Go Compare

It seems to me that youngsters and parents living in Ushaw Moor up to to middle 1950s  were not subjected to advertising in the manner that became so prevalent. A replica football shirt was not a childish desire and neither was it on the want list of a generously girthed, beery, thirty year old fan;  our local school was not sponsored by an estate agent or some such business; Sunderland FC and Newcastle FC did not have multi changing electronic adverts encircling their pitches and  football programmes did not cost the equivalent of a modern three quid.

But we have much of the aforementioned and a lot besides. It is probably here to stay: our economy relies on consumer spending to achieve growth and something  they call  'prosperity'. The trouble is we seem to put up with horribly noisy Go Compare adverts and the like, but should we? The advertising persuaders are making too many of us feel  off colour and perhaps we should not put up with it.

It is complicated. We have life choices and must not be overawed by having so many. I suppose we should decide our taste, spend in relation to our means and  pine for Radio Luxembourg's  gentler brand of advertising. We can then watch the ship go down. As I say, it is complicated and the genie is probably long gone from the bottle.

WB