WHAT PISSES ME OFF

One of the new segments we introduced on my 3AW Drive program this year was one simply labelled WPMO. An acronym for What Pisses Me Off.

And what gave people ‘the irrits’ ranged from TV commercials to hospital parking.

So, for the last time in 2007 what got your goat, got up your nose, gave you the irrits or pissed you off, here are the latest contenders.

I have one that appears in a commercial on 3AW. The radio and TV ads for the 2007 Holden Astra. They must be looking for really self-centred, selfish, destructive buyers.

Think about it. One guy wants to cut down all the trees on his front lawn and concrete over the lawn for the new car.

Another selfish bitch of a mother throws out all the kids toys and takes glee in jumping on them in a skip to smash them to pieces. To make way for the new car.   And another family wants to move Mum out of her Granny Flat or what ever and banish her to make room for the new Astra.  If they’re that selfish at home… what will they be like behind the wheel on the road? No matter how good the car is.

Another car one I have mentioned is Michael Clarke and his weird voice in the Ford ads that makes David Beckham sound like a baritone. And while on cricketers. Why are they always depicted a s such a bunch of bozos at a barbecue in the backyard? You be sick of those ads by Christmas.

Here’s one for all pedant journalists. The spelling mistakes that TV stations make in their printed headlines on news bulletins. The worst culprit. SKY News. The news updates that scroll across the screen could not be mangled more by a fourth grader. One recent example announcing the first flight of  Tiger Airlines out of Melbourne. In one sentence two words were misspelled: inaugural and, yep, Melbourne.

And here’s one from a listener bitching quite justifiably about the ANZ Bank.

Shane writes:

‘Derryn, my bank ANZ will not put my photo on my credit card thus halting credit card fraud. The banking ombudsman referred me back to the bank. A Current Affair and Today Tonight won’t ask the banks. The Indian I spoke to in New Dehli assured me three years ago that it was being looked into. Citybank have had a photo on their credit cards for many years. Why will the banks not follow? Should I phone that bloke back in India. Cheers. Shane ‘

I guess you could phone the call centre in Mumbai (New Delhi) and when asked your name reply: Shane, Shane, Shane!

Thursday, November 29, 2006

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2007