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25 Jan 08 - 05:19 PM (#2244925) Subject: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton My God just how low can a company stoop to sell a product. Here in Britain the company Specsavers are using film footage of one of the greatest singers of all time,Edith Piaf singing "Non, je ne regrette rien" and they have a taper running across the bottom of the screen saying "I wish I had went to Specsavers for a bargain". This is sick, Edith was blind from the age of 11 to 14 as a result of keratitis. How can a company be allowed to manipulate such a classic rendition and insult the memory of such a wonderful woman who led such a tragic life. Sorry folks, just needed to sound off somewhere. Victor. |
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25 Jan 08 - 05:22 PM (#2244928) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Peace BOYCOTT SPECSAVERS Ask your friends to call five people who could also call five people, etc. Let Specsavers know what you're doing and why. |
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25 Jan 08 - 05:31 PM (#2244935) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator Pretty bad taste, to say the least. That said, there's something to the old show-biz adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Public awareness of The Little Sparrow is undoubtedly much greater now that ever, or at least at any time since she was alive, thanks to the worldwide hit film, and this nonsense can only add to the publicity snowball ~ and all the more, thanks to being so controversial. Of course, she's not among us to reap the benefits, but I suppose her estate gets something out of it, and those of us who are just fans get more chances to sing her praises, defend her honor, remind each other of biographical details, etc. I wonder if the stupid ad copywriter even know about Edith's childhood blindness. Possibly not; I didn't know until I watched the movie last week. The idea was undoubtedly just to play on the "no regrets" idea. Maybe they should have used Tom Rush's song instead; he, at least, is still alive to collect the royalties. |
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25 Jan 08 - 05:57 PM (#2244969) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Dave Roberts I didn't know about Piaf's unfortunate affliction until now, either. Quite likely neither did the general public. I'm sure it's not deliberate but,now we do know, yes, definitely in bad taste. |
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25 Jan 08 - 06:21 PM (#2244999) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) She was allegedly near-blind from ages 3-7; there are uncertainties about this story. Great movie, but not 100% accurate. |
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25 Jan 08 - 06:28 PM (#2245004) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Irish sergeant They do it becuase when it comes to advertising the onmly thing they understand is the loss of money. Neil |
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25 Jan 08 - 06:40 PM (#2245013) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow I thought it was pretty funny, and not in the least offensive - and there is no implied referance to Edith Piaf's eyesight. And if it pointed anyone in the direction of listening to Edith Piaf, that's a good thing. Here's the clip on YouTube I hope they follow it up with a few more singers. Georges Brassens would be a good one. |
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25 Jan 08 - 06:46 PM (#2245017) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: M.Ted Write to them and tell them how you feel. Doubtless others feel the same way--you might write to the French Minister of Culture, or some such person, as well--they would regard it as some sort of outrage as well, and they are rather protective of their icons-- |
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25 Jan 08 - 07:28 PM (#2245042) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Bee-dubya-ell Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Peace - PM Date: 25 Jan 08 - 05:22 PM BOYCOTT SPECSAVERS Better yet, boycott television. |
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25 Jan 08 - 07:46 PM (#2245048) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) Like McGrath, I got a laugh out of that advertisement. I fail to see what the fuss is about. I think a Jacques Brel clip would be good too. I have much of Piaf's music, I think she was great. |
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25 Jan 08 - 07:47 PM (#2245050) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Thank you PoppaGator I wasn't aware they had made a film about her life. Shows how up to speed this old duffer is ! Thanks again, I just made arrangements to see it. McGrath of Harlow, I wasn't shocked to see your derogatory post. It was a little cheap to take a shot at me (yet again) saying you found it "pretty funny" old boy. Did you take professional lessons to become an arsehole or is it an natural gift ? |
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25 Jan 08 - 07:59 PM (#2245056) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow Derogatory? Wasn't even thinking of V's post. Definitely not taking a shot at him. Why on earth would I want to do that? "Pretty funny" referred purely to the ad. |
