Julia M has had a justified rant at the righteous over at Ambush Predator, about this piece of morally indignant idiocy.
Tesco and Asda were condemned last night for selling a string of books and CDs with the F-word in their titles.
The items were available on their websites, where they were easily accessible to children.
It was an error, of course. Both supermarkets normally filter these things out:They appeared even if inoffensive words from their titles were entered into the sites' search engines, with the potential to shock and offend shoppers.
Asda quickly apologised when The Mail on Sunday brought the books and CDs to its attention and promptly removed them from its stock list.
So, problem solved, right?
Oh, no:Tesco explained that its technological filter system, designed to prevent any products with offensive titles from appearing on its main site, had been faulty. It has since been repaired, making the titles more difficult to view.
But MPs and campaigners are now questioning whether a change in the law is necessary to prevent unlimited access to such products.
I’ll save you the trouble – NO!
Not that that will stop the bandwagon jumpers, of course, for whom this represents a chance to get their names in the media:Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, criticised falling standards of decency among retailers. He said: ‘In terms of magazines, CDs and DVDs, standards seem to be slipping. If the industry can’t collectively sort itself out then we must seriously look into external regulation. If they can’t regulate themselves, we may have to introduce a statutory code.’
They are regulating themselves – this was a simple error, which when brought to their attention, was quickly fixed.
Exactly. Except this is never enough for the righteous, as we have experienced before and will no doubt see again.
This is why Guinness are being rather naive in thinking that stating the amount of alcohol units on the side of the glass is going to appease these health crusaders.
Guinness is claiming an industry first with plans to put the number of units of alcohol on the side of a pint glass. The 500,000 new glasses that will be issued to pubs and bars from today will also mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin by Arthur Guinness.
Diageo, the owner of Guinness, said it hoped that the move would help drinkers to stay within the Government’s recommended guidelines on alcohol consumption.
John Roscoe, Guinness marketing director, said: “If the glasses are effective, it would be good to see the practice become more widespread.”
It won't work. The righteous don't want gestures like this, they lust for complete control. Despite alcohol ads all carrying the 'Drink Responsibly' slogan, there are still regular calls for complete bans on alcohol advertising. After a few months, with alcohol consumption figures remaining the same, as they will do, the righteous will be jumping up and down screeching that drinks firms aren't doing enough. They will push for an advertising ban and then move on to calling for Government enforced price hikes, with a view to forcibly limiting personal alcohol intake in the future by other means (swiping ID cards, anyone?).
It's always the same. Wetherspoons & Pizza Hut are two high-profile examples of chains that had banned smoking before the ban, but it wasn't enough for the righteous, they wanted it all, and no amount of self-adjustment by the hospitality trade short of full prohibition would ever have satisfied them.
The screw is being turned on alcohol now and the same type of thinking behind the wailing and gnashing of teeth over books and CDs in supermarkets will be wheeled out in due course.
McVities can reduce fat in their biscuits voluntarily if they like. It won't matter a jot. Crisp manufacturers can reduce salt and fat, same story, it won't render them immune from the bansturbators.
When will businesses learn that you can't appease these people? The only line of defence is attack, using every facet of the vast amount of clout that their industries can command.
I'm sure a book I read last year is in that list of 'smutty' titles at Asda, but it is an extremely apt title. "Is it just me or is everything shit?"
