The most aggravating aspect of the Paralympics was the tv coverage, or rather the frequent ad breaks. We had been spoiled by the commercial-free BBC coverage of the Olympics and the switch to Channel 4 came as a shock.
Not that you can blame them. They had bid for and won the UK rights to show the output from the Olympic Broadcasting Service and they had to recoup their investment somehow.
And their coverage was pretty good on the whole. Apart from the ads which seemed to cut in at the most inopportune moment. Like when a tight game of wheelchair basketball was going into its final moments.
The point of this post though are the tv ads themselves. Aren’t they poor? But I suppose they must work or companies wouldn’t waste their money on them, would they?
However, every now and then I come across one that I really enjoy, even if I’m not in the market for the product. One such is the £1,000 Man ad from Moneysupermarket.com.
It’s a brilliant pastiche of the opening credits of those 1870s and 1980s US tv series starring people like David Soul, James Garner and Mr T.
I’ve pulled in the full version from YouTube for anyone out there who only watches BBC or is lucky enough not to be able to get ITV.
I tend to only watch the various BBC channels. You’re right, Channel 4’s coverage was spoilt by all those annoying ads. Because of them I even missed the final of the zimmer frame 20 metres – won by Margaret Roberts from Grantham in Lincolnshire whose sportsmanship left a lot to be desired.
Now you know how we in the US felt watching NBC last month.
YP: What will you done when Thatcher has gone? Sing that Honeybus song I can’t let Maggie go?
Roger: The story of the awful NBC coverage made it into the media over here too.
loved the bit when he appeared betwen her thighs!
( i THINK THAT bit was cut from the UK version)
John: I have seen the section you mention before, but not for some time. Maybe it’s only after the watershed when we’re watching BBC!
Ads are something I just don’t watch- if I do watch non BBC tv then I record and fast forward- or watch online abd do sonething else while the ads run through. But I do like the ad you show here, even thoug I hav eno idea what it is advertsing. However, being obtuse, if I do ever see an ad in cinemas or on tv I make a decision to never buy that product…(not hard to do!)