Just wanted to highlight some good news for the week in the fight for 'maintaining standards'. The advertising regulator in the UK has banned Sofa King form using the disgustingly offensive slogan 'Sofa King low'.

It may seem like a trivial play on words, and technically not a breach, but this is the thin edge of the wedge. If we start allowing puns like this so close to the word 'f#ckin', where is the world headed.

3 brave souls objected to this immoral and damaging action to defend the common decency of the world. I hope you'll all join me in celebrating that there are still some fine citizens in this world of moral bankruptcy.

I am so glad to live in a world where 3 brave souls like this can make a difference, bringing to the attention of authorities this flagrant disregard for the human rights of people not to be offended. It must have taken great courage by the regulators to make the stand to take decisive action on such a dangerous slip in standards of civilised society.

http://www.news.com.au/world/sofa-king-ad-banned-in-uk-over-f-bomb-similarity/story-e6frfkyi-1226285582139

On a similar note, I learned today of a new 'starlet' by the name of Yumi. I am heartened by the response to her denigration of a celebrated soldier, and hope she rots in hell. I cant be more balanced than that, and to attempt to would betray the seriousness of such a crime.

Never let it be said that such issues, such weighty issues, are not worthy of all our attention. This is the very fabric of our society and the core of our humanity and civilisation we are currently thrashing out.

Never before has our society spoken with such fervour and with such volume about the topics that weigh so heavily on our minds.

"....on such a dangerous slip in standards of civilised society."

I was yawning all the way through because I'd be a hypocrite to say I care things like "Sofa King Low" and "FCUK" etc etc. I swear like a wounded soldier so I couldn't care less ... BUT ... what FairyLand compound do you live in to call this society "civilised". Want me to set an alarm to wake you up or should we just let the drugs wear off and wake you naturally?

Wanna know the REAL us? Places like the Congo, Sudan, and these places run by dictators is how we REALLY function. We just don't like admitting it. The difference between them and us is that we lost the stomach for slaughter, but the man with the biggest gun flogs us in different ways. They've turned us on each other to keep them in power.

I don't have the time for idiots on TV who live in some dream world commenting on heroes they couldn't DREAM to be half the person people like Ben Roberts-Smith are.

StG,

Are you familiar with Houellebecq's style? I think you'll find he was being satirical - and he's probably of the view that the West's moral outrage on such issues is Sofa King ripe for a send-up.

Rightio. Maybe a clue or two might be helpful as well. There's plenty of weirdo's here I believe I'm supposed to take seriously...

...although I don't.

I’m cruising around South Australia at the moment. There are these huge billboards all over the place on the highways saying; DON’T DRIVE LIKE A WANK*R.

I tried to put up a link that would show you this billboard, but the actual link has got the word wank*r in it, so the OLO filter won’t let me post it!

I’ll put up this link instead: http://www.mac.sa.gov.au/article.php?id=2218

Apparently the word ‘wank*r’ is perfectly acceptable for the Motor Accident Commission of South Australia to use wherever it wants.

Now, is that morally corrupt or what?? Why have the esteemed authorities deemed it necessary, or acceptable, to put words like this up in front of our kid’s faces in public places, while at the same time telling them that such language is foul, disgusting and will not be tolerated, at least not in public?

Not just our kids. The whole of society.

That's just Sofa King hypocritical !!

Well Ludwig that word is one of the best I can think of to apply to nothings like George what's his name & Yumi. These fools have to desperately try to be funny, & the desperation shows.

I really can't imagine why anyone would watch the fools.

When I was a young bloke, I was a navy fleet air arm pilot. On board every second word was a swear word, but our society had not got to where it is today. Swearing was not common in civil society.

We trained ourselves to turn off the language as we stepped ashore. There was no middle ground however, it had to be off completely, or fully on. We were quite proud of our control, & enjoyed paying our friends the compliment of controlling our language.

It was a considerable disappointment to me when young ladies, who considered themselves rather up market, started to consider it liberating to become first mildly, then quite strongly foul mouthed.

They had robed me of the small compliment I could pay them, but I soon realised they were not worth complimenting, & then ridiculed them by not joining them in their use of language.

Houellebecq,

While not a fan of profanity, banning profanity by innuendo is very small minded, and I would have thought that there were more serious things to get your kn*ckers twisted about.

I take the StG approach here, congrats for getting the boot in to that idiot and fumbling GN who should know better.
Recently in public an elderly matron, after barging her trolley in to the legs of almost every shopper took offense to the word &hit!
And condemned her victims to hell internal,while they moped up the blood.
We live by standards, too often foolish ones PC rules!

I didn't follow the full coverage of the story Houllebecq but apparently the eponymous UK Sofa King general manager – first name Wayne, I believe – claimed the international media and Internet coverage of the saga was "costing the economy $20 billion a second".

oh dear sofa king hot
or sofa king cool
not_what?

heck its just a throw away line
i would never have joined the dots
and feel i shouldnt have had to

sofakingwhat
the twat

I believe profanity to be really worth while at times. And often times it is more "rewarding" when the object of the verbal abuse thinks that it is wrong to do so.

..

Far more offensive to me is the view of the likes of the child abusers, baby thieves, homophobes and those that cover up for them all, that not withstanding their nefarious activities, they still want to vainly insist that they are spoken to with "respect."

I think not.

..

Sometimes, i.m.o., it is better to be brutally honest to the extent of liberally applying the profane so that there can be room for doubt or misinterpretation that the activities of any person or persons is exceptionally disturbing and upsetting to another or others.