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25 Jan 08 - 08:37 PM (#2245072) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Q, Her music is timeless. I always felt there was so much feeling,yet so much sadness in her beautiful voice. To use a deceased person of this standing who suffered so much tragedy in her short life as an object of fun and ridicule is downright disgusting and for anyone to say they felt entertained watching it frankly says a lot about them. Let's hope to God that British Gas or British Nuclear Power don't decide to provide similar old footage to "entertain". |
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25 Jan 08 - 08:44 PM (#2245080) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) In the words of the Marx Brothers, HORSEFEATHERS! |
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25 Jan 08 - 08:55 PM (#2245084) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Or in the words of Victor ""horseshit" |
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25 Jan 08 - 10:10 PM (#2245123) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: M.Ted Actually, Victor, I didn't finish my post--the last line should have been,"Or you could get a life." And there is still time. |
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25 Jan 08 - 10:25 PM (#2245135) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow The humour lies in the contrast betweeen Edith Piaf singing about how she has no regrets about big things and the subtitles with her saying how she bitterly regrets something trivial. And humour is a subjective matter. |
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26 Jan 08 - 04:17 AM (#2245224) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Big Al Whittle Obviously its 'horse feathers' to many. I suspect its how it strikes you. Theres a similar thread on Mudcat where they have superimposed a big mobile rubbery mouth onto the face of Robert Johnson. Just for a laugh - no profit mtive. They have even given Robert a 'coontalk' speech pattern - reminiscent of the character, Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I have been roundly shouted down on the thread for finding this offensive. Perhaps it is wrong to get upset about the rights of the dead, when so many of the living are humiliated and insulted. Perhaps..... |
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26 Jan 08 - 05:26 AM (#2245242) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Liz the Squeak A quick poll of those near me has shown that no-one knew she was allegedly blind as a child, only that she lived on the streets. The cynic in me says that a cute blind child has far greater begging power than a scrawny underfed adolescent, but that's my opinion. If you feel so strongly about the advert, then complain to the Advertising Standards Authority, who are the correct people to contact. Boycotting Specsavers because of their advert will do no good at all, as it is invariably price that determines the majority of purchases. If I don't go to Specsavers, it isn't that I find their advertising distasteful, it's because I find their prices too high. LTS |
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26 Jan 08 - 06:43 AM (#2245256) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Jean(eanjay) I love listening to Edith Piaf but not in that advert; it really is in poor taste. I had considered complaining when I first saw it and this thread has just made me realise that I should make the effort and do it. |
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26 Jan 08 - 07:05 AM (#2245263) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Thank you Liz. Just submitted my complaint. Thank you for taking the time to send the link. Victor |
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26 Jan 08 - 08:00 AM (#2245283) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: greg stephens I am a total admirer(beyond idolatry) of Edith Piaf. I do not find the ad in the least offensive. I'm also at a total loss as to how anyone else could find it offensive. It seems to me a total tribute to her. It contrasts(as McGrath has pointed out much better than I could)the largeness of her singing about regrets with the smallness of the Specsaver regrets....a standard humorous use the good old figure of speech known as bathos. |
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26 Jan 08 - 08:33 AM (#2245291) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton I found the advertisement tacky, in the same way I would find it tacky if the French used Princess Diana to push a product. I suppose this type of "humour" has it's audience. |
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26 Jan 08 - 08:42 AM (#2245296) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow It might depend on the product. If they used Princess Diana as a way of encouraging people to wear seat belts I think that might be an excellent thing. |
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26 Jan 08 - 09:16 AM (#2245318) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,jOhn specsavers are shit anyway, got some glasses from there, they was 100 quid, plus i paid an extra tenner for anti scratch coating and they still scratched, and hey fell to bits, little scews fell out etc, total bloody rip off. i just got some new glasses from tesco, 20 quid!, free sight test, and miles better quality than spcsavers. |
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26 Jan 08 - 09:29 AM (#2245322) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: greg stephens So now you can see La Vie en Rose, I expect. |
