Seemed like a good idea at the time

Ethan Switch - Friday, 13 June 2003 - 03:46:33 - print it raw

To many Australians, John Farnham will be forever known as either "Farnsey" or "The Voice" or even both at the same time. With such hits as Sadie the Cleaning Lady and Pressure Down he's managed to work a career out of song that has lasted decades. That all came to an end with his farewell tour, The Last Time.

As is now the standard for concerts around the world, it was taped for posterity and greater dissemination. Commercial announcements of the upcoming broadcast of his tour slides in the name of one of their sponsors, Dyson.

Dyson, a name synonymous with powerfully expensive vacuums. Their creation of the bagless vacuum cleaner took the world by storm and won the inventor, James Dyson, international acclaim. One thing that comes to the minds of millions at the sight of a vacuum cleaner is that it sucks.

Usually when a deal is secured the parties involved will do everything possible for an amicable solution and prostitution of the event no matter how badly things may have fallen apart in the lead up. From a contextual standpoint it reads as though the promoters of the broadcast might not have been overly joyed with the career of John Farnham or even of his ability as a singer, as such their sponsorship deal with a product known to suck casts a shadow on the performance.