It's Christmas daddy --

[Space cat]

Has anybody else seen this abomination on their TV screens? It starts out as a pretty hard-hitting "don't drink and drive" message. Nothing wrong with that, except that it has an advert for a taxi firm tacked on the end of it!

I can't believe that the ASA haven't pulled it yet. Are they all on holiday? Until they do, I will change channels whenever it comes on - and that taxi firm can rest assured that they will never get any business from me.

Rant over; time to go.

 

[Blasphemous]

What's wrong with a Taxi firm sponsoring a 'Don't Drink & Drive' campaign?

 

[snico]

Its a brilliant idea and I cant see any problems with it at all. If the taxi firm have paid so much to be the sponsor of the ad then there are no problems with it

 

[conny]

If it results in 1 drink driver not getting behind the wheel it is worth it.
The taxi firm are advertising their business in the best possible way from both sides of the debate/argument, call it what you will.

Its similar to pub chains giving a nominated driver free soft drinks for the night.

 

[nickso]

Its similar to pub chains giving a nominated driver free soft drinks for the night.

as opposed to them costing more than a pint of alchyhol? if i suggested that to my local i think i could well be barred.

 

[imamartian]

Has anybody else seen this abomination on their TV screens? It starts out as a pretty hard-hitting "don't drink and drive" message. Nothing wrong with that, except that it has an advert for a taxi firm tacked on the end of it!

I can't believe that the ASA haven't pulled it yet. Are they all on holiday? Until they do, I will change channels whenever it comes on - and that taxi firm can rest assured that they will never get any business from me.

Rant over; time to go.

are you mad?!!!

abomination? why?

 

[Space cat]

are you mad?!!!

Maybe I am or maybe I'm just getting old (when I read my own post I can almost hear Victor Meldrew talking ) but I'd say it's sponsorship that's gone mad.

I've got used to all those little "ABC sponsors ITV movies" type adverts. They're actually quite useful because they tell me exactly when to drop the hard disc recorder out of fast forward mode. I was less happy when a power company took over the weather forecast because there was a conflict of interests. Maybe they couldn't change the real weather but they could change our perception of it and that was enough.

But hijacking a public service announcement (as they were once called) to sell your own stuff is a step too far. Those PSA's don't pull any punches and that's legitimate if it saves lives. I can also just about accept charities showing us pictures of battered babies or emaciated dogs, but using the same brutal tactics to sell us stuff is just not on. What's worse, you've watched the whole thing before you realize that you've been had!

Where will it end? Will we have a "Don't drive and phone" message ending with "He should've used the XYZ hands free kit." Or how about that old one for smoke alarms. It started with a child opening her Christmas presents and ended with something like "You can replace a dead battery." Will that now be resurrected with a new ending: "Bonco batteries won't die on you."?

But I see from the poll that I'm in a minority on this one so I'll shut up now.