Madeleine McCann: Britney Spears, Lolita And Birthday Cards
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
DAILY MAIL: “Woolworths forced to withdraw LOLITA bedroom furniture range for girls”
The Lolita Midsleeper Combi, a wooden bed with pull-out desk and cupboard designed for girls aged around six, retails on the Woolworths website for £349.99
The name has “sexual connotations”. A “mother” sees it and writes: “Am I being particularly sensitive, or does anyone else out there think it’s bad taste for Woolies to have a kiddy bed range named ‘Lolita’?”
Well, you don’t have to buy it…
A spokesman for the company says: “What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either. We had to look it up on Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now”
Trusting Wikipedia for information has its own dangers. (And look out for an article on the state of British education.) But no danger is bigger than a bed named, perhaps, in honour of a charcter in a novel by Vladimir Nabokov
Or Lolita Fatjo, pre-production coordinator for Star Trek
Or many other women called Lolita
“On-line parent power has been growing in recent years. In 2006 Tesco stopped selling a pole-dancing kit on its website over accusations it was destroying children’s innocence. And last summer an on-line campaign by Mumsnet resulted in a cinema advert about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann stopped from being screened before the children’s film Shrek the Third”
THE TIMES: “Staff at Woolworths baffled by fuss over the little girl’s bed called Lolita”
“Woolworths has withdrawn bedroom furniture for young girls bearing the sexually charged name Lolita after a campaign waged by a mothers’ online chat room”
An internal company e-mail seen by The Times goes: “As discussed, we’ve got the product below on our website. Can it be hidden as soon as is possible? Then I really need to find out how it came about being on our site and who bought it. Lolita is a word that means sexually active young teenagers, so a young girls’ range of bedroom products is in very poor taste. We’ve had an approach from a website who are clearly a little disturbed by this”
THE SUN: “Gift from Maddie for twins”
No, not furniture
“Twins Sean and Amelie McCann will get a special present from their missing sister Maddie today on their third birthday. Parents Kate and Gerry got the gift for the pair who, at three, are the same age as Maddie when she vanished last May”
Sad. But is it relevant to the case? Is it news?
Grandmother Eileen McCann tells us: “Of course Madeleine being there would be our dream but we’ll do our best to make sure the twins have a lovely day”
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Card from Madeleine at McCann twins party”
The twins are getting a gift in the Sun…
“Gerry and Kate McCann will throw a birthday party for their twins tomorrow - complete with a card from their missing four-year-old daughter, Madeleine”
DAILY STAR: “MISSING MADDIE’S SPECIAL PREZZIE”
“Little Sean and Amelie McCann will open a special present from their big sister as they celebrate their third birthday today”
With a card?
Says Eileen McCann: “There will be presents galore, lots of fun and games, lots of food and a big cake. Of course, Madeleine being home would make it complete and we continue to pray for that blessing”
SUR (Spain): “Marbella suffer their first loss of the year against Linares”
A football match: “Wearing T-shirts to raise awareness of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and Mari Luz Cortés, the children playing in the tournament accompanied the players onto the pitch as mascots at the beginning of the game”
RADAR: “Theater of Cruelty, Carnival of Souls”
“British rags hardly pretend to be providing straightforward news. What they are doing is what used to be the job of popular fiction; namely, processing myth out of characters sucked in from real life. Right now the cast list includes such durable regulars as Kate Moss—with or without Pete Doherty—Princes Harry and Wills, Posh and Becks, and Kate and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine’s kidnapping/disappearance in Portugal made them last year’s headliners”
ALISTAIR CAMPBELL (TIMES): Britney Spears: person or news commodity? She’s a great singer but obviously ill: we in the media have to decide to leave her alone”
Britney Spears and Madeleine McCann..?