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26 Jan 08 - 09:38 AM (#2245331) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Well jOhn, "Every little helps" a case of J'ai des regrets d'aller à Specsavers. |
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26 Jan 08 - 12:01 PM (#2245416) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: M.Ted We gently reafirm, Victor, that there are greater injustices in the world. |
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26 Jan 08 - 12:13 PM (#2245429) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton There are indeed M.Ted, sadly too many. It's unlikely we will have any impact on any of them, so that's why you and I just highlight the things that irritate us on a forum. I found the ad, tacky and distasteful. Clearly some here didn't. I will keep my opinions to myself and if everyone else here was to do the same, this section of the forum would close. |
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26 Jan 08 - 12:49 PM (#2245469) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Dave Roberts I agree with jOhn. I went to Specsavers in Northwich and, although the eye test was good (I'm diabetic and you need to have it done properly, as we all know), the glasses they sold me fell to bits shortly after I got them. To be fair, this might well happen with glasses from other opticians, but I usually manage to lose them before they have the chance to disintegrate. I'm going back to CATS Opticians in Middlewich (plug). |
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26 Jan 08 - 01:06 PM (#2245488) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Jean(eanjay) I only ever went to Specsavers once and this advert has put me off even more. It is distasteful and since Mudcat is a music forum I think that it is appropriate to discuss it here - but maybe it should have been put in the music section. |
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26 Jan 08 - 01:19 PM (#2245495) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) A funny add. Have they done others? I would like to see them. |
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26 Jan 08 - 02:41 PM (#2245539) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow Try YouTube Q - Specsavers ads , including one which I think is a parody, but maybe its a real foreign ad that got banned here... Specsavers? They seem about the same as any of the other firms, but I've found they do seem particularly good about mending glasses that have been sat on and so forth - even when they didn't get bought there. I'm afraid none of our three Tescos here does eye tests or sells glasses. Clearly Leeds leads in this respect. |
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26 Jan 08 - 05:10 PM (#2245665) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton I went to a private clinic two years ago for cataract surgery. Maybe they should advertise with the old Johnny Nash hit "I can see clearly now". Or In the 1970's a group called "The Adverts" had a hit with "I'm looking through Gary Gilmore's eyes". Brought out weeks after his execution. |
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26 Jan 08 - 05:39 PM (#2245698) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Liz the Squeak 'I can see clearly now' was used in an advert, I think for eye drops... The Police song 'Don't stand so close to me' was used for a deodorant ad. LTS |
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26 Jan 08 - 06:17 PM (#2245739) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Bonzo3legs What rubbish - only idiots get offended on behalf of other people! |
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26 Jan 08 - 06:41 PM (#2245768) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Jean(eanjay) Some adverts use songs quite tastefully. "Non, je ne regrette rien" is a very powerful song sung by someone with an amazing voice and an interesting life. The captions on the screen, whilst Edith Piaf is singing, about getting 2 pairs for £75 and the word Specsavers seem to trivialise the song. It sort of cheapens things. I don't like looking at it; I just close my eyes and listen to the song. Now the other Specsaver advert about the blow job was distasteful in a different way, but it was funny. If that woman's eyes are that bad then maybe she needs more than Specsavers! |
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26 Jan 08 - 09:16 PM (#2245844) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: The Walrus I must say that I find the Specsavers use of Piaf somewhat counter productive. If I'm sitting when the ad comes on, my tendency is to sit back with eyes closed to listen, if I'm on my feet, I'll listen while I carry on with what I'm doing, either way, I don't tend to bother about the sub-titles. Good music dumb add. W |
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27 Jan 08 - 08:20 AM (#2246045) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Backwoodsman Strikes me some people are constantly searching for opportunities to be 'offended'. I bet they even get offended by totally inoffensive things on the basis that they fail to offer a suitable degree of offence. Life's wa-a-a-a-a-y-y too short. |
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27 Jan 08 - 01:44 PM (#2246286) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST If you dont like what you see on tv....either dont watch it , or complain to the appropriate people, just hearing her voice is pleasant to me.....especially as it has just been on in the background , as i am on the pc... suzi |
