I don’t mind the promo at all, it’s just a bit of fun isn’t it? I seem to remember they used to do a lot more of that sort of presenter-focussed thing in the past. There was certainly a Christmas ad with lots of them in a country house playing with fake snow. And I’m pretty sure there was one with some of the women presenters, possibly in ballgowns, doing the odd high kicking dance move.
The one ad that does irritate though is for Quick Check, which must have been running about ten years now, where we’re supposed to be impressed that you can pick up your clunky old landline phone and use their automated system to check on the progress of an order. Every other company will give you that information after a few clicks on their website. The delivery guy in the ad is played by Adam, who has long since reappeared as a standby brand ambassador for Philip Kingsley.
In fairness to QVC, I think 30 years is a real achievement, especially in TV. Thames Television didn’t even last that long. Certainly when you look at the state of some of the early shows (eg 15 minutes devoted to a plastic box to store your CDs) and the huge losses they initially had, it didn’t always look like they’d make it past the first year. So if they want to make a fuss, what’s the harm, and if we get a few bargains out of it, then great.