“In some sections of the media, Madeleine McCann and her family are there. As I said in the Cudlipp Lecture on Tuesday, her disappearance was an interesting and important story, the stuff of every parent’s nightmare. But it quickly became a commodity in which most of the media got close to hysteria, and some have remained there. Let us not pretend the coverage was driven by concern for the child - there are many missing children - or compassion for the parents - certainly not once the mood shifted - or regard for the truth. It has been the worst example of recent times, on a par with Diana, of some newspapers thinking that the word “Madeleine” sells, and finding literally any old nonsense to keep her name in that selling position on the front”
THE GUARDIAN: “Mechanics of the McCann campaign - Professional media management may have generated coverage of Maddy’s disappearance, but it hasn’t helped with public sympathy for the family”
“Try as they might neither Clarence Mitchell nor Justine McGuinness could quite shake off the sense that the way they’ve managed this case might have contributed to some negative public sentiment towards the family. In place initially as what Mitchell described as “a buffer” between the shocked and distraught parents and the world’s media, hungry for news about Madeleine, it’s clear that what developed was a professional media management operation. With city PR firm Bell Pottinger on hand - primarily, we can assume, to defend the interests of their clients Mark Warner Holidays - as well as Justine and, latterly, Clarence with all their experience of Westminster spin, the McCanns could not have wanted for more professional advice. But as time went on media management itself - and once you’ve started feeding stories to the press to get control of the agenda, you really can’t stop - began generating negative reaction from other parties”
Madeleine McCann: Making news and sensation from grief
Posted: 1st, February 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,022) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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February 1st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
789
jass
Click my name for an article on this.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
782 Denzylle
Interesting article and along the lines of my reasoning. But also - look at the photo of the family on the McCann website. Look at Amelie - does she have a hair-lip or is it a swollen lip?
I just wonder about the real bond they have/had with Madeleine and the twins and wonder if there was any disappointment.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
About human growth hormone…well, Madeleine was exceptionally small for her age, as can be seen from the video of her stumbling up the steps of the plane. She looks about two.
Curiously, she seems much taller and more mature in the tennis balls picture - but that’s yet another theory…
February 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I knew there’d be someone more techy than me!
February 1st, 2008 at 8:07 pm
785 - see 783
February 1st, 2008 at 8:05 pm
man on a hill Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
554 slyfox
If you were testing out a new drug i would have thought that you would need a higher number of test subjects to make it scientifically valid
**************************************************************
Sorry man on a hill, been away and only just seen your post.
My point ( sometimes I seem to be able to make them, most other times ……..not)
Is that it wouldn’t make any difference whether it was a test drug or a widely used children’s sedative, in either case GM ‘claimed’ that this was the cause of death to his pharmaceutical/medical connections - the protagonists are doctors! And there was no time to perform an autopsy in 5A!. So he got away with the big audacious lie and the broken neck (yes all speculation). Maybe that would explain the subsequent wide and high level connections and support from an awful lot of people who seem to be connected to the medical and pharmaceutical .
It’s only another theory!
However, it I stick with it for a minute, and let’s suppose it was a drug test trial, then couldn’t there be a series of small scale trials. Remember the high profile case of 5/7 men participating in a trial that went horribly wrong not so long ago?
OK resting from theories tonight!
773 Stevo, so my theory is the opposite of yours. GM and KM were the puppet masters .
February 1st, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Val… I went to where I had it saved and its gone! shame, it was brilliant but maybe someone else saved it permanently?
February 1st, 2008 at 8:05 pm
779
Christine
Too true! Well spotted.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Val
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o
February 1st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Wow!
GM GM!
Stevo, maybe you are onto something!
http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33495&Itemid=99999999
February 1st, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Evening all
B….. it, I almost finished a post but somehow managed to delete it so I”ll be brief. There”s a Documentary on channel 4 at the moment where 1,500 inmates from a prison in the Phillipines perform pop music, one of which is Thriller by Micheal Jackson, it really is very entertaining and is on Youtube, where it”s had nearly 8 million…yes million hits
already.