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27 Jan 08 - 02:45 PM (#2246342) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator Were it not for the current release and success of the film La Vie en Rose, I doubt that any ad agency would have produced an ad featuring Ms Piaf. It probably would never have been made in the States, even right now duirng Oscar-nominaiton season, because it assumes that the viewer either recognizes the song and knows the meaning of the lyrics, or understands French well enough to translate "Non, je ne regrette rien." More than can be expected from the average American ~ even the average bespectacled American. |
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27 Jan 08 - 06:00 PM (#2246507) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Don Firth Hmm! I recall some years back, while sitting in a restaurant, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation at the next table over. There sat a man and a woman and their daughter. The daughter was in her early twenties and had recently graduated from college where she had majored in Business. Advertising. And she was home for a brief vacation over Christmas from her new job with a New York ad agency. I wasn't intentionally eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but hear what they were talking about . The young woman was bragging to her parents about some of the ad campaigns she had worked on and written ad copy for. The more she talked, the more appalling she began to sound. Apparently this young woman was perfect for the job because she seemed to have absolutely no ethical sense whatsoever. It sounded as if she would say damned near anything to come up with a catchy phrase or gimmick to sell a product. Several times, when she quoted a sample of her work, her father would say something like, "But, honey, that isn't true!" Or "Is that ethical?" She just ignored it and proudly went on to her next brag. At one point, I saw the mother and father exchange a horror-stricken glance that said eloquently, "What have we spawned!? We should have drowned her at birth!" Don Firth |
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27 Jan 08 - 06:16 PM (#2246515) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow ..."it assumes that the viewer either recognizes the song and knows the meaning of the lyrics, or understands French well enough to translate "Non, je ne regrette rien." Not necessarily. The people who put ads together may sometimes be creeps, but even so they are also competitive and often enough creative. Selling things to the public isn't necessarily the main point. They are probably more motivated a lot of the time by the hope of impressing their peers, and winning awards. |
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27 Jan 08 - 06:40 PM (#2246539) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Brendy Saw this ad... 'Sacrilege' was the first word that came to mind... .... and the second..., and the third... B. |
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27 Jan 08 - 08:23 PM (#2246636) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) Many years ago (1950s, when I was in university) I remember a little French restaurant in Austin, Texas, which had nothing but Piaf on its record player. Another in Houston. I ate at a similar one in Denver, CO. Maybe we were few, but, along with several friends, Piaf recordings were part of our collections at the time. Probably just at popular at colleges out in the 'sticks' (outside the eastern urban areas) as the Weavers or Tom Lehrer or whomever- I wonder if Hawkins got a fee from Specsavers? I would presume so. Interesting advs, some intelligence shown by that company. The eyeglass outfits here push starlets, sports figures and the international set. |
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28 Jan 08 - 02:41 AM (#2246745) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Doug Chadwick The worst thing about the ad, for me, is that I have to listen repeatedly to Edith Piaf. Can't stand her! DC |
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28 Jan 08 - 03:33 AM (#2246762) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Tunesmith I hate the ad! And, I will certainly not be buying any glasses at Specsaver! |
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28 Jan 08 - 03:39 AM (#2246767) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Ella who is Sooze If you are really annoyed, then complain to the British Broad Casting Standards association, or similar. Regards EWIS |
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28 Jan 08 - 09:31 AM (#2246952) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Grab Victor, are you just looking for an excuse to feel aggrieved? There's zero connection between the film and her childhood illness - glasses don't affect keratitis. You might as well say that you're offended by an advert for food because you once had a stomach bug. No, your grievance is simply that they've used one of your idols' songs on an advert. So get over it! You don't own it. And at least it's been used in a way which makes it somewhat imaginative - better than trashy woman's mags using "Whatever you want" or "More more more", or Microsoft using "Start me up", or the recent car ad which uses "Dock of the bay" completely out of context. As for me, I'm with Doug - for me, her voice is (to quote Neal Stephenson) "like having a killer bee in each ear". Ah well, other people don't like Chris Isaak and Dire Straits, so hey ho. Graham. |
