And Then, Old It Is...

   I know you already have, but just in case, pop along to A. K. Haart for a must read - as are all his offerings - and link, for this time of year relating to the bombardment of charity adverts. They don’t come cheap do they?
   Also, with no apology, it gives me an excuse to post – for the umpteenth time – my old charity post. Any excuse for an easy copy and paste eh?
  So here it is; an old and dated Foggy survey regards those charity TV adverts:

5 - Way down at No 5 is that old perennial, save the rain forests. This has been steadily falling in popularity, and could well loose all ranking, as more people become aware of the splinter {Pun?} group who are in favour of cutting down the rain forests, transporting it half way round the globe to burn here to generate electrickery, supposedly Co2-less. Or are they just clueless? If this splinter group becomes a government sponsored charity, the TV advert’s going to be a doozy.

4 - Dropping from No 2 way down to No 4 is the kid with the perpetually runny nose with, they would have us believe, a mum too dumb to boil water before using it for drinking. The previous No 4, featuring the kid who had to walk a six mile round trip every day to collect water, had to be quietly dropped when it became known the kids parents had finally woken up to the fact that moving their shack three miles resulted in having water right outside the family home.

3 - Down one place to No 3 is the polar bear. Ol’ Ursus Maritimus should’ve been out of the charts all together and was only saved by the cuddly cub dolly still being the main, ‘I want one!! And I want one NOW!!!’ cry of kids. These huge hairy critters became less marketable when the last bear population figures were released and it was discovered that the alarming increase in their numbers indicated they may well start migrating South and the North of England could become plagued with these guys rummaging in suburban gardens and rubbish bins within a couple of decades. A lot sooner if that long promised warming continues to refuse to put in a showing. Their money making potential was further dented when the coddled masses suddenly became aware these bears are actually wild animals and not averse to killing people on a whim.

2 - Save the dolphin, a favourite money maker from long ago, has made a surprise re-entry at No 2. The dolphin scam was dropped long ago when it was felt it had been wrung to its limit; and some more; and people realised they didn’t actually bounce beach-balls on their noses and clap their flippers excitedly when in the wild. However, in an attempt to keep the tills ringing the marketing people went into hyper-drive in an attempt to continue the fishy financial fleecing of us fools but, despite their best attempts, they failed to perfect a heart tugging begging advert featuring a doey-eyed squid. They also realised a cuddly, rubbery squid wasn’t going to be a great hit, thus the reintroduction, for a new generation, of the still doomed, after all this time, dolphin.

1 - Hanging on to the No 1 spot, for the fourth straight month, is the ever popular, scratch me behind me ears an’ tickle me tummy, snow leopard. This is a stroke of marketing genius as, on the small screen, it so resembles your little tabby kitty curled up in front of the fire and there’s absolutely no hint of the size of the pointy, rippy bits secreted about the voluminous folds of its furry feet. As with the polar bear, attitudes may well change if we do, indeed, enter a little ice age and these big, one scratch an’ you’re out, guys migrate Northwards towards, and into, Islington.

Quote;  Khalil Gibran.

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”