BBC politics advert

[subaqua]

well done bassjunkie. have been looking for this since i saw the telly advert. which reminds me. havent heard back from the BBC yet

 

[mr_cellophane]

while showing a cyclist ripping a mirror off.

No it doesn't, it shows a cyclist trying to squeeze past a car and folding the door mirror back with his bag. It shows a driver not considering the cyclist filtering by waiting too close to the curb and the cyclist not considering the car by trying to fit through a gap which is too small.

 

[snorri]

The film simply illustrated a feature of traffic congestion on our roads.

 

[subaqua]

No it doesn't, it shows a cyclist trying to squeeze past a car and folding the door mirror back with his bag. It shows a driver not considering the cyclist filtering by waiting too close to the curb and the cyclist not considering the car by trying to fit through a gap which is too small.

tomato /tomayto.

 

[dellzeqq]

it shows a young man wearing expensive clothes and living in a trendy house. The whole thing is silly. Let it be.......

 

[StuartG]

Also StuartG why shouldn't cyclists retaliate against bad driving. How else are drivers meant to realize what they just did isn't acceptable? IMHO if you don't complain about the poor driving your just saying that it is acceptable to behave like that and the status quo will carry on.

Because 50 years of doing so has not made a bit of difference. Maybe the opposite. I hear and see a lot more anti-cycling drivers then I did. When I've tried to reason with a mad driver - they just got madder. Moreover when one driver honks another - do we get improved driving standards or not?

Basically it don't work. No amount of wishing will make it work. The problem is finding something that will work and is politically implementable. I'm still looking ...

 

[subaqua]

i had my reply from the beeb

Thanks for contacting the BBC.

I understand you were unhappy with the ‘Everything is Politics’ trail as you felt it was biased against cyclists due to us seeing a cyclist move a car’s side mirror.

I can assure you no such bias exists. This advert was simply relating politics to one man’s journey through his morning, showing various, sometimes comical, everyday things which could help viewers watching realise that politics does affect their lives in ways which they may not be aware.

For example, littering was shown as the man finding chewing gum on his shoe. Recycling was identified by a bin’s contents falling onto the street when he tried to place his newspaper into it. At no point were we condoning the dropping of gum or the littering of our streets. In the same way, we showed a cyclist leaning up against a bus window when he was trapped between large vehicles with very little room to move in the middle of a busy city. When he tried to move he knocked a car’s mirror and it moved slightly on its hinge.

This was related to “cycle lanes” in the advert and showed the difficulties cyclists and motorists both face and how the issue of cycle lanes in politics could be of importance to some of our viewers, something they may not have thought of before. In no way was it against cyclists, but in the same way as we can’t be biased against cyclists, we also can’t be taking a stance and promoting it. As we're an impartial broadcaster we have to remain neutral in all areas.

Nonetheless, I acknowledge you’ve got strong feelings surrounding this issue and as such I’d like to assure you I've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is an internal report of audience feedback which we compile daily and is available for viewing by all our staff. This includes all trail producers and channel controllers, along with our senior management. It ensures that your points, along with all other comments we receive, are considered across the BBC.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Kind Regards

Andrew Hannah
BBC Complaints

 

[Peter Parkorr]

did anybody just see this advert. goes on how politics doesn't affect , apart from ...... lists a whole raft of things and then it mentions cycle lanes, while showing a cyclist ripping a mirror off.

stiff letter to the Beeb i think

Are you guys joking??
I havent read yr response from the bbc and I couldn't believe you were even serious about sending a letter.
The advert was effectively stating that politics is the reason there aren't more cycle lanes (and the reason for many other things, which is why you should be interested in politics - 'the message').
I'm not attacking any of you personally, but there is a serious case of (cyclists) tunnel vision here. If anything, the BBC is appealing to you as part of its audience by fighting your corner for you, and saying that there should be more cycle lanes.

I found this thread as I was just searching for a copy of the advert that I could tweet and applaud the BBC for making it! And I am also a cyclist btw, sold the car in 2008!

I'm flabberghasted!

 

[subaqua]

Are you guys joking??
I havent read yr response from the bbc and I couldn't believe you were even serious about sending a letter.
The advert was effectively stating that politics is the reason there aren't more cycle lanes (and the reason for many other things, which is why you should be interested in politics - 'the message').
I'm not attacking any of you personally, but there is a serious case of (cyclists) tunnel vision here. If anything, the BBC is appealing to you as part of its audience by fighting your corner for you, and saying that there should be more cycle lanes.

I found this thread as I was just searching for a copy of the advert that I could tweet and applaud the BBC for making it! And I am also a cyclist btw, sold the car in 2008!

I'm flabberghasted!

cyclist, car driver, HGV licence holder. am i not allowed to have an opinion too? thought thats what politics was all about.