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28 Jan 08 - 10:37 AM (#2247015) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Just got an excellent response from the complaint I sent in on Saturday from Barrie Smillie,Complaints Administrator. It would appear quite a few have contacted him over this. Grab, Go boil your head, thanks. |
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28 Jan 08 - 11:52 AM (#2247090) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Liz the Squeak Not so much an illness as a vitamin deficiency or bacterial fungi infection... Her early life on the streets was probably the cause of her poor eyesight, rather than the other way around. LTS |
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29 Jan 08 - 09:41 AM (#2247787) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Donuel Specsavers need a new spokeswoman. They should hire Bea Arthur to yell at the audience, "Just wear the damn things!" btw the spokeswoman for the police department here shot her husband and then herself yesterday. The good news is that there is a spokesperson job opening. |
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29 Jan 08 - 02:47 PM (#2248053) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator per McGrath, re advertising types: "They are probably more motivated a lot of the time by the hope of impressing their peers, and winning awards. " During my long careeer in the now-defunct typography business, I had many dealings with ad agency employees (mostly art directors). The question of whether award-winning ads admired by one's peers in the industry were actually effecive marketing tools was always a topic of discussion. In the end, these arguments/discussions were usually resolved by admitting that no one in the business could remain successful for long if his/her creations did not effectively sell the product. There might be single instances of award-winning campaigns that failed on a practical level, but designers/creators who regularly won recognition for their artistic achievements were also effective marketers. They wouldn't have kept their jobs for so long if they were not. Now, the converse is a different question. We would all agree that some lowbrow advertising ridiculed by the artistic elite could be effective enough as a selling tool, sometimes even highly successful, and of course such work is usually inexpensive to boot. I stand by my opinion that the Paif ad would never fly in the States. Too large a portion of the population is seen as totally ignorant of foreign-language culture at any level. Brits are much more aware of their neighbors across the Channel than are Yanks. |
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29 Jan 08 - 04:00 PM (#2248117) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Cobble I'm still getting my specs from specsavers, I think she would find the ad funny. Get a life there's more important things to worry about. Cobble. |
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29 Jan 08 - 04:12 PM (#2248129) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Tunesmith PoppaGator: You'd be amazed how little people in the UK know about French popular culture; for example, ask your average British man-in-the-street to name all the French popular singers they know, and you would get a very short list! Who's to blame ? The BBC, for one! French airwaves are filled with US/UK pop/rock but artists, who are giants in France, never get any air-time in the UK. Infact, you're a lot more likely to hear Tibetan folk music on British radio than, for example, that very classy, French superstar, Francis Cabrel. |
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29 Jan 08 - 04:38 PM (#2248150) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator Francis who? In the states, we haven't the slightest notion who he might be. (Or is it she, in whcih case you probably should have spelled her name "Frances.") Little as you folks in the UK may be aware of French popular culture, we're even more ignorant here in the US! |
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29 Jan 08 - 05:34 PM (#2248196) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) French popular music unknown in western Canada, but pretty well known in Quebec. About 5 TV channels in French plus the French CBC on radio, but only listened to by the small French enclaves. I seek out a couple of programs, but I don't know anyone else who does. Why should the BBC give it time? Who would listen? More apt would be music from the Asian continent, or the Caribbean. Face it, English-speaking peoples, like the Japanese, know little of popular cultures outside of their own. |
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29 Jan 08 - 07:18 PM (#2248246) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Big Al Whittle Think of the French acts that have made it big in England....Sacha Distel, Nicole and Papa, Plastic Bertrand....and that's about it. Francis Cabrel could be as talented as Des O'Connor, and we would still be none the wiser. |
