May 21, 2025 | Social history, Stories
By parents: Britain is practically alone in Europe in not having legislation banning corporal punishment in the home. Across Europe, 22 countries now have such legislation. It remains legal in Britain when used by parents “in accordance with reasonable chastisement”....
May 21, 2025 | Advertising and media, Social history, Stories
It’s not often that a TV sitcom changes the habits of millions. But ‘The Good Life’ was unusual in having a very positive effect. Most sitcoms reflect the period in which they’re made. As times and attitudes move on, many of them don’t age well. Some 1970s shows are...
Mar 10, 2025 | Social history, Stories
Arguments against the death penalty had been advanced in the 1950s, with a particular boost for abolition resulting from the case of Ruth Ellis, a young mother who had murdered her unfaithful lover in 1955. The Tories reduced the number of offences carrying the death...
Feb 24, 2025 | Advertising and media, Brands, Stories
In the 2025 film Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy the much-loved lead character is still portrayed as a wine drinker, as she was in the original Bridget Jones’s Diary book of 1996 and the 2001 film. Back then her liking was for chardonnay, usually in a large glass....
Feb 24, 2025 | Politics and government policy, Stories
Recent US presidential elections have been extensively covered in the British press. What is interesting, though, is that in the past, British pollsters appear to have been more interested in attitudes to the election process and individual issues than in the...
Nov 27, 2024 | Advertising and media, Brands, Stories
Sometimes a TV campaign can have a positive effect on an entire category as well as the brand in question. That’s what happened with the vermouth brand Cinzano in the 1970s and 1980s. Vermouth was considered a Christmas drink by many, and one of Cinzano’s strategy...
