Wow! - Unfunny pranks

Shortly after a 3-year old boy was thrown into a crocodile enclosure by a man with learning difficulties, voucher site Wowcher thought it  would be funny to send out a marketing email titled, "Snap up these deals quicker than a croc can catch a kid!"

The boy received critical injuries after being attacked by the reptiles.  He is no longer critical.

Wowcher had no choice but to apologise and stated that they were instigating an urgent review of their processes.

The BBC story is here.

Today's BBC story is more car related and shows the same lack of insight/common sense of two other companies.

Both indoor golf venue Golf Fang Liverpool, and car parking app Parc, decided to use fake parking tickets to advertise themselves.

I don't think that's very funny and neither did the Advertising Standards Authority, the ASA.

The ASA ruled the adverts, which were all wrapped in yellow and black plastic and placed on windscreens in Liverpool and Manchester, risked causing "unjustifiable distress".

I know if someone put one on my windscreen I would be very annoyed.  I'd probably report them to the ASA and also do what I do if I get electioneering letters from Reform and send them back where they came from with no stamp on the envelope.  Did you know Reform Wirral are based in Millbank in London?

Anyway, while looking for a suitable picture of a parking ticket I found this one:

Apparently Diggerland Theme Parks sell them in packs of 5 including the cellophane packaging so that you can prank people.

What lovely people must visit Diggerland.

And no - I have never ever received a parking ticket.

You've Bean Nicked!

According to the guy I listen to on Dee Radio driving in to work this week, there has been some filming going on in the Handbridge area of Chester and some 1980s era cars been seen parked there.

A bit more digging by the breakfast DJ came up with Anemone, a film that will star Daniel Day-Lewis and Sean Bean.

There have been no sightings of the much-married Sean Bean or the much-retired Daniel Day-Lewis. According to Wikipedia, Daniel's first retirement in 1997 was cobblers.

Anyway, the BBC are reporting today that those cars have been ticketed by traffic wardens.

The cars, were allegedly parked on double-yellow lines - none are visible in the photos so has another crime been committed in covering them over?  Google Streetview does clearly show them:

It appears that the Council did not give any special permissions for the filming so the arrogance of the film team may have come in to play - or maybe this was a calculated risk and they are happy to pay the fines.

I am a bit more surprised that they think that in the 1980s, everybody drove Fords.

Or is it because the production company are called Focus Features?

Not Fine Parking

May must be motoring offences month with two more stories from the BBC today.

The first one involves lots of people in High Wycombe parking where they shouldn't.

In a car park.

And they weren't told that they shouldn't park there.

And in reality, it was only a small corner of the car park that they shouldn't have parked in.

So some sad traffic warden has wasted a few hours doing this:

All tickets were rescinded - the story is here.

While up in Scotland - on a roundabout clearly marked with Police "No Waiting" cones, somebody has parked there anyway - on top of a steel drum:

That story is here - it was a stolen car.

Can't tell if the car was damaged or not - I would suspect it has been.

But if it hasn't been then that is a bit of very impressive parking.

And they have avoided getting a ticket.

Grammar Knows Best

I admit that I am a bit of a Grammar-Nazi. I like my apostrophes to be in the right place.

So I was particularly pleased to read this story out of Associated Press this week.

Basically, an Ohio woman parked her pick-up in a place where a sign stated that certain types of vehicles cannot be parked longer than 24 hours, including "any motor vehicle camper, trailer, farm implement and/or non-motorized vehicle."

She overstayed her 24 hours.

She got a parking ticket.

Note that the sign says "motor vehicle camper" rather than "motor vehicle, camper"

Now, since her vehicle wasn't a "motor vehicle camper", her ticket was overthrown.

Good.

It also gives me an excuse to post this picture of a vehicle that was ten-a-penny when I was little but you don't see any more.

 

It's a Commer Campervan.

Rubbish Parking

Traffic Wardens are very unpopular.

