Remember the much criticised Climate Change ad run by Ed Miliband and the DECC where a father read his daughter a nightmare bedtime story with drowning rabbits and the like?

This did not breach the Advertising Standards Authority’s guidelines, unlike the corruption of children’s nursery rhymes Jack and Jill and Rub a Dub Dub which were used to spread the fear message and wildly exaggerate the potential impact of Anthropogenic Global Warming on the British Isles.

Using the tried and tested “nothing to see here” approach that Pope Al Gore and liars like Michael Mann and Phil Jones trot out relentlessly, Miliband’s adverts ignored Climategate and the many flaws, lies and exaggerations of the 2007 IPCC report and continued with business as usual approach.

The two posters created on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change juxtaposed adapted extracts from the nursery rhymes with prose warnings about the dangers of global warning. One began: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. There was none as extreme weather due to climate change had caused a drought.” Beneath was written: “Extreme weather conditions such as flooding, heat waves and storms will become more frequent and intense.” The second advert read: “Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub — a necessary course of action due to flash flooding caused by climate change.” It was captioned: “Climate change is happening. Temperature and sea levels are rising. Extreme weather events such as storms, floods and heat waves will become more frequent and intense. If we carry on at this rate, life in 25 years could be very different.” Upholding complaints from members of the public, the ASA said that in both instances the text accompanying the rhymes should have been couched in softer language. The newspaper adverts were part of a controversial media campaign launched by the DECC last year which attracted a total of 939 complaints.

Ed Miliband has said his department is completely vindicated by the ASA, see what Aardvark means about the business as usual approach, but promises that future campaigns would better reflect the scientific uncertainty about AGW in future campaigns. Yeah right, maybe we will indeed see flying pigs one day.

This episode does pose 2 questions:

Why was public money wasted on nothing more than hysterical propaganda and lies, so how could the DECC be vindicated by the ASA unless it’s missions is to spread propaganda and lies?

If there is sufficient scientific uncertainty about AGW what is the point of an advertising campaign about something that may or may not happen?

Unless of course it’s just another attempt to keep propagating the AGW lie by yet another means.