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29 Jan 08 - 07:30 PM (#2248256) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow There might be single instances of award-winning campaigns that failed on a practical level There do seem to have been quite a lot of memorable ads which get acclaim and I imagine awards - but I am sure that very few viewers will connect them with the product. For example the one with the gorilla Phil Collins drummer. Who actually remembers it was advertising Cadbury's chocolate (I had to check just noo in order to write that....) |
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30 Jan 08 - 03:20 AM (#2248417) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Tunesmith PoppaGator: I live in the north of England, and Paris is closer to London than I am! London, itself, is only 70 miles or so from France! The BBC are very keen to embrace European classical music, but, all but, ignores European popular music. |
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30 Jan 08 - 04:06 AM (#2248426) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Monique French people do know about US/UK singers but not about all of them. Usually, we also know about some from Canada, Italy, Spain, Germany... but in a lesser amount. No young people know about Sacha Distel now, Nicole and Papa are fictional characters created for UK advertising and totally unknown in France, Plastic Bertrand is Belgian -as was Jacques Brel. Our best known pop singer is Johnny Hallyday (doesn't sound French but it's an alias). Francis Cabrel is a man -from Toulouse with a nice Southern accent- and has been singing for 30 years. If you want to know more maybe you can check the "French pop singers" and "French singer-songwriters" pages on Wikipedia then search Google for their web site or any YouTube video. |
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30 Jan 08 - 10:41 AM (#2248637) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Greycap I have contacted Specsavers by e-mail and told them how offensive I found their advertisement and that I will not be using their services again. I have just received a reply informing me that they had approached the executors of Ms. Piaf's estate prior to releasing the commercial, and that the executor's gave them the ok. Go figure...I still won't be going there for my specs again. |
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30 Jan 08 - 10:56 AM (#2248647) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Tunesmith Q: In answer to your question of "who would listen" to French popular music, why not extend the question to include "who would listen to American jazz, cajun music, Latin-American music etc,etc". I would imagine, that most listeners listen to what is presented to them, and the BBC choose not to present French popular music. Imagine living in France for the past 100 years, and radio stations never playing any British or American popular music. If that were the case, would you agree that French listeners would have be deprived of some great music? |
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30 Jan 08 - 02:41 PM (#2248831) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Rasener Well I can honestly say that it doesn't offend me in the slightest. Its an advert and thats it. If you are stupid enough to get sucked in by it, then I think you need some help. I think it is a mark of respect to use her for their adverts, and I doubt very much if they ever thought of taking the piss. The legal people must have done their job and got approvals. Will the Government ever stop this politically correct brigade, they are ruining this country. Aaagh I am going to get upset the next time somebody refers to me as a Villain when I am a Villan. NOT. Get a life Victor. Go and help those unfortunate people in Kenya. |
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30 Jan 08 - 02:59 PM (#2248848) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Jean(eanjay) If you are stupid enough to get sucked in by it, then I think you need some help. What is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another - doesn't mean anybody is stupid or needs to get a life! We should be able to express our views without getting personal. |
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30 Jan 08 - 03:09 PM (#2248860) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow I'd wholly agree there. |
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30 Jan 08 - 03:28 PM (#2248874) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Q (Frank Staplin) Yes, Villan- We need to get out our rails and tar and chicken feathers and ride these politically corrects out to the boondocks, there to expire in the mire or be eaten by alligators and malarial mosquitos. Is there anything other than poor, inoffensive vegetables and organic eyeglasses that these milquetoasts can tolerate? Doesn't look like we have a potential choice for possible relief in the next election either. Anyone who expresses views should be ready for personal attacks- its the human way to deal with opponents! Since they have outlawed the poleax, iron maiden and burning at the stake as too severe, words are about all that we have left as weapons. |
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30 Jan 08 - 04:55 PM (#2248965) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Rasener Couldn't have said it better Q :-) I just feel its a bit sad when people get upset over adverts. |
