CHEEKY marketer Messages on Hold is not usually known for taking things too seriously. But a tiff with the City of Perth over a fine one of MoH’s operatives received has escalated to full-blown WA Supreme Court battle – complete with arguments in latin. For those who arrived late, the MoH modus operandi is to insert its message-carrying people into sporting events without paying for the benefit. Normally this takes place inside stadiums, much to the well-documented chagrin of the event organisers and broadcasters who don’t like providing their wares to advertisers pro bono. This time, though, the offence occurred outside WA cricket’s colosseum, the WACA. The MoH’s messenger was issued a ticket by a city ranger for carrying a cardboard cut-out of cricketing maverick Shane Warne during the test match last December. Never known for letting the grass grow beneath him, MoH head Kym Illman has seized the day and turned the whole matter on its head by pursuing the council for acting ultra vires – i.e beyond its own powers. The Note sees notion of vox populi in the claim that the council was trying to regulate, among other things, clothing, carry bags or vehicles. None of us want to be told what to wear. We could go on ad infinitum about where this could all lead, but we’ll leave that to the lawyers.