| Diary Entries June 7, 2010 April 29, 2010 October 27, 2009 July 25, 2009 July 18, 2009 July 12, 2009 July 5, 2009 June 27, 2009 June 25, 2009 June 20, 2009 June 13, 2009 June 6, 2009 May 30, 2009 May 23, 2009 May 16, 2009 May 9, 2009 May 3, 2009 April 25, 2009 April 18, 2009 April 11, 2009 April 4, 2009 March 28, 2009 March 21, 2009 March 14, 2009 March 7, 2009 February 28, 2009 February 21, 2009 February 14, 2009 February 7, 2009 January 24, 2009 January 17, 2009 January 10, 2009 January 3, 2009 December 27, 2008 December 20, 2008 December 13, 2008 December 6, 2008 December 1, 2008 November 24, 2008 November 17, 2008 November 10, 2008 October 27, 2008 October 20, 2008 October 13, 2008 October 6, 2008 September 29, 2008 September 23, 2008 September 15, 2008 September 8, 2008 September 1, 2008 August 26, 2008 August 18, 2008 August 8, 2008 July 28, 2008 July 21, 2008 July 15, 2008 July 07, 2008 June 30, 2008 June 23, 2008 June 16, 2008 June 10, 2008 May 26, 2008 May 19, 2008 May 12, 2008 May 5, 2008 April 29, 2008 April 14, 2008 April 9, 2008 April 1, 2008 March 25, 2008 March 18, 2008 March 11, 2008 March 04, 2008 February 26, 2008 February 19, 2008 February 13, 2008 January 29, 2008 January 22, 2008 January 15, 2008 January 8, 2008 January 1, 2008 December 18, 2007 December 10, 2007 November 20, 2007 October 23, 2007 October 3, 2007 September 16, 2007 September 9, 2007 August 28, 2007 August 21, 2007 August 14, 2007 August 7, 2007 July 24, 2007 July 17, 2007 July 10, 2007 July 03, 2007 June 27, 2007 June 17, 2007 June 11, 2007 June 4, 2007 May 27, 2007 May 22, 2007 May 07, 2007 April 10, 2007 March 20, 2007 March 13, 2007 March 6, 2007 February 27, 2007 February 22, 2007 February 13, 2007 February 6, 2007 January 30, 2007 January 15, 2007 December 12, 2006 November 28, 2006 November 13, 2006 November 7, 2006 October 31, 2006 October 24, 2006 November, 2006 October 3, 2006 September 26, 2006 September 21, 2006 September 11, 2006 September 05, 2006 August 11, 2006 August 8, 2006 |
Well it's nice to see that sanity has prevailed in the matter of the very misleading Coke Cola ad campaign featuring actress Kerry Armstrong, supposedly "busting the myths that Coke is bad for you." The ads have been withdrawn and Coke has taken out hugely expensive ads in the national newspapers explaining their reasoning behind the campaign which, they admit, probably wasn't exactly clear on all points. I thought her action a strange and disappointing thing for a popular actress to endorse at the time and now it leaves her with a severely damaged credibility rating, well in my book anyway. Celebrities endorsing products, companies etc (for which we presume they are well paid) have been burned before this and left with egg on their face if a fattened bank account. The thing that irritates me (like the cash for comment scandal) is just how gullible do advertisers think we consumers are?
Speaking of advertising (and I used to work as a copywriter in a topnotch ad agency but with a very ethical leader) ads are all around us and are hard to avoid. But there is one area that hasn't, well, recently, been invaded by ads and that's books!
I'm not advocating this by any means, I can see straight away how authors and publishers could be compromised, by product placement. There was quite a kerfuffle when the jewellery house Bulgari asked Fay Weldon to write a booked based on their story. It was supposed to be an in house publication but Bulgari and I assume, her publisher, thought it so good it was released as a novel. And what about authors being paid to name characters in a book after people for money, though we're told the it's donated to charity. Anyway, what got me thinking about this, is a little book I just bought written by esteemed novelist Sir Walter Scott called "Anne of Geierstein." Apparently it was a favourite of Queen Victoria. My edition published in 1892 and like a lot of those publications carries several pages of ads inside the covers - to defray costs of its sixpence cover price no doubt. They're quaint - Taddys Myrtle Grove Tobacco and Cigarette (as smoked by Sir Walter Raleigh), The National Provident Institution - where all profits are divided amongst the assured, a brand of French steel pens, Mellins Food for Infants and Invalids and the Carbolic Smoke Ball, guaranteed to cure all manner of ailments, will last for months, cost ten shillings, post free. One could also purchase Keating's Powder to kill bugs, fleas, moths, beetles, mosquitoes. There's a corset ad, one for bunion plaster (recommended by Lady Maude), a pianoforte and one for a new novel by Mr George Gissing. Well modern publishers do plug books in some novels. I'm trying to think how I'd feel having similar ads on my next book!
Cheers
Di’s latest book The Islands, published by Pan Macmillan, is now on sale.
|
