Monday 12 July 2010

An advertising Masterpiece

I confidently expect this advertisement to become a much-loved classic.

Why? Partly, of course, because Mandelson's a pantomime villain: hated in the Labour Party for helping to destroy any vestige of ideological and moral values, hated by the right for being gay and powerful. For me, I'm reminded of Marvin the Paranoid Android's "Life: loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it".

But that's not the main reason. Mandelson's appalling attempt at acting is another reason for its appeal, but the central horror is the pointless re-enactment of NPR's Masterpiece Theatre introduction - something never seen on British TV. How I know of its existence I can't think.

Everything about this is wrong. Why the faux-19th century stuff? Why the fable framing? Why feature Mandelson at all? I love it.



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