Horizon

Sometimes, he said, when sleeping on the Embankment, it had consoled him to look up at Mars or Jupiter and think that there were probably Embankment sleepers there. He had a curious theory about this. Life on earth, he said, is harsh because the planet is poor in the necessities of existence. Mars, with its cold climate and scanty water, must be far poorer, and life correspondingly harsher. Whereas on earth you are merely imprisoned for stealing sixpence, on Mars you are probably boiled alive. This thought cheered Bozo, I do not know why. He was a very exceptional man.

--Down and Out in Paris and London

Thank you, Gene. Haven't thought of that in a very long time.

What is so unusually ghastly about this ad?

Nothing at all that I can tell!

It's setting up couples for a 'reality' show that in exchange for making them famous has every chance of wrecking their love for each other. That's a ghastly thing to do to people.

Maybe. I think most people are savvier about reality TV than you suppose. They know that it's a form of theatrics in which they're supposed to provide a certain performance in return for public exposure. IIRC some reality TV stars have been quite brazen about the fact that they were using the show that made them famous to publicize themselves, their businesses, etc.

Yeah, but if the consequences for participants weren't more than they bargained for, the shows wouldn't be compelling to viewers.

I think all the drama in reality TV is pretty well choreographed. In order for there to be some sort of come-uppance there would have to be an element of surprise, which I think simply doesn't exist outside of the script.

Bozo might have enjoyed the situation of Big Mac makers in Pakistan.