Poster for Clarkson's new book

Jamey
Jamey Posts: 2,152
edited May 2010 in Commuting chat
I had to get the tube today as I had an early meeting at a client's offices and I spotted this (click to embiggerise it):

photowv.th.jpg

I don't tend to pay much mind to him these days as he plays up to being a bit of a cartoon but I know some of you chaps sometimes find these things a bit more offensive so thought I'd share it.
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Comments

  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Christ. I'm boned.

    I'm a Vegetarian Cyclist. :shock:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
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  • UndercoverElephant
    UndercoverElephant Posts: 5,796
    Kieran_Burns wrote:
    Christ. I'm boned.

    I'm a Vegetarian Cyclist. :shock:

    Bet you're Canadian too! :lol:
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  • Eau Rouge
    Eau Rouge Posts: 1,118
    Isn't this a good thing? Clarkson's persona is saying cyclists are no more offensive than vegetarians or Canada. That seems a step up in status compared to what the general view amongst the non-thinking is. Nobody is going to read the book (or the poster) and come out of it hating vegetarians or Canada or anything else in it. Indeed, some might see the poster and actually think cyclists can't be that bad if Clarkson dislikes them.
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Ah, the old reverse psychology, I like it.
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  • AidanR
    AidanR Posts: 1,142
    It's the "Read Clarkson, Think Clarkson, Act Clarkson" bit that terrifies me. I find him quite funny but as a caricature... I'd certainly never think or act like him and hope nobody else takes him seriously enough to do so!
    Bike lover and part-time cyclist.
  • AndyManc
    AndyManc Posts: 1,393
    AidanR wrote:
    I'd certainly never think or act like him and hope nobody else takes him seriously enough to do so!


    Unfortunately thousands do, to the petrol heads where I work , he is their god.

    His attitudes and bigotry rub off on the 'hard of thinking' ,

    He's a dangerous individual who makes life very difficult for all cyclists.

    .
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  • White Horse
    White Horse Posts: 161
    AidanR wrote:
    It's the "Read Clarkson, Think Clarkson, Act Clarkson" bit that terrifies me. I find him quite funny but as a caricature... I'd certainly never think or act like him and hope nobody else takes him seriously enough to do so!

    Same as me. He's funny in the same way that Only Fools and Horses is. The hatred should not be directed towards JC himself but to the authorities for allowing the people who take all he says and writes as the latest gospel from the heavens to roam the streets unaccompanied, breed and vote!
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    It does annoy me that some people think everything on Top Gear is actually real and can't tell which parts are clearly staged.
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  • cjw
    cjw Posts: 1,889
    Jamey wrote:
    It does annoy me that some people think everything on Top Gear is actually real and can't tell which parts are clearly staged.

    You mean there are some parts that aren't staged :shock: Go on name one bit :lol:
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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    cjw wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    It does annoy me that some people think everything on Top Gear is actually real and can't tell which parts are clearly staged.

    You mean there are some parts that aren't staged :shock: Go on name one bit :lol:

    I was really rather disappointed to find out that this is true. I thought at least some of it might not be staged. :(
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  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    Wait, hang on. You mean when he took hit Toyboata to France that was staged? And when they drove from Switzerland to Blackpool that was staged? You mean I've been driving my car for a month with the petrol gauge on red, reassured that it'll get there, and all of this was based on false and stage information.

    Damn.

    Life has become less fascinating to me....
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  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Only joking.

    Don't worry, it really was Clarkson in that car when the army were firing .50cal rounds into it. They checked with the insurance company who confirmed it was fine for the main talent to be in the firing line.
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  • sarajoy
    sarajoy Posts: 1,675
    You think people taking Clarkson seriously is dangerous - I know of folk who take the Pub Landlord comedian persona seriously. Brrrr.
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  • antikythera
    antikythera Posts: 326
    Jamey wrote:
    main talent

    :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:
  • itchieritchie
    itchieritchie Posts: 332
    Top Gear is about as spontaneous as a Tesco sandwich for lunch.

    I actually watch Fifth Gear. They seem to be more human somehow. Less contrived. The presenters are better drivers too. Some of those Top Gear guest interviews are so cringe-worthy precisely because it's the only part they can't fully control. The minute they get any human interaction, Clarkson can appear quite nervous at times.

    The best example of this was when Will Young came on. You could see the bigotry and prejudice in Clarkson's eyes, and the defensive apprehension in Will Young's. Yet they both realised they had to get through the damn thing....quite entertaining actually...!!

    It's true that he's not worth writing about, save for the fact that many seem to idolise him. As a wise man once said, there is no limit to human stupidity...
  • Craggers
    Craggers Posts: 185
    I actually watch Fifth Gear. They seem to be more human somehow. Less contrived. The presenters are better drivers too

    Aye, I reckon a Tiff Vs Stig showdown would be interesting....and I used to fancy Vivki Butler Henderson...in her day like!
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  • NGale
    NGale Posts: 1,866
    I'm a cyclling, vegetarian of Canadian origin so I should take offence, but then I know Clarkson is just a wind up merchant.
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  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,929
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    cjw wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    It does annoy me that some people think everything on Top Gear is actually real and can't tell which parts are clearly staged.

