There is a trend that I've noticed whilst using the Underground in recent weeks that has set me thinking about the role of advertising as a means of controlling the public's sense of well-being.
If you look at the adverts on an average tube station, you will find among the film, beauty and lifestyle product advertisements that there is another kind of marketing device that appears a lot. Transport for London produces its own advertisements, some banal, and some more insidious. The banal messages often take the form of a picture of a rugby team, or a wizard, or a group of mime artists, recommending a course of action that improves peoples' usage of the tube by suggesting that they act in a curteous and orderly way when boarding the trains or waiting on the platforms. This is pretty obvious stuff, and might not be necessary if people were all equally polite (this is something I may return to in a future post).
The more insidious messages are those that present blanket, unqualified statements, presented in large fonts, unrelated to personal conduct on London transport. One of the most notable says "Buses are getting better". I find that sort of remark worrying. The transmission of the message is facilitated by the Mayor of London's huge publicity budget (I read recently that it's larger than that of Downing Street, but I haven't been able to substantiate that from searching the internet yet), but that budget comes, of course, from the taxpayer's pocket.
What this means is that we pay taxes to a body that pays for advertising to inform us that our lives are supposed to be improving in some nebulous, unquantified way. It implies that we wouldn't be able to notice for ourselves if our lives were improving (and perhaps this is the problem - we probably do know best). Therefore, our money is spent on telling us that we are happier now than we were in some past period, implied as being before we elected this mayor. If effective, this is cyclical - we believe our lives have improved in some way so we should re-elect the mayor who can successfully convince us (with the use of our own money) that we are happier. Very Orwellian, if you ask me.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Knock Knock Ginger/ Creative Expression
Click on the title to go to the blog of my Canadian mate, Matt. He's got some recordings of his new band, Knock Knock Ginger, that you can download.
It always warms my heart when I hear or read about a friend getting excited about something musical. I have several friends who may read this who I've tried to coerce into starting their own bands, just because I know how rewarding the whole exercise can be, when it turns out in a way that pleases the musicians writing and performing it, regardless of whether other people like it.
As far as I'm concerned, music is something worth being excited about.
It always warms my heart when I hear or read about a friend getting excited about something musical. I have several friends who may read this who I've tried to coerce into starting their own bands, just because I know how rewarding the whole exercise can be, when it turns out in a way that pleases the musicians writing and performing it, regardless of whether other people like it.
As far as I'm concerned, music is something worth being excited about.
Whitechapel pt II
I've now spent a week in my new flat, shared with Duncan, and I have to say that it's a great little flat. I haven't even had to turn on the heating yet, it's that cozy! Think of the savings, mwhahahhahaha.
Some bandit has been parking in our private parking space, which we intend to sublet, but I have started to take note of number plates so that persistent parking thieves can be identified (I feel like such a Neighbourhood Watch geek having written that).
Over the course of the weekend, we've been out for a curry down Brick Lane, and yesterday went to look at Spitalfields market, which is also within walking distance. I'm quite looking forward to spending more time around Whitechapel, Shoreditch, and so on.
Some bandit has been parking in our private parking space, which we intend to sublet, but I have started to take note of number plates so that persistent parking thieves can be identified (I feel like such a Neighbourhood Watch geek having written that).
Over the course of the weekend, we've been out for a curry down Brick Lane, and yesterday went to look at Spitalfields market, which is also within walking distance. I'm quite looking forward to spending more time around Whitechapel, Shoreditch, and so on.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
John Simpson is my new hero
For the past few weeks I've been reading the BBC correspondent John Simpson's 2nd autobiographical book, 'A Mad World, My Masters', and I've been _thoroughly_ impressed by the man's outlook. To me, Simpson represents a nobility and integrity that are missing from so much of the news media (print or broadcast) and from the wider world, for that matter. Unfortunately I'm not the world's quickest reader, but I've slowly digested a number of the thoughts from the book over the period of reading it on my recent journeys on public transport, and will be reproducing some short excerpts here on my blog.
I thought that a short section on the First World/Third World narcotics relationship manifest in Peruvian cocaine farmers was particularly succinct:
"They were coca's slaves, condemned to a life of fear and criminality by the habit of Western counties - in this case the United States, but it could equally well have been the European Union - of dumping their surplus produce on the undefended markets of the Third World. This in turn stimulates the drug industry, and Western countries are obliged to tax their citizens more in order to pay the high social costs of addiction and crime. Could anything be more absurd?"
More excerpts from Simpson soon.
I thought that a short section on the First World/Third World narcotics relationship manifest in Peruvian cocaine farmers was particularly succinct:
"They were coca's slaves, condemned to a life of fear and criminality by the habit of Western counties - in this case the United States, but it could equally well have been the European Union - of dumping their surplus produce on the undefended markets of the Third World. This in turn stimulates the drug industry, and Western countries are obliged to tax their citizens more in order to pay the high social costs of addiction and crime. Could anything be more absurd?"
More excerpts from Simpson soon.