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30 Jan 08 - 05:00 PM (#2248967) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator "Will the Government ever stop this politically correct brigade, they are ruining this country." Did I miss something? Did any government do anything to censor or suppress anything? Unless I'm mistaken, a television ad was created and broadcast, and some of us were offended. No one with any power to take the ad off the air, much as they may have wished to. So, broadcasting this commercial offended some people, and the possibility that anyone might prevent its broadcast offends others. I suppose I'm glad that we're powerless to do anything about stuff like this... |
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30 Jan 08 - 05:04 PM (#2248973) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Mississippi Saxaphone Thank goodness they have outlawed the poleax, iron maiden and burning at the stake or a lot of us would be long gone! |
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31 Jan 08 - 07:22 AM (#2249414) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Bonnie Shaljean Did I see the same advert that everyone else did? Archive clip of Piaf singing her famous I-regret-nothing song, subtitles of a couple of the genuine lyrics in English, followed by a dumb plug about missing a bargain on glasses - presumably the thing to be regretted. It's not a very clever commercial, but sick? Stooping? Insulting? I think that's reading a lot more into it than is actually in there. I HATE that advertisers use classics to sell things but it happens all the time. This one is no different and no worse than a million others. Piaf is one of the enduring greats and her art will easily triumph over this petty coat-tail riding. Think back for a minute to the days when she was a poor street-singer and the only wealth she possessed was her voice. What if some business exec had walked up to her and said, "We'll pay you X francs to sing an endorsement of Product Y." Assuming Product Y was not dangerous or morally offensive in some way, do you think she would have hesitated? My feeling is that she'd get a good laugh out of the Specsavers commercial. Nothing they or anyone else can do will hurt her. And maybe - just MAYBE - there's some young 'un out there who has never ventured beyond pop music and the current crop of downloads who will hear this and think, Hey - who's that? She's GOOD. Where can I hear more? TV exposure (unless it's been deliberately distorted to make the performer sound bad) usually does little harm - and it could gain her a wider fanbase. |
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31 Jan 08 - 07:38 AM (#2249426) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: GUEST,Tunesmith Bonnie: Really? |
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31 Jan 08 - 07:52 AM (#2249434) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Bonnie Shaljean "Really" what? That it could get her some new fans? Yes, I think possibly - TV exposure is a great communicator. That the advert won't harm her reputation? That a lot of them are as bad or worse? Not sure what it is you're asking - |
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31 Jan 08 - 08:00 AM (#2249440) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Grab Eanjay, for sure people might not like it - tastes vary. However the initial comment "How can a company be allowed to..." explicitly says that Victor thought they should have been stopped from doing it. Hence the variations and rhapsody on the theme "get a life"... Graham. |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:01 AM (#2249489) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton A Villain. |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:03 AM (#2249492) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Rasener LOL |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:04 AM (#2249494) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: M.Ted People are quite right about my advice to "Get a Life!"--it was insensitive and dismissive. I take my comment back, with much regret. Victor, I acknowledge the validity of your choice and salute you for your courage in pursuing it. |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:09 AM (#2249499) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Backwoodsman Some folks need to grow a skin. |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:55 AM (#2249528) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Rasener Do you think they should do an advert of David Beckham not being selected for England becuase he wasn't wearing a pair of Fabio Capello Specsavers? |
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31 Jan 08 - 01:50 PM (#2249719) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: PoppaGator As I saw it upon first reading, the only reason this ad might might have been considered insensitive or in poor taste is that Piaf suffered temporary blindness as a child, coupled with the fact that the ad was for eyeglasses. We've discovered that very few people have been aware that she had been blind as a child ~ and that most of us who do know about this bit of personal history only learned recently, from the current film La Vie en Rose, which may or may not be strictly accurate, anyway. Insofar as anyone objects to commericialization of their favorite music and/or artists, what else is new? If the admonition to "get a life" is somehow inappropriate, what else can I say? Get over it! (Or, in the words of Peyton Manning, in yet another TV commercial) Rub a little dirt on it and walk it off! |
