Search results

Usually when the ASA make a judgement that something breaches the code, they expect the broadcaster to stop running the ad. Since this wasn't a conventional ad and is unlikely to go out live again, I guess it'd be limited to BBC iPlayer content? The ASA wouldn't have the power to make a...

Maybe the address got put on the TisBest mailing list when I did it last time, and they occasionally send out gift cards to a random selection of people? Though it did mention Ray Dalio again (see text from the offer email below), so I guess it's possible it somehow got duplicated from the...

Pretty sure not. The email was from the same domain as the last one (I always check when something unexpected arrives), the link took me to the same website, the charity number you gave in post #2 above worked in the search box, the process of allocating the donation was the same, and I got an...

I got sent another one of these earlier, and have donated it to MEAction again. The email from the foundation confused me because I'd forgotten all about it, thinking it was a one-off thing!

Well, except that it linked ear seeds with recovery from ME. None of the low-cost suppliers could get away with that because they have to abide by the rules. This business gained a huge competitive advantage over them by calling it entertainment instead of advertising, and doing it on the BBC...

This. I don't blame the young woman involved, who for all I know sincerely believes her ear seeds brought about her recovery. I don't even have a problem with acupuncture. It's the provision of advertising of a quality and impact that can't be bought for love nor money, free of charge and...

From that exchange, it sounds more as if he's congratulating her for being determined to do the couch-to-5k challenge or lose weight. Just think what we could achieve if we were better, more deserving people!

"...and no, we're not going to explain why we're doing it. You're not in our special club."

Good reminder! A lot of disabled people who're unable to claim PIP because they're no longer of working age don't realise they could claim this instead.

Exactly. Due diligence done afterwards, not before; and even then, not by the broadcaster. They think it's fine to light the blue touch paper and stand well back.*

Even if they do, the BBC seems to be wilfully ignoring the fact that (a) sick people are very vulnerable to exploitation, and (b) people with poorly understood conditions are often gaslit by everyone from their own family to their doctor, so it's profoundly unhelpful to suggest recovery is easy...

I agree with most of what you've said, but I think this would be problematic. It's such an overwhelming part of the experience, especially for people who're undiagnosed. If people are brain fogged—and they may not know they are, let alone have a useful word for it—feeling tired, fatigued or...

There's also an update on the page about the migration of claimants from income-related ESA to Universal Credit: Four years is a long time away, and given the DWP's history of serial postponements and the possibility of a change of government before then as well, it offers a bit of respite...

I would, except that they've already stated they're sending the same response to everyone (see the letter that @tornandfrayed posted in #211). It's a waste of time and energy unless someone with more clout gets involved.

I agree, but I can see the caveat as well: it needs to be in line with descriptions of other diseases. I looked at the page for endometriosis, and that doesn't adequately describe the life-trashing symptoms either. If this distanced style (which does border on glib sometimes) is an approach...

Yes, well that's fine as long as the audience are observers. But they should acknowledge the risk that in some situations they could become participants. Particularly if they're vulnerable because they're suffering from an illness without a treatment, and someone is making a link between a...

I wonder if there are complaints and Complaints? I too have made a formal complaint, and it takes time and needs work. But if I rang them up to complain, or emailed them, or tweeted, they might register it anyway. It doesn't have the same force, but it would have an effect. ETA: cross-posted...

I'm guessing what they can see is the gift of the grift. The product's often irrelevant, it's the ability to attach a staggeringly large price tag to something that costs pennies to produce and convince people to pay it. You then get to sit back and enjoy the 99.3% profit margin. ETA: For...

I wasn't very unwell either time, but I did get this. It's 10 days since the second infection began and I tested negative and stopped having symptoms five days ago, but my smell and taste are still blunted the way they are after some head colds. That's probably just the effects of the virus on...

Really sorry to hear you've got caught as well—I hope it doesn't hang around. As for the web page, I wonder if it's because people have such different symptoms? It seems to vary from barely noticeable to as ill as you've ever been. Some folk who've had it recently got no cough at all, just sore...