Exclusive: Man whose uncle died in 2017 disaster describes ad for pain relief gel Voltarol as ‘insulting’

Grenfell Tower has been edited out of a TV advert in a move described as “insulting” by a family bereaved by the June 2017 disaster.

Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle Hesham Rahman was among 72 people who died as a result of the fire, noticed the edit while watching the Channel 4 streaming service on Monday when an advert for the pain relief gel Voltarol showed people playing football on the Westway football pitches close to the council block.

Continue reading...

Rules governing political campaigning on terrestrial television don’t apply to streaming or online – and parties are starting to play dirty

One of my favourite jokes in The Simpsons concerns the unhinged nature of US political advertising. “Mayor Quimby supports revolving-door prisons,” a growly voice narrates over footage of exactly what you imagine. “Mayor Quimby even released Sideshow Bob, a man twice convicted of attempted murder.” And then, a final disclosure at a noticeably faster pace: “Vote Sideshow Bob for Mayor.”

This was a great joke – but it wasn’t entirely a joke. The real revolving door ad, which featured similar imagery, had been used by the George HW Bush campaign to tar his 1988 opponent, Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, as soft on crime. That in turn was a sort of sequel to the “Willie Horton” ad, in which other Republican operatives had tried to pin the violent crimes of the eponymous African American on Dukakis, governor when Horton was released on furlough. The entire campaign was widely condemned as one long racist dog-whistle intended to terrify white people into voting Republican. It also, upsettingly, worked.

Jonn Elledge’s new book, A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps, is published on 25 April

Continue reading...

After being posted on X and becoming a feature on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, the 2003 commercial that sees Obi-Wan Kenobi hand Luke Skywalker a cold beer has gone viral

‘Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough”, Obi-Wan Kenobi tells a wide-eyed Luke Skywalker in the 1977 Star Wars film, A New Hope. Obi-Wan moves to fetch the precious item – an ice-cold bottle of Chilean lager, Cerveza Cristal.

Cue enthusiastic brand jingle, and cut!

Continue reading...

Exclusive: ITV is considering taking paid ads from parties on its streaming platform where ban does not apply

Some viewers are already irritated by the adverts interrupting shows on the ITV catch-up service.

But even they could soon yearn for the halcyon days of shampoo or insurance commercials after being presented with the faces of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.

Continue reading...

Former American footballer and actor who was acquitted of the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown, and her companion, Ron Goldman, in the 1995 ‘trial of the century’

On the American football field, OJ Simpson ran around, past and through defenders with almost unmatched success. “The Juice” had legendary status, as both a collegian and a pro.

Undeniably handsome and charismatic, he appeared in films and on TV, and was known in the US for a Hertz television commercial in which he sprinted through an airport, hurdling all obstacles.

Continue reading...

Viewers association has called for Amica Chips to suspend the campaign over a lack of respect towards practising Catholics

An Italian TV advert that depicts nuns eating crisps instead of altar bread while receiving holy communion has been accused of blasphemy by an outraged association of Catholic TV viewers.

The 30-second advert for Amica Chips – one of Italy’s top crisps brands – takes place in a monastery and opens with nuns preparing to receive holy communion. Their mother superior realises that the tabernacle is empty of hosts, and so fills it with crisps.

Continue reading...

Sponsored video promoted ultra low calorie diet without encouraging users to take medical advice, regulator rules

A post on Katie Price ’s Instagram account has been banned by the UK’s advertising regulator for irresponsibly encouraging a low calorie diet, while simultaneously failing to disclose it was an advert and making unauthorised weight loss claims.

The Instagram reel, a video shared on the glamour model’s account in August 2023, depicts her making meals throughout the day and talking about her efforts to lose weight while repeatedly promoting the Skinny Food Co line of low-calorie meals.

Continue reading...

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Why is alcohol advertised openly in the UK, without pictures on the packaging highlighting the medical effects, for example, when tobacco is treated so differently? John Fisher, by email

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com .

Continue reading...

Analysis shows content is aimed at working-class over-50s, and plays on fears of crime, stirs anger and pushes conspiracy theories

Are you a cleaner or builder who likes Primark, the pub or reality TV – but doesn’t care about the environment? If yes, the Conservative party wants your vote.

These are some of the interest categories used by the campaign team for the Tories’ candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, to target audiences on social media.

Continue reading...