    You mean there are some parts that aren't staged :shock: Go on name one bit :lol:

    I was really rather disappointed to find out that this is true. I thought at least some of it might not be staged. :(

    You mean TV isn't real?
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  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    Can't fault Top Gear for the production values. Brilliantly filmed and scored (nice to hear Amon Tobin on prime time). I don't have an interest in cars, but I think its pretty entertaining. Its syndicated quite heavily abroad too.

    I can't stand Clarkson though, he's a Grade A c***. Have you read his column? Its like he's intentionally trying to be nasty piece of work to appeal to a certain type of arsehole. I don't understand how people can actually take him seriously.
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  • andyb78
    andyb78 Posts: 156
    I read the book :oops: (Although didn't buy it!)

    It's actually quite funny. 99% of what he says is complete caricature - it sells stuff, and is intentionally designed to inflame. A significant portion of it however is quite well written - I wonder if he has a ghost writer? :)
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  • magicrhodes
    magicrhodes Posts: 123
    The whole JC and his fans was very much like the trouble Warren Clarke had with people thinking that Alf Garnett was a legend. He has constantly said he walked a way laughing from meetings where people thought he was right and not the butt of the jokes
  • Eau Rouge
    Eau Rouge Posts: 1,118
    notsoblue wrote:
    Have you read his column? Its like he's intentionally trying to be nasty piece of work to appeal to a certain type of arsehole. I don't understand how people can actually take him seriously.

    That's because he is intentionally trying. Nobody does take him seriously. A lot of people claim other people take him too seriously, but nobody actually does. Everyone knows it's all a funny caricature and treats him as such, a maker of some entertaining TV.
  • Big Dave
    Big Dave Posts: 85
    That's because he is intentionally trying. Nobody does take him seriously. A lot of people claim other people take him too seriously, but nobody actually does. Everyone knows it's all a funny caricature and treats him as such, a maker of some entertaining TV.

    I agree. A long time ago he obviously realised that he could make a lot of money as a cartoon version of himself. Besides, some of the things he says (like calling Gordon Brown a one eyed Scottish idiot) are the sort of things a lot of us sometimes think but could never get away with saying. I actually quite enjoy Top Gear as it is one of the few truly politically incorrect and irreverent programmes on telly.
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  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    Overtly I hate his attitudes (okay, views on Alfa's excepted), but then he is a complete pi**taker, taking the p out of the bigots he is a caricature of. Somehow, when someone does extreme un-pc then its clearly for laughs and okay.

    Was in the audience at one of the shows a few years ago (Jackie Stewart takes James May rtound circuit in TVR, Micheal Gambon (2nd visit)) and he was even more hilarious off camera!
  • pottssteve
    pottssteve Posts: 4,069
    AndyManc wrote:
    AidanR wrote:
    I'd certainly never think or act like him and hope nobody else takes him seriously enough to do so!


    Unfortunately thousands do, to the petrol heads where I work , he is their god.

    His attitudes and bigotry rub off on the 'hard of thinking' ,

    He's a dangerous individual who makes life very difficult for all cyclists    .

    .

    Indeed, he is a TOOL

    Would he be allowed to direct his narrow-minded bile at, say, Asian or disabled people?Of course not. I just hope that his expanding waistline is an indication of imminent cardiovascular illness.....
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  • singlespeedexplosif
    singlespeedexplosif Posts: 1,564
    He's funny in the same way that Only Fools and Horses is
    right up there with retinal cancer then?
  • meanredspider
    meanredspider Posts: 12,337
    itchieritchie wrote:
    The best example of this was when Will Young came on. You could see the bigotry and prejudice in Clarkson's eyes, and the defensive apprehension in Will Young's. Yet they both realised they had to get through the damn thing....quite entertaining actually...!!

    I was obviously watching a different show from you - they got on like a house on fire from the first moment!

    Clarkson, in real life, is a total tw*t. He used to be funny especially back in the days when he used to write for Fast Lane. I don't believe many people take him seriously any more.
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  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    Err - this is a country where TV is taken so seriously that Tony Blair made time in the House of Commons to comment on the Free Deidrie storyline in coronation street, where 'bad' people in soaps get a hard time in the street from people who can't differentiate pretendy made up tosh.

    Clarkson is described as a Journalist and Top Gear is marketted at least partly as a Motoring news show (neither of which are true before you all jump in) - People in large numbers take him very seriously and are inspired by his way of thinking because their way of thinking is through a skull many inches thick.

    I can live with him being a bell end, it is the fact he's an immensely popular bell end with a big platform to spout from that scares me.
  • the_hundredth_idiot
    the_hundredth_idiot Posts: 813
    One of Clarkson's lines was about the cycle lane being the gap between the two yellow lines at the side of the road.

    I did have to explain to someone once that this was a joke. :roll:
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  • dg lander
    dg lander Posts: 54
    Visually the poster is crude and uses cheap tactics. The large yellow font against a black background makes it hard to avoid. The text is sloping and draws your eye down towards Clarkson's face. The corner of the book is playfully tuned up as if to say 'hey it's just a book' this also helps to put accross a no-nonsense impression. The choice of yellow next to lime green is deliberatley offending. The graphic designer has created a poster that is representative of it's subject matter.

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