Media

Rupertstiltskin: How Murdoch's Sky got the folklore vote

Mike Pollitt | Thursday 20 January, 2011 10:00

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Sky and BT are having a bit of a ding dong over advertising just now, and here’s a little snippet of just how adult everyone is being about it. An adjudication from the Advertising Standards Authority contains the following fascinating passage, with the crucial few words highlighted in bold.

“Sky said they had run ads based on fairy tales for some time and supplied examples…They said the “trip, trap” phrase was an integral part of the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale. They supplied notes from a specialist in fairy tales and folklore regarding the origin and meaning of the “trip, trap” phrase, which they believed showed it did not carry any connotation of dishonesty or being tripped into a trap.”

So now you know – the folklorists are firmly on Uncle Rupert’s side. Indeed, if the Brothers Grim were alive today they’d probably be signed up to the full Sky package (including Sky Sports 2, Sky Movies and HD), while Hans Christian Andersen would be writing freelance for Dear Deirdre’s photo casebook.

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