We’ve all seen them, in fact they’re hard to miss. The famous and not-so-famous, using their status to help flog some product or other.
There they are, with a shit-eating smirk and the sincerity of a used car salesman, telling how much of a difference it will make to our lives if we buy this, that or the other. There’s nothing new under the sun of course, and celebrity endorsements have been around for donkey’s. Who, for example, could possibly forget the nation’s favourite granny, Thora Hird, being put up to this one;
‘Churchill’s are the only stairlift company I trust, and I recommend them to you’
(translation into English; ‘they’re paying me loadsa money to use my name’)
Then there’s dear old Michael ‘Parky’ Parkinson feeding us this line;
‘We’d all like to leave something for our loved ones or to help with funeral costs, and with Sun Life Over 50s Plan, you can do just that. The first month’s premium is free, and you get a free pen just for applying’
(translation into English; ‘they’re paying me loadsa money to use my name’)
We all know why companies do it. They want an influential figure who they think ‘fits’ the product, and relates to the target audience. Suave George Clooney is there to give ‘Martini’ a sophisticated allure. On the other hand, Ray ‘Jack the Lad’ Winston is there to remind goggle-eyed SkySport watchers every five minutes that he ‘bets wisponsibly wiv bet365’. Horses for courses.
Naturally Joe Public is meant to be reassured by the sight of a well-known face fronting up a product. They’re famous, right? They must be nice, we can trust them not to try to dupe us. Definitely. So ‘Parky’ punts a saving plan to gullible oldies, even though ‘Which?’ magazine and other consumer groups warn that it’s a fucking shit deal which commits you to pay the premium for life, and will probably pay out less than the sum paid in. And we can all remember Mr Savile back in the day, urging us to travel on British Rail. Such a nice, decent man. Then there was good ol’ John Peel, still telling us that ‘it’s an Equitable Life’, even as the company collapsed into ruin. I was one of thousands caught out by that campaign, but I bet you got your cash, you Scouse cunt. Still we keep falling for it. Must do, because companies continue to pour millions into the pockets of people who’ve already got loads; to persuade us to shell out our hard earned on stuff we probably don’t really want or need, just so that we’ll think we’re in good company.
Fuck off you devious, manipulative, avaricious cunts.
Nominated by Ron Knee