Wednesday 7 October 2020

A rant about advertising. Medical treatment equality. Recycling plastic bags and pinching baskets.

Having watched quite a lot of stuff on purchased box sets - often predating our having Netflix and so on available - I had grown used to seeing programmes in their entirety without the interruption of adverts. Recently we have found a lot of interesting stuff on Walter Presents but unfortunately, yes, there are regular breaks for adverts. I accept that these companies have to get their revenue from somewhere and advertising is a reliable source for them but, oh, those adverts can drive a body crazy. 


There are all the banks trying to persuade us that they are “there for us”, in these trying times when we are “all in it together”.  Really? And who makes the most profit?


Then there are the FOMO adverts - fear of missing out - telling us that there is JOY or there is MISSING OUT, again exploiting these times of people being isolated. Some poor soul or even a couple is pictured sitting lonely on the sofa and then a pizza bursts through the wall and they are instantly cheered up and find something to watch on the telly. And the series we plan to watch is, of course, sponsored by said pizza company. So much for reminding everyone to eat healthily and tackle the nations’s obesity problem.


Among the most annoying is all the publicity for gambling apps on your phone, with reminders to PLAY RESPONSIBLY and to KEEP GAMBLING FUN. This is another of those problem areas the government goes on about, when they remember! So, if gambling is such a big addictive problem - and it is - why do these adverts continue? Why do football pitches have rolling betting adverts and indeed why are some teams sponsored by betting companies? After all, we no longer have adverts for cigarettes!


However, at the moment my pet hate is the reminder to wash our hands - delivered by Peppa Pig and involving a song all about “bubbly, scrubbly” nonsense, to the tune of “Row, row, row, your boat, gently down the stream”. I’m sure it’s a lovely bit of public information  animation aimed at five year old. It would go very nicely in between stories about My Little Pony or Paw Patrol. But why, oh, why does it appear between segments of homicide detective series or other stuff that clearly is intended for after the nine o’clock deadline? Adults do not need patronising pigs to remind us to wash our hands!


Okay! Rant over!


In a news item discussing Donald Trump’s super short visit to hospital with Coronavirus I read about some doctors both over-treating and under-treating VIPs. While it should really be medical business as usual for everyone, doctors can be reluctant to speak harshly and insist on unpleasant treatments, even if necessary, for fear of upsetting VIP patients. How about this example:


“In an academic paper an expert gave one example of the treatment of a prominent person’s 14-year-old daughter. A thorough joint psychiatry appointment with her parents led to a diagnosis of depression and “psychogenic vomiting”. But before her third psychiatry appointment, she went to the emergency room. Once there, staff discovered she was both positive for cocaine and pregnant, requiring stabilization.”


Oops!


At the same time they can be extra careful to give the best possible dose of medicine when a patient is extra important. In Trump’s case there may have been a bit of both. According to some reports, he certainly received state of the art medicine, maybe in a higher dosage than patients less able to pay for their treatment might have received. But it seems that nobody was prepared to tell him he could not / should not go out waving to supporters or return to the White House so soon! So it goes.


I also read that in China they are experiencing a shortage of flu vaccine. As a rule take up of the flu vaccine is not high in China but this year there has been a hugely increased demand. Indeed people,have been encouraged to get vaccinated in order to avoid a double pandemic. And suddenly there is not enough to go round!


Today being Wednesday, I have cycled to Uppermill to replenish supplies of stuff I buy at the market and to call in at the breadshop. There I buy several loaves of spelt bread - very tasty bread! As a good recycler, I take with me plastic bags that the baker’s shop has used in previous weeks to wrap the loaves in. I am not sure if the shop assistants are impressed or think I am a crazy lady!


Japan is apparently a very high user of plastic bags but they are working at it. However,  it’s not easy and they are having some problems in supermarkets.


“Despite being encouraged to use regular in-store baskets, some shoppers place items in their own bags, making it harder for staff to spot stolen goods, according to media reports.

At Akidai Sekimachi Honten, a supermarket in Tokyo, about 80% of customers started bringing their own bags when the plastic bag charge was introduced, according to Jiji Press. The country’s three largest convenience store operators reported a similarly impressive trend, saying 75% of their customers had shunned plastic bags in July, when the charge was introduced.

But a rise in shoplifting has forced the store to tighten security, even including measures to combat the theft of baskets some light-fingered customers use to carry their shopping home rather than pay for a plastic bag.

“We’re not OK with customers taking away baskets as they cost a few hundred yen each,” Hiromichi Akiba, the supermarket chain’s president told Jiji. “We thought we would be able to reduce costs by charging for plastic bags, but we’ve been facing unexpected expenditures instead.”


Shop assistants say they are reluctant to confront people they suspect of placing items into a reusable bag with the intention of leaving without paying. “It’s difficult to judge whether they are stealing or not,” one Tokyo supermarket employee said.

In response, a nonprofit group has produced posters advising customers on “shopping etiquette,” such as keeping their reusable bags folded until they have passed through the checkout.”


Reading about the problem of customers walking off with the store’s baskets, I am reminded of shoppers at the supermarket next door to the block where we rent a flat in Vigo. It is not uncommon to see people leave the supermarket with their supermarket trolley loaded with shopping. They then push it to the block of flats next door, take it into the lift and up to their flat. I assume they take the trolley back later as I have never yet seen a mass of trolleys blocking the lifts or even the streets. Curious!


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

1 comment:

  1. The trolleys probably get taken back so the user can recuperate the coin they had to insert to free the cart. People may be fine with paying lots of money for things they don't need, but will balk at leaving a coin in a trolley!

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