Money Supermarket: Peter Jones

It has been my experience that you should never trust anybody in adverts who isn’t doing it for the money. If you’re a struggling actor who needs the money then that’s one thing, but if you’re a multi-millionaire who has pocket change to buy a wendy house that costs more than most people’s real house deposits and is happy to humiliate himself making brmbrm noises against a bluescreen then, well, you need to think long and hard about him.

Peter Jones doesn’t need the money. I think we can all agree on that.  So we have to ask what’s in it for him? A raised profile. That’s what. Clearly he doesn’t give a toss about car insurance, saving people money and getting fair deals. He cares about keeping his face on TV.

You have to wonder what Money Supermarket were thinking when they hired Jones. Aren’t they trying to present an image of economic safety, of logical expenditure and of reliable advice? Why, then, use a man who’s very wealth alienates him from 99.9% of the population? Why use a businessman known for costly indulgences and a distinctly excessive approach to investment? Why use a person who appears on American Inventor, for fucks sake?

Oh I see. It’s because he’s on TV. Not because he stands for the values of the company or the branding image, but because he’s on TV and he’s got something to do with business. And he’s rich. People love rich people. They trust them. They think they know more than ordinary people because they’ve got more stuff. It doesn’t matter that they’re a dick, what matters is that they’re on TV and they’re rich and they’re something to do with business.

Peter Jones doesn’t need the money. He doesn’t care about the product. Beware him, for everything he says is suspect.