"The Pound, also known as a bob". That's what fast-food giant McDonalds is telling us in a TV commercial for its 'Saver' menu, although it's wrong. A bob is old-fashioned slang for a shilling, which is today's 5p.
There's been a fair amount of discussion about this, with the US company's executives being blamed for not researching the UK market. That's all very well, but you'd think the voice-over artist might have mentioned it.
Now, call me a grumpy old pedant, but 5p is considerably less than a pound. Advertising something on television and promoting two different prices is misleading, I reckon.
That's certainly what the Plain English Campaign told Sky News: "It just doesn't work for me, a bob certainly isn't anything like a pound."
The response from McDonald's was "Although a 'bob' was formerly used as a slang term for the shilling until the introduction of decimalisation in 1971, research has shown it is now more commonly used as slang for a pound or money in general."
Research? Whose research? Asking the people who approved the ad?
Sadly, the Advertising Standards Authority thinks the ad is clear enough for TV. Their response is: "The ad clearly states the cost of the advertised products and we acknowledge that those viewers who are familiar with the pre-decimalisation term ‘bob’ are likely to understand it refers to a shilling. However, we do not consider the use of the word here is likely to mislead viewers about the cost of the advertised products."
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