I was sitting on Didcot station this morning (someone has to). For those not familiar with Didcot, though in a beautiful part of the country, it’s best known for having a huge coal-fired power station with a carbon dioxide production that is allegedly comparable in size to the output of the 29 lowest carbon emitting countries put together.
In a feeble attempt to portray Didcot as something other than a huge car park and a power station, a local organization has put up posters saying something like ‘Try a restaurant in Didcot, there are lots of great ones’ or something equally inspiring. But what got me was not the message (which clearly hasn’t sunk in) but the tag line. ‘Didcot First’ it said. ‘Promoting Didcot positively.’
Now leaving aside doubts that anyone would want to ‘promote Didcot negatively’, how feeble is ‘promoting Didcot positively’ as a tag line? It really puts fire in your belly, doesn’t it? Yeah Didcot. Go Didcot. Woo hoo.
I hope they didn’t pay anyone to think that up.
In case you think I’ve imagined the whole thing in a fit of First Great Western induced madness, see the Didcot First website
How about a slogan for the 21st century.
Didcot: actually looks rather pleasant in Google maps.
Not only do they indulge in the famous Picnic at Hanging Participle (“Promoting…”) so beloved of the idiots of the PR industry, they add a tautology, to boot. Two huge errors in just three words. As good an argument as any for giving Didcot a wide berth.
Years ago I had reason to visit a tiny village in Lincolnshire, a village which, if not in the middle of nowhere, must have been very close to the proverbial singularity of oblivion. Somewhere I have a photo of a completely flat, treeless landscape, a road extending to the vanishing point, with, in the foreground, a sign which reads:
NEW YORK
Please drive carefully through the village
I encourage you to find that photograph and post it, Henry.
Culham is lovely. Well, the JET torus there is nice. I went to one of their open evenings. Nice biscuits too.