AN ADVERT is currently running on British television for a product aimed at the 1 in 10 men “over a certain age” who suffer from erectile dysfunction. For obvious reasons the advertising agency has decided to go for allegory when demonstrating the success of the product: the ad shows a couple strolling happily, hand in hand, through a field of barley.
What John Reade wants to know is: is it only the weed scientists and agronomists among the viewers who noticed how weedy the crop is? And is it pure coincidence that the weed is wild oats?…