Gday dream on hows it going?
You may find it interesting.
I did goggled The Australian Peoples Party TAPP for short.
Has an interesting history that name.
Many claimants , some quite long time ago.
Any thoughts?

Hello *Belly*

I really know nothing about them but will allocate a time slot to search for "search" on google, pick another engine and have a look at this TAPP that you refer to and consider making a comment.

..

Oh, by the way, I wanted to tell you what I most enjoyed about the recent leadership clash within your BeLoved party,

(and no doubt if we are to take you at your word you are a true and loyal participant, a fact about which I have no problem and some admiration)

well, second of course to the fact that for some these "clashes" make the *Greens* look better. I am fond to see in my fanciful imaginative moments *Doug Cameron* replete with thick accent:

" ... Aaah! AAahh! My left tit, tis turning *Green* ... "

(though I must admit, as fond as I am of them in some ways, I have always believed them to be weak on some of the big issues. But then, I do not expect them to be perfect, but rather to recognise that they are not, and to reach out in a greater way to the vast (I believe) unTAPPed wealth of talent in the Australian populace, and invite and involve them in a greater way in the decision making process through, as one example, more focused forums such as this.

Perhaps the NBN will bring about the implementation of something like cost effective voluntary indicative plebiscites, a word I first learned from hearing it usher forth from the mouth of *Kim Beazely*

Another of my favourites from *Kim Beazely* was "Physician heal thySelf" from 1997, and was intensely overwhelming to me at that time, but alas, I digress.

..

What I most liked was that we heard from a considerable number of all of the other ALP participants. I found it to be most refreshing and a matter about which much more could be said.

You wouldn't use such a marketing line without a receptive market. In some places a similar add would prompt the locals to drag you screaming into the town square before stoning you, slitting your throat or some such. Are these places more civilised for reacting in this way, and is not an eternity burning in hell more extreme still?

If you did not like the add, would you be more or less likely to buy the product? Obviously Sofa King's GM thought the add would sell a few.

From Houellie’s link in the opening post:

< In its defence, The Sofa King said the phrase "Where the Prices are Sofa King Low!" had been the firm's slogan since it began trading nine years ago, adding it did not believe it had caused "serious or widespread offence".

The firm also said no action had been taken over complaints made to Northamptonshire Police about the strap line in 2004. >

Well, for goodness sake, they are right. It has palpably not caused serious or widespread offence over that period. If it had, the Advertising Standards Agency would have jumped on it, quickly and decisively, wouldn’t they? Or if they hadn’t, THEY would have been the guilty party.

In fact for them to act now and not years earlier is a real indictment of their ability to make good, fair and sensible decisions.

No doubt there were people who didn’t like the ads, and quite strongly so. But there are hundreds of things that we don’t like, many much worse than that, which are lawfully and socially accepted or tolerated.

The matter had been earlier tested in 2004, after which Sofa King could reasonably understand that its ads were okay, and would not face the possibility of being banned in the future. Also, the ASA has effectively condoned the ads through its long period of inaction.

Consequently, if the ads are to be banned now, the company should receive compensation equal to the full cost of doing so and replacing them with new ads. There is something very wrong with this company now being out of pocket over this.

They have effectively been heavily fined for doing something that was lawful and acceptable or tolerable to the vast majority of people and to the management authority for years.

The UK Advertising Standards Agency’s decision to ban this ad is absurd and pitiful.

Well, why not address the murder of one million Iraqis under the lie of WMDs and stealing their oil.What could be more obscene unless of course,it was your life for the taking?

So let's not gild the lily on Western expletives,since they don't murder people.

What a mountain out of a molehill.Who cares.The F word has become so common most people don't even hear it anymore.I object more to the American saying of "mother f######.First heard this expression in the 60's and was horrified.I thing Sofa King is a clever marketing strategy.

Why is sex with mothers so horrifying? Anyone who has siblings at least can be sure their father is a mother focker. Or is it a bad boy bubby kind thing?

WmTrevor I'm so glad you remembered that one.

Poirot is right of course. I was hoping people might be able to get it but I feel more like a guy dressing up as a Mormon going door to door to Mormon's houses to mock them and instead being received as the Messiah.

I was thinking about it again yesterday and I think all these media outrage beat-ups and trivialities are the equivalent of Aesop's Fables. Which then makes me wonder why we have this Proxy concern for the trivialities of the day rather than explicitly thrash out what should be society's values and how they should be reflected or enforced. Why do we have to filter our morality and life philosophy through entertainment and reality TV and the masters of Outrage.

Then I started thinking about the whole anti-politics attitude of the unwashed, and really it all makes sense. Perhaps people don't think they get a say in anything in the supposed 'democracy', so when you give them a sounding board to throw proverbial stones at others in judgement at the trivial entertainment targets, that's what they do.

But then I was thinking about the standard of TV drama scripts, and although they are derivative, the themes and concepts in shows like House for example (Psychology, Ethics, Machiavellianism), and the dialogue and the complexity (Not to mention swearing) of In The Loop, , the social commentary of The Simpsons and South Park, when you compare things like that to Kingswood Country or Leave it to Beaver, it's amazing the capacity people really do have to comprehend issues these days , but it seems only when they are encapsulated in the form of entertainment. Even concern for other has transcended into entertainment in the form of grief porn.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Entertainment is the single most important thing in the world.