Trouble is, I wouldn”t know where to look , someone mentioned Murder on the Floor if that helps.
Could some kind soul find it for me and put the info on here so I can download it. Ta
February 1st, 2008 at 7:52 pm
778
Stevo
Maybe they saw a PR opportunity?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
754 Stevo
Except for possible gaff in the piece:
“Madeleine is a beautiful little girl. She WAS a very happy and much loved little girl.”
February 1st, 2008 at 7:45 pm
770 Ian
Yes…but perhaps there are other reasons for this…
Try to think outside the box. I’ve been coming at it from the angle of the high-level involvement and things look differently if you think they became someone else’s pawn.
I don’t know for what reason but I’m certainly disturbed to think that the UK’s largest PR company suddenly send their highly paid expert on crisis management and pharmaceutical contamination to help the McCanns.
February 1st, 2008 at 7:40 pm
764 man on a hill
Some drugs - especially human growth hormone (HGH) are more expensive than gold. Daily shots cost $100 for instance and it has to be stored in a refrigerator. You can’t measure the efficiency of that type of drug in 5 minutes. It’s a very long term thing.
Some early versions of HGH were made from cadavers…surprise surprise! Sadly, some people taking HGH made like this got CJD.
So…there’s every possibility some longer term drug could be involved as an under the counter test…perhaps illegally. This would be bombshell/corporation busting stuff.
But as Slyfox said…what if the real cause of death wasn’t this but this was happening in the background and used as an excuse?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I think ya are right with your theory
February 1st, 2008 at 7:34 pm
773
Stevo
Is possible
February 1st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
773
Stevo
Stevo ,i don’t have the book from Mr. Carvalho here ,cos ,i give it to others to read , but he has lots of info who they call first !!
February 1st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
769 can’t say no
I think they called certain people on May 2…
I think the story was made up for them and they were puppets in this.
February 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
*fishermen
February 1st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
762
jass
And think that those poor fushermen give their money to this people ,makes me soooo mad
February 1st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
761
Stevo
Its nauseating though, they speak of her as if she were the most incredible child anyone ever had, yet they left her for drinks a nibbles!
Apparently we all do that…..I think I’ll sue them for defamation of the characters of all UK parents!
February 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
742
Stevo
They first ,call o all the influent people ,including Media, only after that the Police was called
February 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
The way it’s written is so cynical…it’s only after the McCanns have been “financially supported” that anyone else might get help in looking for another missing child.
Also, on the main piece, why say she “will bring joy to anyone she will encounter”?
The foster-parents treating her like a “princess” or the abductor they say they are sure took her?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Brandon Flours
Felicidades guapa!!!!
CUM-PLEA-ÑOS FE-LIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pilimary
February 1st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Stevo
In other words it would be the work of a ‘Mad scientist’.
February 1st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Stevo…threats from a pro-McCanner!
Cheryl 746
‘I doubt very seriously when this tragedy is solved one way or the other that Sledgehammer will have a worry in the world of any white papers appearing in his mail.’
February 1st, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Stevo
I agree the ‘testing of a secret drug’ theory sounds juicy and can explain heavyweight cover-up but as i stated earlier as far as i know you might need a control of 50-100 subjects to make sure there were no side effects you hadn’t observed. I might be wrong but i fail to see the scientific reasons for this theory. What could you prove on a small amount of test subjects outside a lab in a short period of time (might have to wait weeks to observe side effects) with minimal equipment and in secret? If something went wrong it would be hard to cover up, what with being in a public place etc.
February 1st, 2008 at 7:23 pm
760 Ian
Yes I know!
The site is essentially the same - just a more modern look to it. Some elements are changed. I still count 7 directors….but no Esther McVey. Who are the 2 new replacements?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Did you click on the “Donate Now” bit?
The full objects of the Fund are:
To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.
Donations can be made to the fund through the following channels:
Donate now to help find Madeleine
CCCCCCC
The bit about supporting the McCanns financially!! Is that new?
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