When I pass this ad on my walk to work in the morning I can’t help to think about the ‘image’ of the knife here in the US and in the UK. In this ad, the knife replaces Lady Liberty’s torch as a symbol of cuisine excellence.
Meanwhile in the UK, there seems to be an ongoing epidemic with sad stories about British youth harming each other with knives. Britain seems to be more and more considered a dangerous place to live or visit. Even at our conference in Singapore a speaker talked about the fear his son had about living in the UK. When an ad does feature a knife, there seems to be an outcry about the inappropriateness of the use of such imagery.
Just some thoughts….
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Hmm. Part of me feels like the media outcry against the glamorisation of knives is allowing us to avoid the real issue, namely, that a lot of young British people feel so disenfranchised it’s a miracle it took them this long to discover the most accessible item with which you can create havoc.
For some reason I can’t help but think of this piece by Ben Goldacre from the guardian, about the way in which we glamorise the effect of supplements on our kids health and academic achievement because we don’t want to engage with serious issues like the breakdown of the family unit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/01/pharmaceuticals.drugs
Same thing – we focus on knives in the media or violence in video games because they are quantifiable and easy to regulate. The other stuff – not so much.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I ask my Brit friends about this all the time. They tell me it’s mostly over-blown Daily Mail driven hype.
Yes, there seems to have been a lot more knife crime in recent years.
It’s hardly new, kids have been cutting each other up for decades and decades. Glasgow being particularly known for it.
It will continue if the powers-that-be keep teaching us two things from birth:
1) Do what we say
2) Might is right.
Anyway, have a look at this interesting article about Victorian Gangs of Manchester:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/22/hoodies-victorian-manchester-gangs
November 7th, 2008 at 1:07 pm