John Finnemore’s got it in for ‘marketing nonsense’ in the first episode of his radio 4 sketch series Souvenir Programme. Without giving away punchlines…
- Crafty ‘reverse-psyhology’ tactics are employed by on-street fundraisers (“chuggers”: charity muggers.)
- Everything needs its own slogan, up to and including a mediocre school – where superlatives like “excellence” or even “good” are out of the question.
- Banks’ interest rates – in reality “the middle point between what’s profitable and what’s saleable” – become a trophy product for YOU the hero (…but also YOU anybody else. Anyone. Really.)
Comedy plays a vital role in the battle against illogical trends.
Pictured: Halifax bank’s ‘kind of person’, working class hero Linda Parker.
