Eurostar's tourism ad for London.
Derek Jameson, the former tabloid newspaper editor, less respectfully nicknamed Sid Yobbo by Private Eye, rode to fleeting fame for a while with the catchphrase Do They Mean Us? One is reminded of it looking at the latest advertising campaign by Eurostar to encourage more Belgian tourists to come to London. One of a series of eye-catching poster ads, it features a football hooligan, topless, head shaved, with the St George's Cross painted across his back. He is a man of unexpected talent, for our friend is shown urinating from an inordinate distance, into a china teacup. London is "just around the corner", the slogan says.
The ads are placed on street corners and designed so that passers by see the urinating yobbo first. As they progress around the corner, they see his chosen receptacle. London is so close - especially by Eurostar - is the rationale, and yet so full of surprises. The ad was brought to our attention by a reader on business in Brussels and Eurostar admit there have been complaints from other Britons. This is not how we see ourselves. It is definitely not how we would have others see us. But according to Eurostar, the Belgians rather like the idea that Britain, and particularly London is full of diversity and eccentricity. The image of the yobbo and the china cup juxtaposes two elements of what Belgians perceive to be our culture, a snapshot of the rough and ready, another of the refined. The ads were designed by a Belgian agency because Eurostar has concluded that pan-European advertising doesn't work. The humour and points of reference in Britain, France and Belgium are all different.
In this case, some Brits might be outraged but to quote Eurostar, the Belgians "get it". One can be shocked and still commend them for their bravery. But who knows what the same agency would produce if it were trying to sell something racier than cross-Channel journeys on trains.
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