Sexism by M&S at Christmas?

I don’t as a rule notice adverts on TV - and if you were paying attention last year, you’d know this already - mainly because as soon as the adverts come on, I turn the sound off and don't bother looking up for the next five minutes - this is fairly easy for me as I'm usually multi-tasking.

But when I read that people had complained about Philip Glenister [yum] being sexist and demeaning to women in the latest Marks & Spencer advert I thought I’d better have a look. I mean to say, Philip Glenister - aka Gene Hunt - sexist? never.

Hmm, I wonder - this bit of extra FREE advertising must be working well for Marks & Sparks if they’ve gotten through to people like me who mostly ignore advertising!

... Ooooh yes, he is being sexist - but as far as I can tell they’re just playing loosely on his ‘Life On Mars’ character - very naughty but so tongue in cheek that I’d hardly call it demeaning, it’s just fun and there are a lot worse adverts to complain about.

I decided to question the grumpy old man as I know he’s not opposed to the odd bit of bare flesh on the telly.

‘Oi! watch this advert and tell me what you think at the end’ ...

‘Very nice.’

‘Not demeaning to women then?’

‘Erm?’

Hmm, long words are not his strong point - ‘I mean, do you think that last bit was likely to offend women, as the remark he made “Oh, come on, it's Christmas - that girl prancing around in her underwear.” might be sexist?’

‘Oh no.’

Hang on a minute, he’s looking flustered, he must have thought he was under interrogation here.

‘So ... you like watching young women prancing around in their underwear then?’

‘What?’

Now this is a ploy he’s honed to perfection - asking me to repeat the question to give him longer to think of the correct answer; being slightly deaf, he mostly gets away with it.

I repeated the question.

‘Well yes.’ He said. And with only the slightest of pauses -

‘But only because I'm imagining that it’s you in the underwear.’

He's good isn't he?

It earned him a few brownie points just for his sheer inventiveness and quick thinking.

And I do love to watch him squirm …

Still On My High Horse - and no signs of getting off it yet.

I am still miffed about the underhanded way that acefieldwork choose to conduct their surveys.
There are no two ways about it; I was lied to.

I DO SURVEYS, I'm on several online survey panels, I very often don't meet the required 'criteria' therefore am not suitable for a particular survey - mostly because I'm not responsible for any of the smaller, demanding, noisy people that seem to rule the world.

The surveys I do complete are done honestly. Advertisers do need to know if their adverts are reaching us and if we actually notice what they're advertising.

I am probably not the best survey panellist, I don't read newspapers, I get all my news online. I don't see adverts on the Internet at all unless I wish to, as I use 'Ad Muncher'. A wonderful program I tried and paid for that was worth every penny.

The only adverts I do see are on TV and there they make one HUGE error, I never, ever hear them and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The advertising is so loud compared to the programs that I'm ready with the remote in my hand as soon as I judge the adverts are starting and press the mute button.

Doing online surveys can be quite informative, in fact it's probably the only way that advertisers influence me in any way. I've even learnt which are the healthier crisps to buy, not particularly by believing everything advertisers say but by rummaging amongst the crisps on the shelves and having a look after completing a survey (the advertisers weren't fibbing but I'm a sceptic).
I'd never even heard of 'Sustainable Harvest', now because of online surveys about tea and coffee I have and so looked into it further.

These are just two examples of Market Research that in my opinion have got it right, there are lots of other examples I could mention but don't really have time at the moment.

I get paid for online surveys - not for myself, everything I earn goes to charity. Some of the Market Research Companies do it that way anyway and let you choose which charity you want to help. Others are set up so you can claim the money or goods if you want. But it's the charity option for me - I'm no Saint, it's just easier and I'm known for being idle ...