News, Views Etc . . . Toys in Advertising

Just a quick one; as I subjected you to nature this morning! Looking at a few cases of toys or toy-imagery used in commercial advertising to give the potential consumer (read; victim) either a warm comfy feeling or a twinge of nostalgia! My Brother who's a sort of accidental philosopher (and won't thank me for mentioning him here) stated with the logic of his age when he was about six "If you need to advertise it; it can't be that good?", to which I would add - with the cynicism of my age; if you need to use the warm glow of toys to sell it, it must be shite, which is probably why two of these involve finance!

NatWest have emptied the toy-box in their latest campaign!

This one is using a dinosaur given away on the front of a kid's comic/magazine about a year ago . . . I guess the add-agency just sent a runner to the corner-shop for their 'prop'!

Helping illustrate an article on savings in the Metro on 20th September is this family of piggy-wiggies!

Not a toy per se, but we do see the odd superhero here on the Blog and they do pertain to childhood/youth-culture, so worth a punt. Although I'm not sure Shopper Hero will save Andover from the number of empty-units in its precinct; matched only by the number of empty units in Newbury, Basingrad, Farnborough, Fleet, Camberley, Bracknell, Aldershot . . . and anywhere else I've shopped in the last few years!

Bracknell have just renamed their 'mall', Camberley has announced the third, forth? - I've lost count - facelift in recent years of its main shopping-centre, Aldershot has announced a rescue package, Basingrad is busy giving it’s a major facelift and Fleet managed to repaint the kick-boards at the bottom of the four columns, matt black, the other day!

None of which activity, mostly involving at least some local authority funds (taxpayer's money) will save any of these various high streets from the fact that the world's changed - and changed forever.