Fizz! Theft of a Logo!

ONE THING THAT HAS ALWAYS ANNOYED ME ABOUT SKYPARK IN GLASGOW IS THAT THEY HAVE BLATANTLY STOLEN THE LOGO FROM PEPSI.

I suppose that it doesn’t matter now that Pepsi Cola have changed their logo, but still, I am just amazed.

The above pictures show the famous Pepsi Logo with the word “Pepsi” at the top. The background seems not to be important; the logo is still th elogo whether the background is blue or white.  In fact, if you look closer, it is clear that there is condensation and more photoreality in one over the other.

The positioning of the word “Pepsi” equally seems unimportant — here it is at the bottom for a change…

There are plenty of examples of the Pepsi logo without the word being used at all!

What I am trying to show here is that the logo is the s-shape in a circle.

The Skypark logo is the same s-shape within a circle — and they have it everywhere in all colours and shades.  Can it really be down to the absence of red or the slight tilt? Things are getting worse if it is!

I don’t think so — and the representation of the logo in wrought iron and etched glass renders this logo identical to that of the fizzy pop maker.  Fancy that!

Shawlands Fried Chicken

BLATANT CASHING IN — DON’T WE ALL LOVE IT?

I was quite struck by this poster in a local shop window.

It reminded me of something, but I could not for the life of me remember what it was.

On further reflection, I realised that it was still a chicken-based deep-fried product… Hmmm:

• SFC.
• Fried Chicken.
• Red and white stripes.
• Secret herbs and spices.

But what I am thinking of is not SFC, but something else. Nope. I just cannot think what this reminds me of! Things must be getting worse!

Why Pay?

TARGET THE CHILDREN!

You may recall that in our post entitled, “Power Message” from back in February 2008, we railed against toys that got brand names across to children.

Well, this is similar, but instead of pretend Black and Decker or Bosch tools, we have the supermarket (and its message) directly involved.

Click on the picture to enlarge.  You can buy a toy truck that says “You Shop We Drop” or “Why Pay More?”.

Things are getting worse when subliminal advertising is aimed at the children of the poor.

Vegetarian Chicken?

CHICKEN — THE VEGETARIAN OPTION.

Really!

We were sent this snapshot of a menu from America [click picture to enlarge]. It states:

“SPINACH CHICKEN
Grilled Chicken Breast with sautéed spinach,
mushrooms, onions, melted jack cheese, & topped
with Poblano cream sauce, served with rice.
Excellent for Vegetarians!!! $8.99″

Valentine’s Fixed!

A BOTTLE OF BUCKFAST WINE, 20 MAYFAIR CIGARETTES AND A PACKET OF CIGARETTE PAPERS — GIFT WRAPPED.

Yes, folks, welcome to the traditional Glasgow’s Valentine’s Day gift — for the gal in your life — a gift-wrapped bottle of buckie, fags and skins for your joints. Gorgeous! The “Buckie Gift Pack” — [click picture to enlarge]

Haddows Off-licence on Copland Road, Ibrox, Glasgow – all for just £9.08.  Apparently they are selling fast — so hurry!

Packaging Ironic

WE WERE SENT THIS PICTURE BY E-MAIL RECENTLY, AND THOUGHT IT QUITE IRONIC.

What do you think?

If you double click on the image, it will enlarge — it shows a device that helps you open stubborn hard plastic sealed packing — but the device itself comes in stubborn hard plastic sealed packaging!

Are things getting worse, or is this an attempt to be “funny”?

Spin The Bottle?

SPIN THE BOTTLE IS A RISQUÉ ACTIVITY USUALLY DISCOVERED IN THE WHITE HEAT OF ADOLESCENCE.

The idea is to drink some alcohol, then use the empty bottle in a game.  Everyone forms a circle and the bottle is laid down and spun.  It eventually comes to rest pointing at someone.  This is the selection process.  What happens next depends on all sorts of things — use your imagination; it’s an alcohol and hormone driven game of chance!

The first thing that occurred to me when I came across this “game” in a toy shop, was that it was too risqué for kids.  Then I  realised that it taught them the game, that it “formalised” it.

Things are getting worse when people can even think of buying such a thing — think people! All you need to play this game is some imagination and a bottle –there is NO NEED TO BUY A SPECIAL “SPIN THE BOTTLE” BOTTLE!

Good grief!

Sliced Bread is Illegal

THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE HAVE PASSED A LAW THAT FORBIDS THE SALE OF SLICED BREAD.

This is according to my local supermarket — where I saw a sign at the bakery.  Click on the picture to enlarge.  Please accept my apologies for the blurry image.  It says:

“Organic Bread

EU Regulations mean that we cannot
offer pre-sliced Organic Bread from our
instore bakery.  We can however slice
organic bread at your request but this
will be done on our regular bread slicer.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

I find it amazing that there is an EU regulation on bread slicing — why would there be?  And why have they decided against slicing bread.

