How daft can marketers be?

Two news items popped up in my inbox that made me question the sanity of my fellow marketers.

Item 1. “Over 50s Hit Hard by Credit Crunch”

This is a “new research says” type of item. The UK's Post Office that has been prodding the 50-plus to see how they react and come up with some astonishing revelations like - 76% of all over 50s surveyed had at least one or more credit cards. Wow

How about this: 64% of the over-70s regularly use credit cards to buy groceries. Wow squared

And then there is: a third of all respondents in the 50 and over category consider savings to be an aspiration rather than an actuality. I wonder how that compares with 24-35 year olds.

Enough of this.

Item 2. Bono TV, the German “thematic channel” (whatever that is) for viewers aged 50 years plus, will launch in autumn, although under a new name

Would you believe it, Bono, lead singer of U2, has opposed the brand as he is concerned about the protection of his own pseudonym? Now doesn’t come as a surprise.

Maybe they chose the daft name so when Bono did complain it generated publicity, or am I being too generous? Dick Stroud