dear o dear whatever next ???
Fri, Jun 29 2012, 10:46PM
Normaly i would watch granada news but for some reason tonight ITV HD on freesat was not available, so i tuned into london news, on their program they mentiond that the ashtrays that are screwed onto the side of buildings (to dispose of your dog ends) have been removed because of advertising & as quoted by london news "the lunanatics have taken over the asylum" whatever next.
I thought the rationale behind removing the ashtrays was to stop one company monopolising advertising opportunities in the borough.
The guy complaining that "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" is the head of the company benefitting from this cheap advertising opportunity, so his comments aren't that surprising.
As often the case when you seek to curb unfair business practices, he responded by resorting to alarmist rhetoric: "with the olympics only a few weeks away, the borough will become one big ashtray." I'm sure he's motivated by environmental concerns and improving visitors' perceptions of London and the UK, rather than a profit imperative.
Nevertheless, it might have made more sense to remove the advertisements but not the ashtrays (which I understand the company involved would have been OK with). Getting rid of the ashtrays altogether seemed rather heavy handed.