Big Brother, STFU

Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely. --1984


Every time I think that the ludicrous excesses of the Conservative Party of Canada cannot be topped, the li'l munchkins in the noisome CPC backrooms pull another one out of the hat. Now it's Orwellian telescreens at the gas pumps. I kid you not.

Look, guys, it's not like going for a fill-up isn't already painful enough these days--watching the numbers climb, hearing the gigantic sucking sound as money is rapidly transferred from my pocket (and yours) to the bursting vaults of Big Oil. Now we have to endure little propaganda snippets from our Maximum Leader while we're being robbed? Talk about adding insult to injury.

Why do I get the uneasy feeling that it won't stop there? The other side is fond of slippery-slope arguments. Maybe they're right. Telescreens in supermarkets, messages from El Supremo in movie theatres, Times Square-type screens in public spaces, complete with newscrawl: "...Big Brother kisses unborn babies in Delisle...Dion is not a leader...chocolate ration increased...stay tuned for Two Minute Hate..." And one day, a knock on the door: it's the cable company, here to install a spanking-new piece of equipment you never ordered.

Come on, fellas: at least you could follow the script and make those things interactive:

















H/t BCL, Stageleft, Stormy Days of March

UPDATE: BCL, Stageleft and others are calling for a boycott of all gas stations that are complicit in this nonsense. Red Tory notes that Paul Wells is putting a list together--be sure to send in the names and coordinates of the offenders.

UPDATE: (June 10) The Fuelcast Network company is refusing to run the ads. (H/t Paladiea)