Yes it’s another Go Compare advert. I thought a long time ago I had nothing left to say about them and, indeed, there’s not much new to this latest effort featuring Gio Compario wingwalking over English landmarks with some musicians because blah.
Astonishingly and worryingly this advert has been on Youtube at the time of writing – and it has 2.5 million views. Two-and-a-half million people – 2.49m more than vote in local elections – have decided that they wanted to spend a minute of their time watching the latest Go Compare advert. I mean I know people actually voted for Brexit and Trump but this is on a whole different level.
“Ah but you watch the adverts!” someone usually claims in response to these missives, as if they’ve discovered the Ark of the Covenant and solved Fermat’s Last Theorem in one fell swoop. Well yes, I have. Twice in fact. But I suffer for the good of humanity, like those people who sting themselves so they can research the effects of your arm turning into rotting offal and sliding off your body like a fried egg hitting a window.
Anyway, something did catch my eye that I thought was interesting. This advert is about the amount of money there is out there being wasted because people don’t switch. They don’t switch energy suppliers, home insurance, car insurance… and £2bn a year goes into the pockets of utilities companies who, as we all know, barely have a pot to piss in.
Four out of five don’t bother – in the knowledge that it could save them around £100 a year. Imagine that. Someone says ‘if you fill in a couple of forms on the internet I’ll give you a ton’ and they shrug and go and watch Love Island on catch-up.
Why is this significant? Because it throws into doubt the efficacy of all sorts of things: privatisation of utilities being better for consumers, the invisible hand of the market, advertising…
So there you have it. You were good for something Gio – proving your own uselessness. Now fuck off.