How Paltrow set a new intrusive ad trend

There’s no TV where we have our house. So basically my family buys pre-used videos from the local store and we whack it up on a wall with a projector and an old hi-fi set to give us an approximation of theatre.

Last week we bought Charlie Wilson’s War. It loaded and Gwynneth came on screen. She had a message about AIDS in Africa. I hit the fast forward button. It did not work. For over four minutes we got the story. No way out. If we wanted the movie, we watched the Paltrow.

I have no objection to advertising-it’s my living. AIDS needs to be addressed, but is a forced viewing the way to do it? Is this a precursor of things to come? We’ve just got the technology to make a choice to watch TV advertising, now we are forced to watch on DVD. And I paid for that disc.

Back to newspapers! There I can turn the page!