Alas Cricklewood, farewell
At the end of this week I'll be leaving my flat in Cricklewood behind to move to my new place in Whitechapel. There are several things I'll miss, and have to find replacements for. For a start, I'll need to find a new corner shop where I can walk in at 4 in the morning and say to them "oh look, you've stopped serving alcohol. Or have you?" with a sly wink. Then I'll need to find a local greasy spoon to compete with the Broadway Cafe where my favourite Turkish family have faithfully served me qual fry-ups and dependable, but wierdly-made, cups of tea for the last year or so. Ah, nostalgia, how I love thee!
[the image above comes from a blog connected to a totally different Cricklewood in America, but worth checking out nonetheless - just click the title to this post and it'll take you there]
[the image above comes from a blog connected to a totally different Cricklewood in America, but worth checking out nonetheless - just click the title to this post and it'll take you there]
!!!
Aaaargh, so many different things to do, so much work!
To quote the sadly-missed band, Cable, "I need to vomit on my feet so I can taste again"
To quote the sadly-missed band, Cable, "I need to vomit on my feet so I can taste again"
Friday, October 08, 2004
Tools of the Taffia
Let the rant commence. My morning/moronic holiday viewing of Trisha followed by This Morning was rudely interrupted today by a very disturbing commercial advert for www.WorkPlayLive.org, a new Welsh Language promotion website. It contains such gems as
"More and more businesses are realizing the benefits of using Welsh in the workplace - on signs, packaging, leaflets, websites and many employ bilingual staff. You'll soon be able to spot Welsh speaking staff easily - look out for the orange badge!".
Uh-huh. Okay. So what are these benefits and why aren't they listed?
There are 2 things that deeply trouble me about this sort of promotion.
• Why do you need to promote the Welsh language if it's so great? Wouldn't people just choose to speak it? Incidentally, only 21% of the population can speak any Welsh at all, according to the last census, and 98% of all households in Wales are English-speaking households.
• Why should taxpayers fork out for promoting the Welsh language? It's recognised that there is significant cost incurred in producing bilingual literature, signs, and so on, but in this case the Welsh Assembly is spending taxes on English-language television advertising on English-language TV. Expensive, misplaced and pushing a questionable agenda, in my opinion.
For the Economist's better-reasoned discussion of the serious implications of this, have a look at:
http://www.welshdragon.net/resources/Articles/patriot.shtml
"More and more businesses are realizing the benefits of using Welsh in the workplace - on signs, packaging, leaflets, websites and many employ bilingual staff. You'll soon be able to spot Welsh speaking staff easily - look out for the orange badge!".
Uh-huh. Okay. So what are these benefits and why aren't they listed?
There are 2 things that deeply trouble me about this sort of promotion.
• Why do you need to promote the Welsh language if it's so great? Wouldn't people just choose to speak it? Incidentally, only 21% of the population can speak any Welsh at all, according to the last census, and 98% of all households in Wales are English-speaking households.
• Why should taxpayers fork out for promoting the Welsh language? It's recognised that there is significant cost incurred in producing bilingual literature, signs, and so on, but in this case the Welsh Assembly is spending taxes on English-language television advertising on English-language TV. Expensive, misplaced and pushing a questionable agenda, in my opinion.
For the Economist's better-reasoned discussion of the serious implications of this, have a look at:
http://www.welshdragon.net/resources/Articles/patriot.shtml
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Land Rover
I went to a Land Rover sales room in Cardiff a couple of days ago. It was quite an amusing experience. Land Rover dealerships seem to have an actual socio-political outlook; they advertise a 'lifestyle', an experience if you like, rather than the just the cars they sell. Now, some of this is obvious: the Countryside Alliance types are most often farmers, and the average farmer is presumably one of the main buyers of these vehicles, because they're well-suited to the purpose. But it goes deeper than that. The sofa area with the plasma TVs and the free coffee had a carefully-selected variety of literature. The Daily Telegraph was the only paper available, and the magazines were mainly Country Living and that sort of thing. Then there was the sales girl who asked if we needed any help - she was wearing one of those zip-up bodywarmer things and funny trousers that horse-riding people wear. And then to top it off there was a big surreal diorama featuring a meticulously-clean Land Rover in a woodland setting. I do wonder if any urbanite Labour or Lib-Dem voters drive these vehicles, and if they do, how they deal with the obvious Tory-centric nature of the showrooms. On the way home, we discussed the idea of a special edition model with Margaret Thatcher decals. Available in any colour, as long as it's blue.
Friday, October 01, 2004
How are you supposed to title this?
It's hard to imagine anyone getting enthusiastic about urinals, but lo and behold, there is a huge fansite. And yes, it is worth your time to check out the top-ten urinals. They have some serious designs on this site!
Whitechapel
Today I put down a holding deposit on a 2-bedroom flat which I'll be moving into with my mate Duncan, 2 weeks tomorrow! I'm quite excited to be moving into Whitechapel, the equal-cheapest street on the Monopoly board, though I think it may cost us a little more than £60. I'm waiting for the estate agents to get back to me on that one.
Also, our new local pub (about 30 feet away from where we'll be living) is the Blind Beggar, where the Kray Twins murdered people. Great days!
Also, our new local pub (about 30 feet away from where we'll be living) is the Blind Beggar, where the Kray Twins murdered people. Great days!
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