Scottish independence: Nationalist supporters complain to cinema chains about referendum ads, now all ads are vetoed after customer complaints, Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon see another Nationalist stunt blow up in their faces, they need the oxygen of publicity, Better together doesn’t, IQ’s dropping sharply!

Dear All

There is a saying, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

I have a saying as well, there is a genuine lack of talent in the Scottish National Party.

The Alex Salmond referendum is falling apart; the big game changer of the European election changed nothing for the Nationalists.

What it did do was suck the oxygen of publicity away from Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon.

The Nationalists have a tactic of wanting to silence debate, to that end, the yessers have been complaining about cinemas running Scottish independence referendum adverts.

Now, cinemas have confirmed their intention to withdraw all referendum adverts from the Yes and No campaigns following complaints from customers.

I have watched some of the VoteNoBorders ads, they are professionally made with high productions values, but their ads don’t work.

They grate slightly and there is nothing worse than trying to force comedy, whether a wee movie is 30 seconds or 2 hours, there must be a hook, a start a middle and an end.

VoteNoBorders ads start shouty continue shouty and then fizzle out, I don’t find the comedy sophisticated, rather it is blunt, it doesn't engage with the audience and take them on a journey.

It doesn’t have a hook which the story rests on.

Vue, Odeon, Cineworld and Glasgow Film Theatre said the publicly-funded ads will be pulled ahead of the formal referendum campaign period.

No luck Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon.

A Vue spokesman said:

"Vue Entertainment is politically impartial, and as with the other leading cinema exhibitors, our sites have run adverts for both the Yes and No campaigns over the last month. We will continue to show these adverts up until the end of the planned campaign on June 5. Following feedback from our customers, which has been duly noted, we have taken the decision not to show any further campaign adverts."

Opps!

An Odeon spokeswoman said:

"Alongside all major cinema chains in Scotland, Odeon is currently showing two adverts on the upcoming Scottish Independence referendum. Funded for and by the Scottish public, the Yes and No adverts are screened ahead of a number of films although they may not necessarily appear back-to-back. Each campaign is given equal weighting to ensure there is no preference to either argument. The adverts will run until June 5."

It seems Alex Salmond hasn’t created a sense of destiny about the place; Scots want to watch the picture, eat their hotdogs and enjoy their coke.

GFT in Glasgow says viewers complained that they wanted to "retreat from the real world" while watching a movie.

The GFT is very arty; you can see foreign language films there and the classics.

Yes Scotland said there has been "many complaints about the No campaign adverts".

By SNP members keen to close down debate!

Better Together took the view that the fact that they have now been pulled demonstrates that nationalists' "can't tolerate open and honest debate".

GFT chief executive Jaki McDougall said:

"GFT has removed all referendum adverts from our screens. We did receive complaints about the ads when they screened initially but in the main these were from people who wanted to retreat from the real world when they come to GFT, and relax with a good film. GFT is indy-neutral, and we're proud of our record in customer service. As a locally-run cinema we are able to respond quickly to feedback from our customers. We requested that the adverts were removed from the advertising packages with immediate effect."

A Yes Scotland mouthpiece said:

"We understand there have been many complaints about the No campaign adverts. We are in touch with cinema chains about possible future screenings of Yes ads, and will of course abide by their decision."

That means another Nationalist stunt has backfired on them, they won’t be getting their ads up!

IQ’s dropping rather sharply in the ranks of Nationalism?

Well, they must, the rule of thumb is that they need oxygen, they need people to think, they just killed that off.

A Better Together spokesman said:

"The fact that so many nationalists complained about our positive cinema advert shows that they will do anything to close down debate in Scotland. The idea that people in Scotland won't see any more cinema adverts in this referendum campaign because nationalists can't tolerate open and honest debate about the future of our country is depressing in the extreme."

That said, the Better Together spokesman would probably think ‘bloody marvelous, another own goal by the SNP’.

Although a great ad can certainly help, I am including a youtube clip of the Yes Scotland crowd which is truly awful, aside from the poor production values; one can only wonders what goes through some people’s heads.

Making an arse of yourself is one thing, publishing it is entirely a different matter.

In some countries the Police would just ask you to move on!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University