The next thing to worry about, is that the baker will slice your organic loaf — but that it will not be done using an organic-only slicer.  Perhaps some people will feel that their bread might be in some way contaminated by coming into contact with something not officially “organic”?

Is the world going mad, or is it just me that things things are getting worse?

Barry Norman Take Two!

BARRY NORMAN WAS KNOWN AS A FILM CRITIC ON TV WITH THE CATCHPHRASE, “…AND WHY NOT?”.

So the LAST thing you would expect is for him to be associated with pickled onions. Of all the things he chose to endorse in his retirement from television, he chose PICKLED ONIONS!

How strange! Click on the picture to enlarge; it requires a closer look!

It says (in the mode of a film clapper board):

PRODUCER: BARRY NORMAN

TAKE: PICKLED ONIONS

SCENE: HOT AND SPICY

SOUND: CRUNCHY.

Yep, things are definitely getting worse!

The Big Rubbish Scam

GLASGOW COUNCIL HAVE FINALLY REALISED THAT THEIR RUBBISH REMOVAL SCHEME IS RUBBISH.

We have posted many articles here about this, check them out…

• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/litter-to-the-council/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/what-a-dump/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/06/18/sofa-so-good/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/litter-bugs/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/05/01/rubbish/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/streetlitter/

Unfortunately, instead of doing anything constructive or positive about all the rubbish we have to put up with, the city’s answer is to put up posters!

And these posters carry a threat – we could actually be fined if we do not put rubbish out on proper days, and if we do not keep everything neat and tidy!

The responsibility is ours – not the city council’s! What do we pay council tax for?

There is always a let out clause with the council rubbish uplift — it’s called Health and Safety. If there are rats, they can refuse to uplift. What then? According to an article in Glasgow’s Evening Times:

“Patrick McManus, 34, an architectural technician who lives in a nearby block in Calder Street, said:

‘It’s starting to look like Paddy’s Market.
‘There are rats everywhere and notices up in the back court warning people about them. It’s a health risk. I’m just sick of it. I’m trying to sell my house and am paying my council tax, so why can’t they sort it out?’”(Evening Times 30 July 2007)

Glasgow City Council even has a web page dedicated to the rat problem:

• Pest Control: Rats

There is also a 24 hour telephone number: 0141 287 9700 and select option 3.

“Do not expect instant results. Rats are naturally wary of new food sources and it may be some time before they are comfortable eating the bait. Once they start to feed on the bait it can take between 3 to 10 days for the poison to be effective. You must make sure that children and pets never get access to any rat poison”

The British pest Control Association can provide a list of exterminators on-line — it’s very short and simple form:

• http://www.bpca.org.uk/

The BBC warned about rats back in 2002 when all this rubbish on the streets began — see:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2164999.stm

By the way, rubbish, vermin, filth and litter is not a local problem, it is countrywide one:

• The One Show

This BBC TV program shows that even though people are paying council tax, they are having to resort to picking up litter themselves.

Amazingly, this approach is actually a formal and official procedure in Glasgow!  As part of the “Clean Glasgow” Campaign, volunteers are encouraged to collect litter in their spare time — and for no pay!

• Volunteer Litter Picking — organised by the city council

The Glasgow evening newspaper took the amazing step of printing lists of names of people convicted of littering — to a good deal of controversy! Check out their defence and the readers’ comments:

• Litter Louts Dropped Us in This Mess

The”Clean Glasgow”campaign is costing an estimated £4 000 000 this year. In my opinion, four million pounds is a lot of money to supply bin bags for volunteers, rat poison, rat helpline and some posters. The Evening Times naming and shaming campaign printed lists in blocks of 500 — that means each list represents a block of income of on-the-spot fines of £50. So one list would bring in 25 grand!

The council are making mugs of us.  If you drop a cigarette butt, you are fined £50 on top of your council tax.  Meantime, the putting the rubbish out front policy is leading to health and safety issues, which in turn means that rubbish cannot be uplifted until somebody calls the 24 hours rat helpline, the poison takes effect and then perhaps the volunteers can arrive to do the work (bin bags supplied, of course).

The only way out of this is to have the city council change policy back to placing rubbish in lanes and away from the pavements.  That would encourage people to refrain from dropping litter, and make everywhere better and cleaner. Admittedly, the problem will have shifted round the back — but is it not better to have the rats there instead of where we all walk?

More rubbish bins and better collections would be good too — and could be paid for from the vast profits of the on-the-spot fines.

It is adding insult to injury to ask volunteers to pick up rubbish and remove piles of fly-tipped goods.  At the very least this should be a punishment meted out to people with ASBOs — perhaps a form of community service?

Things are getting worse, when we put up with this scam, and when we allow councils to shirk the community responsibility tat is the reason for their very existence!