are watching the pennies, it certainly doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on the action when it comes to your stag weekend. Hopefully this is a once in a lifetime occasion and you deserve to push the boat out for you and your friends. We know what it’s like when finding that beer money is a little harder and that’s why we’ve created this unbelievable package for you at the moment. I almost couldn’t believe my little eyes and ears when they told me we could put together an overnight stag weekend package, with an activity for only £59! But, we can, we did, and below I’ll tell you all about it.

Nottingham stag weekends

Just off the M1 in the middle off the country, is the brilliant city of Nottingham. Nottingham has fast established itself a reputation for being a top stag weekend destination. A combination of great stag weekend activity centres and an unrivalled nightlife have helped it mark its territory. It made sense for us to give you a special offer in this brilliant location. From the Old Market Square to the Lace Market, you’ll find plenty of top establishments to eat and drink in whilst wandering through this great historic city.

Accommodation

Unbelievably, for less than the cost of a big night out, we’ll actually sort you out with a centrally located hotel and you don’t have to worry about it being some dingy hostel either. We’ve managed to get this price through pure bargaining power and all our lads on this offer will enjoy a 3* standard of hotel.

Paintballing

As if letting you loose for a stag night in Nottingham wasn’t enough, we’ve also thrown in a full day’s worth of paintballing for you including lunch and 100 free paintballs. A stag weekend just isn’t a stag weekend unless there’s bruises involved! Get ready to stalk hunt and shoot with your fellow team mates as you compete on the battle field to defend your honour as a paintballing stag soldier. Take no prisoners.

Nightclub

After you’ve flexed your muscles on the paintball field, get ready to flex those dancing muscles. We’ve got guest list entry for you and the guys at a top Nottingham nightclub. Get ready to strut your stuff and watch the girls swoon at your stories of war.

Lap dancing and Casino

After a weary day in the trenches, all stag soldiers should be able to relax and unwind by watching some half naked ladies twist and turn round a pole with some moves and techniques that will have your jaw on the floor. We’ve arranged it so that stags on this special offer get the VIP treatment at a top gentleman’s club so sit back, relax and enjoy the view from the comfort of your seat. If that wasn’t enough excitement we’re sending you to the casino as well to get the adrenaline pumping from having a little flutter at the tables.
We couldn’t have squeezed in more if we’d tried and we know you’re going to love this package. For more info or to book whilst this is on offer call the office today on 0844 826 3119.