Argos: The Choice Of The Professional, Apparently

In August, Liberal Vision commented on a BBC article which, in turn, unquestioningly regurgitated a load of nonsense produced by New Zealand's University of Otago, one of the world's most ridiculous anti-smoking institutions.

Here was Comrade Beeb's take on it.

The tobacco industry may be using websites such as YouTube to get around a ban on advertising cigarettes, a study says.

The authors analysed 163 clips, of which 20 appeared to be "very professionally made," they say.

Angela Harbutt at LV mirrored my thoughts at the time.

How disappointed must they have been? All that time slaving over a hot pc looking at shed loads of evil…. and their smoking gun (excuse the pun) is …….that 20 pro-smoking videos on YouTube look great?

Who is to say that these brilliant videos were NOT made by a number of motivated, gifted individuals, with a video camera and/or some editing equipment, sharing their passion with the wider world? Why is it that the quality/brilliance of the videos is taken to mean that they are bound to have been made by the tobacco giants or their ad agencies…. Have these people not checked out just how many brilliantly made, professional looking, videos are being put out there on YouTube these days?

I am thinking of emailing the authors of the research study [...] asking if they wouldn’t mind posting links to the 20 videos that looked “very professionally made” so that we cant put them up on LV.

Well, Angela, via an Observer article today, we have a better idea of what they are talking about.

Here is the example they give.

Err, and that's it. 'Very professionally made' with - as the uploader admits - "a digital camera, a mac and too much time on my hands."

Quite obviously, then, categorical proof of tobacco industry involvement for the terminally obsessed - and one must seriously start doubting their sanity soon - tobacco control movement.

Except that stop motion photography isn't new, or even that difficult. For crying out loud, I toured a secondary school this week where 12 year olds were exhibiting more advanced stuff than that clip! In fact, kids were making such films for Screen Test's annual 'Young Film-Makers' competition back in the 1970s, well before the advent of digital cameras and software affordable to just about everyone.

You'd think the BBC might have worked that one out considering they funded the fucking show, and aired the stop motion films. Made. By. Kids!

What's more, just a cursory glance at the other videos uploaded by this user shows that he is a Transformers fan, that's all. He also transforms matchboxes and Durex packets to the theme tune, as well as posting a clip of Transformers in Indonesian.

And ASH - funded by your taxes, remember - describe such an innocent video thus.

Amanda Sandford, research manager at anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said the study's findings were "disturbing but fairly typical of tobacco industry activity".

Amanda. Seek psychiatric help. No, really.

I wonder what the other 19 'professionally made' videos (that can't be revealed as the report is behind a paywall) were like. Something really advanced like using captions, perhaps? Or daring to employ fade and wipe on a £60 Argos Alba?

Good grief.

H/T The Grim Reaper