If you are hanging around at reception in the entrance to Nobel House, Smith Square waiting for someone to come and take you to your meeting within the Defra HQ you may glance around and see lots of rather naff posters depicting what Defra thinks is great.
Here is a selection (apologies for the poor images – done in a hurry in non-ideal circumstances) …
Heritage is great, food is great, manufacturing is great, research is great (great enough for a poster even if not great enough to be acted upon) and, for heaven’s sake, luxury is great but as so often in Defra’s thinking, nature and wildlife are absent.
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Most of these posters have little or nothing to do with the environment, and rural affairs and certainly nothing to do with wildlife. Overall comment—quite pathetic, which reflects its ability and inclination to protect and support our wildlife.
The Fast Show should sue for copyright theft.
‘Brilliant.’
Banal beyond belief. Since when did Defra become the department for celebrating luxury?
These posters represent a systematic campaign of ‘Britishness’, hence the Butcher’s Apron plastered all over them. A major objective of that, besides snuffing out other identities, is removing geographical quality branding in the interests of a post Brexit trade deal with the USA, branding which is currently protected by the EU but rejected by the anti regulation USA. Scotch Whisky is now marketed abroad as ‘British’ whisky, complete with Butchers Apron, removing the meaning of Scotch in preparation for a flood of USA made ‘Scotch’. And at the other end of the coming deregulation of course is chlorinated chicken. These posters are everywhere and most offensively and controversially in Scotland. They are not ‘naff’, they are far worse than that.
Demonstrates quite clearly, along with last night’s fiasco in parliament and over the last few months what a complete load of out of touch fools and incompetents this current government is. They seem to live in a world I don’t quite relate to, wish to be in or sometimes even recognise. Time we were shot of them.
I didn’t realise immediately that the word Great was being used in the sense of Great Britain. I thought the poster must be trying to mimic the poor language skills of the President of the United States, to whom words such as great, being 5 letters and simple, are liberally spread throughout his preferred (only?) medium of communication. If so, the posters may well impress him, and make him more likely to wish to lower both countries tariffs and standards.
It isn’t only POTUS – “great” has infested every piece of corporate communication. See also “thrilled”, “excited”, “delighted”.
We’ve got ‘Engineering is great’ on the wall of the building I am currently based in, in the same series……
must be a government department/research body thing……its not even all abotu engineering here…..
Are there no beaches in Northern Ireland worth mentioning ?.
Do we think Defra are ‘Great’? Or do things like this grate ….
At the risk of repetition, time for a review & reform of this department?
What DEFRA thinks is gert lush. A revealing CV
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/emma-howard-boyd
While I think these are certainly problematic, don’t blame DEFRA for creating them. They didn’t have anything to do with them. Also, Nobel House is the headquarters for Local Government Association and the UK base of the European Parliament and European Commission, so perhaps point the finger at them for putting these up?