I was watching the latest Green Flag breakdown advertisement where it portrays various actors playing the part of local garage employees taking part in the Green Flag breakdown championship and are seen vying for a coveted place in the Green Flag network.
It starts with a collection of males and females lined up on an athletics track and at the start of the race they all run off through a collection of hazards, a herd of sheep being one, some fall and some keep going until finally at the end of the race one of them reaches the car and is declared the winner.
I was rather surprised that the winner was a black female as I felt this did not represent the true nature of those employed in this industry and on doing some research the nearest category I could find was vehicle technicians and electricians which must be fairly representative of those employed by the sort of garages vying for work within the Green Flag network.
Rather unsurprisingly I found a total of 1,600 females (0.81%) were employed, whereas some 195,672 (99.19%) employed were male and I have to admit although I have been lucky in not breaking down frequently but I have never been rescued by a woman since taking up driving in 1968.
This being the case, one has to wonder if this is yet another politically correct ‘woke’ style advertisement where the principal character is a BAME female and is just there as yet another example of box ticking as it quite clearly is not representative of what one might experience in the real world.
I’m not a great betting man but I have to think that if this race were to be run in reality, with the proper percentages of males and females taking part, I would have to say I would be wagering heavily on the winner being a male of the species.
Can one ask for an advertisement to be removed because it is misleading I wonder?
I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent.
Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work.
I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise.
I spent many years looking after my aged mother who had dementia, hence the lack of acting work but shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013.
My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie.
I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes.
I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage.
My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse.
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
The herd of sheep was played by the Advertising Standards Authority!
Nice one, Peter!
Thank you Sue.