The charity phenomenon known as the "ice bucket challenge" is now soaking into the gold threads of our corporate suits.
On Friday, ANZ's Australian boss Phil Chronican will have a bucket of ice poured on his head to raise money for motor neuron disease ALS.
He was nominated by Google's Australian boss Maile Carnegie, who completed the challenge prior to a panel session with Chronican on Thursday.
Under the rules of the ice bucket challenge, the person on the receiving end of the bucketing nominates three people to do the same once they have completed the task.
Carnegie also nominated fellow panellist, Credit Suisse banking analyst Jarrod Martin and the moderator, The Australian Financial Review's Paul Smith.
So who will Chronican choose?
ANZ boss Mike Smith strikes CBD as the kind of guy who thinks an ice bucket is for champagne only. And as Chronican is probably aware, now would not be the time to upset the boss given that the bank is in the middle of performance reviews.
Maybe he could skip a pay grade and go for chairman David Gonski instead.
Laughs by the flagon
There was a joke doing the rounds at the perpetual restructuring and write-down machine that is Treasury Wine Estates. No, not the train wreck financial results that were handed down on Thursday.
The joke goes that TWE insiders have been praying the rumour is true that former Coca Cola Amatil boss Terry Davis is advising one of the potential bidders, given his track record at overpaying for assets.
How hilarious.
His reputation goes back to the days when he ran the TWE business as part of the Foster's brewing empire.
Davis was running the plonk shop when it acquired the US-based Beringer wine business. For those who have come late to the story, Beringer has done for TWE what Billiton did for BHP.
New TWE boss Michael Clarke is certainly getting the last laugh, though. He told a conference call on Thursday that the company was not only on the acquisition trail - given it has such a brilliant track record on this front - but its big target is the US of A.
They must be howling with laughter at corporate HQ.
Go Harvey!
Would you like a thoroughbred racehorse with that wide screen television, sir? Or take the nag on 24-month, interest-free terms?
Harvey Norman founder Gerry Harvey has ended up with a bit more horse flesh than he planned after calling in Nathan Tinkler's debts to his Magic Millions horse trading shop this week.
So much for Tinkler's mythical buyer - willing to pay $130 million "lock, stock and barrel" in May.
At least we know for sure that Tinkler is not returning to his boganaire ways in a hurry.
"I will categorically say there are no racing stables or football teams in my future and that Nathan Tinkler is just going to focus on what he knows and he thinks he's pretty good at," he told the Financial Times in June. "That was another time in my life; call it young and foolish. I've had to put it down to experience," he said from his office in Singapore.
At least he is willing to admit to a few flaws.
"I still don't think I've learnt to find my way around the financial world. It's something I still probably struggle with today. Like I said, I'm probably short on detail; big on ideas and short on detail," he says.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