This is because they seem more interested in revenue income than in keeping the roads clear and safe.  It's probably not their fault - the Councils are desperate for money and see the motorist as an easy source of income.

Where I used to work, people (not me I hasten to add) would often park on the pavement.  The local traffic wardens would come along making a lot of fuss and noise and give people a chance to shift their cars.  Only after 10 to 15 minutes would they start ticketing.  This achieved a removal of illegally parked cars and no ill-feeling.  I suspect nowadays they would be expected to hide around the corner and jump out as soon as a car was left and the owner was out of sight - I sincerely hope that this isn't the case.

Anyway, traffic wardens are unpopular and stories showing them in a good light are few and far between.  Here is one I posted three years ago.

And here is a Mac cartoon from The Daily Mail from about six years ago:

That cartoon combined the Daily Mail's hatred of wheelie bins with the general dislike of traffic wardens.

The Daily Mail hate lots of sensible things so I wouldn't be too bothered about that - but no traffic warden would really ticket a wheelie-bin would they?

No.

But one with a sense of humour might stick a parking-ticket cover on one that was causing an obstruction:

I found the story on the BBC Website claiming in the headline that it had been ticketed but then admitting in the article that it hadn't.

Lots of other sites also got hold of the story including, of course, the odious Daily Mail.  To be fair to them, they did put "parking ticket" in quotes signifying that it wasn't a real ticket.  It then added the taglines

• Parking warden appeared to give wheelie bin parking ticket in Carmarthen
• The Biffa waste bin was left blocking the road on double yellow lines
• Locals slam warden for 'wasting' council resources and time
• He is now being investigated by the local authority for his conduct

The first is true.  The second isn't - it was too small to block the road.  The third is also not true - it was just one sad salesman who spoke to The Mail - remember that councils and their employees are two groups that the Mail hate.  Finally, unfortunately, the fourth is true:

Carmarthenshire Council Traffic and safety manager John McEvoy said: 'The officer was patrolling the area when a member of the public pointed out that the wheelie bin was an obstruction, and asked if he was going to book it. The officer, in a light-hearted moment, wrapped a Penalty Charge Notice envelope around the bin handle.There was no ticket issued, it is not possible to book a wheelie bin or anything that is not motorised.Although this was meant as a humorous incident, we take this kind of thing very seriously and have launched a formal investigation into the conduct of this officer.'

It is very rare that I agree with Daily Mail readers but, if you look at the comments at the bottom of the story, the concensus is that the warden had a sense of humour and John McEvoy needs to get a life and not waste council resources following it up.

I also liked the comments from the bin company:

A spokesman for waste collection company Biffa said 'It's a relief to learn that the bin in question isn't in trouble with the council. The ticket issued was simply a throw-away gesture and proved to be a load of rubbish. We are wheelie careful and do our best to make sure that our bins are in the correct locations at all times.'

Now, if you still want a story of traffic wardens having a hard time, this is one from 2012.

The Ideal Christmas Present for The Traffic Warden in Your Life

It's almost Christmas Eve, the day that traditionally, men visit their local petrol station to stock up on Christmas presents for their loved ones.

The Telegraph motoring section has suggestions today including a "Parking Ticket Holder"

It is actually a clear bit of plastic that you are supposed to fix pay-and-display tickets to your windows with.  It costs £1.99 which seems excessive and I would be very miffed if someone bought me one of these for Christmas.

 

It is claimed that it helps prevent "sticky mess" on the window.  I never suffer from sticky mess on my windows but, then again, I never attach pay-and-display tickets to my windows - I just leave them, clearly visible on the dashboard.  However, the Tikettak (for that is what it is called) sticks to the window with an adhesive strip - bet that makes a mess if you take it off.

 

They make a big deal about it being manufactured in the UK.  Good.  However, some of the errors in their Website make me suspect that the producers themselves are not British:

 

  "unless, of course, you don’t mind whether the logo is legible properly!"

 



This may only be available online so it could be too late to get one for Christmas time so I guess it is off to the filling station now.

Charcoal Brickettes anyone?