The Playgoer: Critics' Revenge

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Critics' Revenge

For every critic out there who's shaken his or her fist at a misleading quote of theirs in an ad and thought "there oughta be a law against that"... this one's for you:

British theaters will no longer be able to hoodwink potential audiences with out-of-context review quotes that seem to show the production is a hit, when the review actually conveys something different.

Beginning Monday, it will become a criminal offense when the biggest overhaul of consumer protection law in Blighty for decades takes effect.

The law comes under European Union regulations covering consumer protection from unfair trading designed to protect consumers against misleading or aggressive marketing practices.

Prosecutors must prove theatergoers were misled. If guilty, theater operators could be fined up to £5,000 ($9,900) and/or face a maximum of two years in prison.

That's right, the slammer! Think about that next time I slam your show! Mwah, ha, ha, ha...

Interesting that it falls under "consumer protection." Oh well, such are the consequences of treating criticism as consumer guides.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

How about "artistic protection" from the critics? "Next time I slam your show" ... Do you truly get that much spiteful glee from the ruinous behavior of the critical pen? There is no consumer protection from the slanderous words printed from those who don't create the craft. God help us all.

Playgoer said...

Um, that was supposed to be humorous, Robin. Slam/slammer, all that? Sorry I wasn't more obvious.