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31 Jan 08 - 03:36 PM (#2249815) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton M.Ted Thank you and I am really grateful to you for saying this. Yes everyone is allowed an opinion and I was just really annoyed to see the ad go out. We have to understand that most companies aim their campaigns at youth culture (yes the wear glasses too) because they are today's spending power. Since I created this post I asked my grandson what he thought of the ad, reply "Yeah the one with the funny looking old woman crowing in French, yeah, it's so funny". So there you have it, the views of a 23 year old. A lady who's music I have loved and enjoyed for 60 years and who's life was such a hard one, reduced to a figure of fun on the flat screen of his students union. Well the little basket will be staying with me over Easter, he's in for a treat or two ! Yes your all allowed opinons, sorry if me having one was a problem. |
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31 Jan 08 - 07:29 PM (#2249998) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow "most companies aim their campaigns at youth culture" But possibly not in this case? Focusing (a rather appropriate word in this thread) attention on the youth market may be the prevalent fashion - but in fact young people make up a smaller percentage of the population than has ever been the case in the past. Differing opinion are fine - personal abuse isn't. We're all agreed on that? |
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31 Jan 08 - 08:15 PM (#2250033) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton I think you will agree that the majority of credit card debt doesn't belong to the old codgers such as myself. "young people make up a smaller percentage of the population". Correct, but High street fashion outlets, mobile phone shops, companies selling Designer reading glasses, Spoiler kits for cars, computers and Hi Fi aren't aimed at the over 40's market. Young people DO spend more. The only ads,I feel that are aimed at me are the ones to bury me! You never know, maybe they could do a run on spare parts for an ageing Rover SD1 Vitesse, a glamour granny drinking Horlicks, a bloody good winter rub (that works)for my aches and pains and ones that leave my favourite songbirds alone. As to the "personal abuse" the best is reserved for the one who started this thread if you care to read from the top down ! |
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31 Jan 08 - 08:27 PM (#2250037) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Nickhere One ad I find very annoying at the moment is one for a private health company Vivas. It talks of a revoultion in health care and a Fidel-like figure speaking while other Fidel-lookalikes rush about putting the health revolution into place. It talks of choice for people, freedom to access better health care etc, while only whispering in a much lower voice that all this 'freedom' and 'choice' will cost a small fortune (and so, not really freedom or choice for everyone, only those who can afford it) given that it's private health insurance. Of course it also a health model diametrically opposed to the Cuban public health model. The biggest obstacle for private health companies is a well-functioning public health system. As one increases, so the other decreases. |
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31 Jan 08 - 08:36 PM (#2250044) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Cobble Piaf is one of the enduring greats. Only if you like her music, not everyone does. Cobble. |
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31 Jan 08 - 09:57 PM (#2250083) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Bonnie Shaljean Yes. Obviously. |
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31 Jan 08 - 10:11 PM (#2250092) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow Obvious that some people do miss out on Edith Piaf. Equally obvious that they are missing out on something pretty good. .................... Victor in Mapperton - PM Date: 25 Jan 08 - 07:47 PM ... |
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01 Feb 08 - 10:45 AM (#2250448) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Victor in Mapperton Good point. |
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01 Feb 08 - 11:55 AM (#2250516) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Rasener >>Obvious that some people do miss out on Edith Piaf. Equally obvious that they are missing out on something pretty good. << One persons opinion, not everybody thinks the same. My children don't like her. Somebody doing a great job in promoting Edith Piaf is that wonderful lady called Flossie Malavialle who has played at Faldingworth Memorial Hall on several occasions. My wife and I like Edith Piaff, but we do not expect other people to like what we like. Thank goodness. Wouldn't it be a boring world. |
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01 Feb 08 - 06:34 PM (#2250946) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: McGrath of Harlow Tastes differ. But if my taste buds shot to pieces, either temporarily or permanently, my judgment about how a meal tastes are not too significant. |
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01 Feb 08 - 06:41 PM (#2250951) Subject: RE: BS: Specsavers ad, insult to Edith Piaf From: Big Al Whittle Do you think she had problems with her name.... Did peole say, Hello Miss.... And she said, Piaf! And they thought....typical of foreigners, you try and be friendly.... |