The Woolworths Lolita Bed, And More Horrors

Following neatly along from the "provocative schoolgirl" used in the Ryanair advert come Woolworths, who yesterday withdrew bedroom furniture for young girls which was being marketed under the brand name "Lolita".

With breathtaking idiocy, this marketing strategy takes us into the same realms of the lack of corporate responsibility as previously demonstrated this week by that worst of budget airlines. The company claimed,"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now."



Whether citing the cultural ignorance of their staff is sufficient defense remains to be seen, but further investigation reveals other companies also selling dubious items - high street retailers WH Smith selling children's stationery branded "Playboy", BHS selling "adult" underwear, i.e. thongs and padded bras, and leading supermarket Tesco selling a pole dancing kit for young girls, withdrawn from sale in 2006.

As my friend Sizemore said, with just a touch of the sardonic, why stop there? Let's start marketing penis enhancement pumps to young boys, because, after all, young girls don't have a monopoly on vulnerability.

Such a focus on the very young seems to be a developing trend during this final, sickest phase of the post-Cold war period. The triumph of capitalism over idealism has put Mammon in place of aspiration, and the unchallenged markets are seen as a de facto international legislature, totally replacing concepts of social cohesion, accountability or ordinary human morality.

Watching the Cash Machine's excesses become ever more blatant, as endless scientifically determined detail is applied to extracting pitifully small amounts of cash from the mass underclasses, one can only hope that natural revulsion might be eventually translated into concerted, active resistance by those of us clinging to the vestiges of an alternative way of living.

BBC Bank

I see that the BBC is splendidly fulfilling its educational remit, as ever. Publishing this entertaining graphic on the BBC news website under the banner "What's Happening At Northern Rock?" they are carefully explaining the current situation re: this wobbly British financial institution, hit for six by the US sub-prime mortgage debacle, to ordinary people in a few colourful, easy to understand icons. Auntie Beeb is playing its role as Nanny, explaining in a rational and delightfully middle-class way to the nervous people forming long lines outside Northern Rock branches up and down the country, ordinary savers withdrawing their hard-earned money before it is too late, that all is very probably well.



It's nice to see how responsibly they are doing their best to disseminate common sense and thus avoid the financial panic spreading. I for one am deeply reassured. Now I will paint the windows white, and hide with my life savings under a mattress.