NORTHERN PLANNER

Back in the day, in the UK at least, you found the main protagonist in drama, comedy or whatever seemed to be someone who did real work for a living. Morecambe and Wise were unashamedly populist (and funny)

The stuff that did feature the middle classes ably poked fun at them, mostly without irony. The middle classes could laugh at themselves, but so could everyone else.

Nowadays, it seems that any stuff starring 'working classes' at all, does it's best to mock them for the benefit of their so called betters.

I know I'm making sweeping statement here, you'll be able to find examples that are exceptions, but I suggest this is the general direction of travel.

So it's not too difficult to work out the enduring appeal of soaps like Eastenders and Coronation street , finding romance and drama in the kind of lives most people actually live. It's not real if course, but the context is very much in real life.

US drama and comedy seems to find it really hard to base much of it's work in the less than glamorous life of the majority. Or maybe my view is coloured by what the British media shows here. In any case, the view from here is that stuff like Roseanne was an exception rather than a rule.

It's easy to work out why people like Jordan or Coleen Rooney are so popular. Yep, they are pretty much talentless, they are famous for doing absolutely nothing of value, but most of us are talentless too and live rather mundane lives.

No wonder young men want to be footballers, there's not much else the media gives them to aspire to is there?

No wonder Cheryl Cole is so loved. She can sing, she can dance, she's unquestionably pretty, but when she goes in the X Factor, she's one of us.

This matters. We live in times when the many are being asked to shoulder the burdens of the elite who have fucked things up somewhat. Where ordinary people are seeing there disposable income slashed and live in fear of what might be around the corner. In short, where people are going to have to define themselves by what they 'do' a little more, a little less by what they 'want'. But popular culture still sells the lie of accessible fame, success, riches for anyone who is beautiful, is able to kick a ball well, or manages to marry one. 

The responsibilty for new roles models and values to aspire to lies with anyone involved in creating culture. That includes people who create advertising and stuff, which at it best, not only mirrors culture, it influences it. But most people in agencies despise the people they create their ideas for and only really care about influencing a small community of peers who tend to work in West London.

A wise man once told me the best way to find a way to connect to customers is not to merely put yourself in their shoes. It is to admire them. How many people who work in agencies can honestly say that?