Grumpy

There are many things that make me grumpy.

No, really - there's a long list. A really, REALLY long list.

And on that list is something that's inherent in society at large. It's called advertising.

Lets suppose we have two products, A and B. They are for all practical purposes identical. So to get you to buy B, not A they advertise. Be this TV adds, product placements or just great big posters dotted around the place.

This irritates me because if A and B were different then it wouldn't be needed. Imagine, if A was better for one purpose, and B for another. If you had to do something you would simply buy the better product for your task. Advertising would be pointless.

There are two reasons to advertise - your product is not clearly better then the opposition....or no one knows what you make.

It's one thing to tell the world "I exist". Its another to try and worm your way into peoples minds. To make them think "I prefer that one" simply because you've burnt more money on air time.

What brought sudden hatred on tonight?

Because I've just been subjected to a barrage of (really, really pretty) women on TV telling me that I need product xxx to leave my hair so much softer and shinier. That I need lotion yyy to leave my skin soft and wrinkle free. That for the perfect kissable lips I need zzz lipstick available in 4 billion colours.

But it wasn't the products that drove my mind to rage against the lies.

Or that this was in the middle of my sodding sci-fi show, on a channel aimed virtually exclusively at men who don't have to share the remote with someone who might actually want any of these products.

Nope - the truly offensive thing was that I could only spot this because I wasn't interested in the products.

If I was interested - if they were selling...perhaps....Masters of Orion 3, could I have been objective?

Or would they have slipped past my inner cynicism and persuaded me that maybe it's worth a try....

Not selling things because they work, but because they are well presented as being better then rivals by people calculated to distract you, leaving you vulnerable to the deceit.

As I said, it makes me grumpy.

That said, falling asleep and missing the ending really didn't help!