Stop The CLass Act: Pikeys, Chavs And ‘Doing A Burberry’

FOR some time now we have been told that we live in a “classless society”. In fact John Major (ask your dad) even made it part of his vision of the future.

But now there are signs that this tiresome charade is coming to an end, and the newspapers can get back to what they do best: demarcating the social strata of British society. That is to say, fawning on those above them and dispensing ordure on the lower orders – or “pikeys” and “chavs” as they sometimes prefer to call them.

Today’s Daily Mail, for example, runs a two-page feature on Stella Artois. Stella’s slogan is “reassuringly expensive”, but that hasn’t stopped it from “doing a Burberry” and becoming synonymous with troublemakers. Its street-name is Wife Beater, and one publican complains that since switching to Stella, his pub has become a magnet for young people and “builders and labourers”.

Meanwhile the Telegraph puts a spin on a story about rude policemen. While other papers simply report the large numbers of complaints about police incivility, the last of the broadsheets opts for the headline: “Rise in middle-class complaints about police”.

What a relief, then, to breathe in the fresh air of the Daily Star, unspoiled by snobbery and pretension. Here, HRH Prince Harry is just another “ginger binger” and a rise in beer prices is treated not as a bloody liberty rather than a boost for law and order.

Makes you proud to be British.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, November 2007 | In: Broadsheets, Tabloids Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink