Not Extractly

News from back home: the Marmite ad spoofing 1950s sci-fi flick The Blob (buy it here) has been banned as it's too scary for toddlers. Some were apparently so frightened they didn't want to watch TV ever again. As a parent, I'm not convinced that's a bad thing: the not watching any more TV, that is. As an erstwhile mid-1980s vegetarian, I would like to see the ban extended to the foul-tasting product itself. As a libertarian, I don't like the ban at all. And as a former vocalist in late-80s indie band the Marmite Sisters, I once read a letter from Unilever Foods telling us that as far as they were concerned, the band didn't exist. And now it doesn't, but not thanks to the existential crisis this correspondence should have provoked.