Fast Food. Geoffrey's out shopping with friends, and he knows that George, Zippy, and Bungle will already be hungry by the time he gets home. What follows has to be the most egregious example of product placement in the history of British children's television! I believe this episode was originally broadcast on Friday, 18th November, 1983, and apologies for the ending being cut short right before the credits roll.
General ethics of teaching children bad nutritional lessons and the near-advertising of McDonald's aside, there's a lot to enjoy here - not least the song. Rod, Miss Whiplash*** and Freddy sing about working in a restaurant, and the whole cast get to take part in the scene, one way or another. That even includes rare on-screen appearances for Roy Skelton (the voice of George and Zippy), Malcolm Lord and Ronnie Le Drew (their respective puppeteers) if you look carefully enough at the customers. I also laughed at Geoffrey properly telling off Zippy for throwing his fork in a huff, and the story - Magic at MacMildred's - is good fun, even if it reinforces the borderline brainwashing that's taking place. No idea who Daisy and Rory (our young friends at the beginning) are, but hopefully they're reading this and are ready to give us an update in the comments!
So, what do you reckon - were dark forces at work trying to normalise certain ideas in children's impressionable minds, or am I looking too deeply? All I know for certain is that a little over two decades later, this sort of thing in relation to junk food was banned, and it just about obliterated British-made live-action kids' television on commercial channels overnight. Be careful what you wish for, I suppose.
***www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/s...
Many thanks to Lee for providing this recording.
(To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)
3 авг 2019
