It may be in the can, but it cuts no ice

Forget Maxim, forget the budget airlines, forget “Boring as fcuk”: the real issue in advertising is bicycles – and folding bicycles in particular. Woe betide the advertiser that dares to mock the collapsible cog-driven contraptions (and where would be the challenge in that?), for they will have to face the wrath of Dahon.

Sadly, Dahon is not some horned man-beast from hell, nor is it a government security agency. It’s “the world’s leading manufacturer of folding bicycles” and it has bitterly complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the ad opposite, which seems to imply that Smirnoff Ice cans represent a better use of aluminium than a Dahon bike.

The Diary shares Dahon’s outrage. The only container suitable for Smirnoff Ice is one made of porcelain…