The Devil Is In The Detail

The TV ad opens with a view of two passports belonging to a stereotypical white, middle-class couple.

The camera pulls back and then up revealing that they are in the hands of an immigration officer at an airport. He’s looking between the photos and the two colourfully dressed hippies in front of him,

“And how long did you say you have been on honeymoon Sir?”

The husband then launches into some dreadful faux patois and reveals that they’ve been away for fifteen years.

I saw this ad for Woolwich Mortgages for the first time last night. My reaction? Well I just thought that a major financial institution seeking customers for the most important financial transaction of their life - one in which attention to detail must surely rank high – really should be more concerned with getting their facts right.

Passports are only valid for ten years! Not fifteen! So the gag doesn’t work! Either that or they’re encouraging passport fraud.

I’m not sure I’d be rushing to their door for financial advice.