Freebies

A free holiday to Mexico and a ladder.  Sadly it was the ladder we got free.  The wonderful world of freebies, where various companies and PR groups send you things.  The holiday was procured by a Producer I overheard making a phone call to a travel company and asking if there were any 'facility' trips to Mexico as he worked on a travel show (lie)  judging from the phone call they appeared perfectly happy to let him have a free holiday.

The free ladder was featured on a DIY show I Produced and somehow we managed to get it back to Essex in the company car.  I remember I had to sit in the back seat as the thing filled the whole car up and made gear changing almost impossible - buy hey it was a freebie.

Journalists still get sent freebies and it can be very easy for some to be persuaded to give over airtime for a free hamburger or hamper of Christmas goodies - good journalists should never do this.  The guy that got his free Mexican holiday, a few months later produced a very misguided show  called 'Sex with Your Pets' it made the Sunday papers and got its own paragraph in the broadcasting code on bestiality and he of course lost his job straight away.