Impacts of the smoking ban

These seem to be rather open to debate and interpretation at the moment, as NHS spokespeople claim it has helped significantly, especially in helping people to quit (though if you look at the numbers, I find it difficult to figure out how they substantiate this claim), whilst other evidence suggests, well, exactly the opposite, especially amongst younger people.

And as our Gov ponders the banning of display advertising for all tobacco products, essentially making them a 'hidden behind the shelf commodity' ('anything for the weekend, sir?'), I will pass on this amusing (well, I found it amusing) little story from our local evening paper the other night. The correspondent wrote that he no longer ever visits any of his local pubs and bars because 'bad body odours' (yes, I know exactly what he means, someone with BO is now extremely noticeable) from other people make it insufferable for him to enjoy a beer any more. He makes the point that smoke at least obscured a lot of what he considers to be far worse smells. (To reinforce the point, when asked why she had stopped going to local nightclubs, my eldest surprisingly opined - 'they just stink of stale sweat, puke, and foul farts now, they're horrible places'. )

The thing is, as almost all teenagers are inately rebellious, putting a ban in place on anything seems almost always to encourage them to go against it anyway, doesn't it? But nanny state knows best. Ho hum.

Friggin' with the riggin'

Or... when bad polls go bad.

Thing is, I'm pretty sure we all do it, or would if we could. I have.

That is, tried to manipulate a poll result. Heck, I just did it recently with our last newsletter when I asked the Junkk.com readership to bung us a big up in the Observer Ethical Awards. But somehow I doubt our current readership, no matter how high quality, would quite compare to some others doubtless (well, I know they were, 'cos I only found out about the thing by one I'm signed up to asking me to vote for them) doing the same thing.

I was reminded of this last night, when I got an appeal from the owner of a big, respected music blog to help tip the balance in favour of his daughter in some music competition or other so she could win a car. The appeal of her music, or abilities, seemed vaguely irrelevant.

And if one wins such things, for sure you go on to milk it big time in PR. Whether it's Strictly Come Dancing or the BBC's 'Have Your Say' ('See... x% of those moderated in agreed...').

I'd say that a panel of judges is a much better bet for real expert assessment and objectivity, but these days what counts as an expert is often rather 'creative' at best. And even with 'pros' some agendas can often be held up to scrutiny.

I guess the best thing is to treat it just as a big game. But sadly, few do. Too much, including fame and fortune, hinges on these things. And with the inevitable influences of the vast , manipulable audiences on the internet available at the stroke of a key, it looks set to spiral ever higher. In entertainment value for sure, but as to real value... probably not so much.

Another MOTA (Metaphor Of The Age)?