It’s scheduled at the start of the first advert break during our Saturday night X Factor fix, and whether you admit to watching X Factor or not, viewer statistics indicate that it’s one of the most popular telly programmes of the week. Hmmm, sounds expensive! Yeo’s ad is quirky to say the least. Like it or loathe it, within seconds of its first broadcast it reached the top Twitter topic being talked about….or Twitter Trend as it’s known to us Twits. And on Youtube Yeo’s advert has had almost 178,000 views.
See for yourself - here’s the link: Yeo Valley advert
Now I mention this because? Well apart from being an avid supporter of local businesses, on watching it I couldn’t help but wish that our South West farmers really did look like they do in the ad ;-) Ta da! This brings me nicely to the subject matter in hand - farmers. Or to be more precise, their tractors, combine harvesters, and other colossal agricultural machinery!
Now don’t get me wrong, whether donning a six pack or otherwise, I think our farmers do a fantastic job; the clever ones having had to diversify quite considerably in recent years in order to survive. They are grafters and work incredibly long, unsociable hours.
But guys, if you’re reading this, my point, if you please -
Why oh why do you have to drive your tractors, combines, etc. at such incredible speeds down our country lanes, where unsuspecting drivers like my good self meet you head on around a bend and have to then suddenly slam on the brakes for fear of meeting the Grim Reaper before our time? And some of this machinery is huge, taking up a considerable amount of road space, not just on their own side but on half of the opposite side too. Admittedly I am no expert, but I do know there are laws on wide and long loads, and I am just discovering that these laws exist for a very good reason!
During certain times of the year - hay making season for example - there are a lot of these agricultural Autobots hitting our country lanes. So whilst driving my usual route to and from work I can only deduce from the amount of near death experiences I have recently encountered - somewhat decreased by my sudden acquired skill in also avoiding the constant mud slinging these beasts chuck onto the road at will - that our hard working farmers are in the process of frantically transporting the last cut of the year.
What I do know is that if I ever find myself in the unfortunate situation of having collided with one of these mechanical beasts - and the farmer even notices and stops! - I just hope that when he climbs out of his cab and heads towards me he’s as gorgeous as those chaps in the Yeo ad, as this may be the only thing that saves him from my fury! ;-)
Driving slows down in Devon. Speed kills. So kill your speed!
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