Last week, I was watching one of the Prime Minister's speeches which was being covered on Sky News at about 11 AM. Halfway through the speech, Sky interrupted it to bring the viewer adverts. Out of interest, I wrote down what they were.
· An advert for Starlings -- a TV programme
· PPI Claim Back -- lawyers trying to get your money
· KFC -- fast food advert
· Save with Santander -- bank advert
· Go Compare -- insurance advert
· Castle Cover -- more insurance
· Go Cat -- pet food advert
· Macmillan Cancer -- charity advert
· PPI claim back -- again
Interesting, firstly because Sky was quite happy to cut into the Prime Minister's time. To me, this shows a general disregard for politicians, and on top of that, it feels vaguely insulting. I know that the Prime Minister is hardly popular at the moment, particularly among Murdoch companies, but it was the nature of the adverts that was really irritating. It wasn't even as if they were worth watching, with the possible exception of the charity advert.
In fact, on the whole they were designed to appeal to a target audience of the poor, the unemployed and the desperate who may be listening at this time of day; for example with adverts designed to encourage people to make injury claims. Not good.
So on the whole, commercialism wins out - and of the most exploitative kinds, preferring to encourage the compensation culture of accident claimants rather than respect for public figures, whether you agree with their policies or not. It's not even as if there was anything in those adverts to encourage people to work, to extend their skills - claim paperwork aside - or to better their minds. I know the BBC has its faults, and some might argue, biases, but at least there are no adverts or advert breaks.
