This week did not disappoint in amusement value. Next week is "Back to School", so like most newspapers around the world no doubt, there was a "Back to School Supplement". Of course, it's mostly advertising, both products like stationery, lunchboxes etc as well as services like private schools.
Let's take a peek at the cover...
(...and the grammars starts failings already...)
Oh dear!
Inside this supplement was choc full of Post-Courier hilarity, and this was possibly my favourite example. But before I show it to you, can you just stop and imagine what an ad for a private international school looks like... Professional, glossy, kids wearing slick uniforms, showing off facilities and perceived advangages of their particular brand of education. And of course, it goes without saying, a name that conveys prestige, excellence, a "brand" that parents want their children associated with.
Without further delay, I give you..... The Twinky Winky International School.
And it gets better!
"Pictured are two students helping to carry the Twinky Winky billboard on the streets as a form of advertising. They are then assisted by having their school fees paid by the school"
Their ad on the following page (a replication of the banner above) shows them to be even more shocking in their use of photoshop than I am, with no respect for maintaining the aspect ratio of the faces of their students.
My other most favourite part about this, is the email address. I enjoy that they had to make it twinkywnky@yahoo rather than twinkywinky, presumably because twinkywinky@yahoo was already taken either by a 13 year old girl or a young gay man...
(also, I believe it should be nation's future but hey, they're the International School)
Another page yielded further laughs. This was in colour, but for the sake of saving valuable Gigabytes, is presented in black and white... and the title in full was "Enjoy an international curriculum"
(Don't worry, you don't need to read this article)
The article solely concerns Boroko East school, probably the second of the international schools in Pt Moresby. The only one most expats send their kids to is Ela Murray. I have seen *one* expat family send their kids to Boroko East, and that was because school fees weren't included in their package and they couldn't afford Ela Murray's very expensive fees. Still, it doesn't look at all bad, especially not compared to Twinky Winky.
However, of all the photos displayed on the page advertising Boroko East International School, precisely none are of children who actually attend Boroko East. The caption says "Scenes from International schools around the country".
Hmmm....Fair enough. I mean, this in PNG. Maybe Boroko East is doing it tough, can't afford any photos?
But wait... what's this on the next page?
Why, it's an ad for Boroko East International School! And quite a professional looking one if I may say! It certainly looks like they might have been able to drum up a picture (if not the one from their ad) for the Post-Courier if asked!
Of course, that's part of the problem with the Post-Courier. No editing, no fact checking. Sometimes they copy and paste articles from other sources, but end the article half-way through a sentence, and often well before reaching the conclusion of the article.
Oh and wait! What's this on the next page?! It's...... it's those Twinky Winky tykes again!
Ummm... thanks for that, Post-Courier. Stellar journalism. Please, submit your nominations for the Post-Courier here. http://www.knight.icfj.org/Awards/KnightAwardsOverview/tabid/81/Default.aspx
Hurry, nominations close soon!
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