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Anorak News | Fat Chance

Fat Chance

by | 28th, September 2004

‘THE trouble with diets is that once you’ve lost weight, it’s devilishly easy to put it straight back on.

Roooo-neyyy

Take the Little Chef – the rotund cartoon character who for years has welcomed us into motorway service stations with the promise of watery soup and a wholemeal roll for £19.99 or full English breakfast and miniature pot of tea for £84.50.

A few weeks ago this cuddly cook was axed, and a slim-line version was introduced for the company logo.

The problem with the old one was that he was accused of being overweight, or mistaken for a small child carrying hot food, which is dangerous.

Apparently large numbers of people had nothing better to do than write in and complain about this.

However, the new version was not to everyone’s taste either. Paedophiles didn’t like it because it looked more adult – but obviously their views were not taken into account.

Other people objected because he looked like he had been to a gym, and the level of support for the old version was so high that the company decided to reinstate him.

“They said it was political correctness gone mad,” said Little Chef’s chief executive Tim Scoble. And the Daily Mail was happy to publish his words.

Meanwhile the company’s marketing boss told the Mirror that: “It’s fantastic that the British public has reinforced our instincts.”

Indeed. But is she referring to the instinct to go with the fat man, or the instinct to charge huge amounts of money for food widely regarded as the worst in western Europe?

Either way, the Little Chef is onto a winner.’



Posted: 28th, September 2004 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink