Caravanner of the Year on BBC this April!
Comments
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For those of you who didn't actually contact the CC directly; this is the reply I've just received.
Thank you for your email. We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear or read
about The Caravan Club – this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant last night…
we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and explore the
great outdoors.The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged in
supporting this initiative.We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry you were disappointed with the programme.
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What else did we expect? It's 'spun' into orbit.
PS. Thanks for sharing, Rush.
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Hi everyone, statement from The Club:
We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear or read about The Caravan Club – this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant last night… we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and explore the great outdoors.
The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged in supporting this initiative.
We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry that a number of you feel disappointed with the programme.
Rochelle
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Another +1 to PontyBoy and DaveFL2. Yes the programme was naff and yes the Caravan Club missed a golden opportunity to promote caravanning and the Caravan Club, but is it really worth getting that worked up about. I don't really care what others think of
how I spend my leisure time in my motorhome, I will continue you to enjoy it come what may. I will be using Caravan Club sites and CL's as before. Those that are cancelling bookings and not renewing membership are just cutting of their nose to spite their
face. Well go if you want to, more pitches available for us.Your opinion is your own and nobody can argue with you, entirely your choice to carry on as before. However, for those that spend a lot of money a year on site fees, some of which goes to line the pocket of the Club's Chairman and his Cronies... and for
them to then portray such a poor image of the Club, it's wholly responsible membership and the pastime as a whole; is a very poor show. If members chose to spend their money elsewhere on the back of this, possibly even revoking their membership, they're not
cutting off their nose to spite their face, they are investing in alternatives because they feel strongly about how and where their hard earned is used. Whilst there's a risk of the Club's membership numbers declining in the future (lets face it, as one generation
of caravanners passes, another has to fill it's shoes to keep things going) and the Club fails to attract future generations of caravanners, sites will close, fees will rise and the Club's reputation will suffer. The TV Programme did nothing to promote the
pastime, it failed miserably to attract new people to it and it merely endorsed what a great deal of the general public already think about it. National terrestrial television at peak time, what a waste of an opportunity to change poeple's perceptions of this
great leisure industry.0 -
The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and explore the great outdoors.
It's a shame this sentiment wasn't expressed during the actual COTY programme0 -
They must get different media in EG Towers than I read.
Daily Telegraph:
...the six couples were walking inventories of Great British Eccentricities (obsession with lists, remarkable comb-overs, Blitz-era fetishisation), mocking them was never the goal. These were decent people engaging in a harmless pursuit, and it was hard to begrudge them their moment. But good-natured whimsy can only carry a concept so far. Let’s turn the cameras off and leave them to it next time, shall we...
Saga Magazine:
...This is a funny and affectionate celebration of the august institution that is the Caravan Club, and of the occasionally eccentric and marvellously liberating pastime that is caravanning...
While not quite as explicit as some of the posts on here, it can hardly be classed as glowing comments.
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Hi everyone,
We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear or
read about The Caravan Club – this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant last
night… we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and explore
the great outdoors.The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged in
supporting this initiative.We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry that a number of you feel disappointed with the programme.
Rochelle
Signed Alastair "jockey wheel" Campbell
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I complained to the club telling them I thought the whole thing was a disgrace, and received this reply:
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Thank you for your email. We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear
or read about The Caravan Club – this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant
last night… we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and
explore the great outdoors.The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged
in supporting this initiative.We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry you were disappointed with the programme.
Kind regards,
Sue Whittaker
Email Support Team
THE CARAVAN CLUB
East Grinstead House, East Grinstead
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This was my reply to that email:
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Dear Ms Whittaker,I do not wish to appear bad mannered, but if you honestly believe that load of guff, which has obviously come from the clubs PR dept, in a belated damage limitation exercise, you are living on another planet!Chris Evans, who I listen to every morning, was taking the mickey - he is not too far from his Top Gear predecessor in his views on caravans.Matt and Alex on the One Show - who I also watch - had obviously not yet seen your humiliating efforts.Most media reviews are not genuine, and are cribbed from a central source.If you want to know the real truth, read what your own members are saying on the club forum. just here http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/community/discussions/club-talk/caravanning-events-and-announcements/Caravanner-of-the-Year-on-BBC-this-April/rt/1452906/?p=67#index1There are so far 3746 posts at this moment, on 68 pages, in just a few days. The overwhelming opinion of members is the same as mine - SHAMEFUL!Please direct the attention of your PR dept. to this!I repeat, the whole affair is humiliating and a disgrace to normal competent caravanners.I shall not be renewing my subscription to this club.Yours sincerely,"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Watch this space!!!!!!
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Deary me. Over 24 hours, but at last we have a corporate bleat! The soggy bottomed pudding has just been dolloped with custard!
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and Chris Evans works for and is paid very handsomely by... oh yeah...the BBC
What else was he going to say on live radio?
He's going to look like a right idiot if he follows Messrs Clarkson, May & Hammond and so much as once criticises the caravan in the new Top Gear show
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+ 1 to PontyBoy and DaveFL2
Its absolutely no wonder there had been no official reply, whatever they say will just get berated by the masses. This thread does more to damage the future of the club than COTY.
I stand by my earlier comment.
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Media success (?!) at the expense of alienating and upsetting club members is not a success.
I'm neutral about the programme and the positive spin is not a great surprise. Other things the Club has done recently has caused it to lose credibility for me.
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So caravanner of the year is compared to bake off, another piece of meaningless bbc fodder, maybe he has a point.
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+ 1 to PontyBoy and DaveFL2
Its absolutely no wonder there had been no official reply, whatever they say will just get berated by the masses. This thread does more to damage the future of the club than COTY.
I stand by my earlier comment.
While the program was funny, it was never promoted to be a p*ss take of caravanners. That seems to be the overall impression gained by the vast majority who watched it including myself, and how it was reported in the media. Hardly representative of the vast majority of caravanners the length and bredth of the United Kingdom. I'm sure the program producers searched long and hard to find the mix of contestants that volunteered to have the mickey well and truly taken out of them. The overall impression is that we are all the same. So for the club to say that it was received and reported on in glowing terms, and only a few disagreed, in my view is wrong. Yes it got caravanning into the media, other than news stories about traffic jams caused by overturned caravans, but it hardly painted the majority as on the whole "normal" people enjoying a weekend away.
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Where were the safety checks to assure the public that we are a responsible lot; Tyre inspections for pressure/age; wheel bolt torque checks; nose load; outfit compatibility; laden weight checks for overloading; mirrors; mains lead checks; knowledge
of speed limits etc, etc.0 -
So caravanner of the year is compared to bake off, another piece of meaningless bbc fodder, maybe he has a point.
I'm not an avid viewer of Bake-off, but its' success can hardly be viewed as meaningless fodder, that's a somewhat unfair criticism. Bake-off is clearly a BBC success and enjoyed by millions of viewers. It's a good comparison of COTY - light hearted entertainment.
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Where were the safety checks to assure the public that we are a responsible lot; Tyre inspections for pressure/age; wheel bolt torque checks; nose load; outfit compatibility; laden weight checks for overloading; mirrors; mains lead checks; knowledge
of speed limits etc, etc.Do you seriously think that would make content worthy for a prime time tv slot? It wouldn't have multiple threads across several forums still actively discussing a show that was on TV almost two nights ago.
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That doesn't make it right, reality TV in general is crap fed to the masses who follow like sheep.
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Bake off isn't just light hearted entertainment. I've learned an awful lot from Bake off. Those people really know what they are doing.
On the other hand I learned nothing from COTY. Was it purely to entertain?
You don't sit there waiting for somebody to drop a cake then? #Fridgegate etc
Maybe it's just me....
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Where were the safety checks to assure the public that we are a responsible lot; Tyre inspections for pressure/age; wheel bolt torque checks; nose load; outfit compatibility; laden weight checks for overloading; mirrors; mains lead checks; knowledge
of speed limits etc, etc.Do you seriously think that would make content worthy for a prime time tv slot? It wouldn't have multiple threads across several forums still actively discussing a show that was on TV almost two nights ago.
And all discussing how bad COTY was. COTY was a blatant attempt to humiliate and belittle caravanners. Yes that does make good TV, but should it have been made?
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Dropping a cake is a bonus but I've learned where I was going wrong through bake off. It is now the least dismal cooking I do.
What could be learned from COTY? Reversing most of us do every time we get to a site, we get our awning up in 15 minutes, the rest was trivia that I don't think added much.
Next week is fancy dress and cooking it seems.
Designed to entertain rather than educate.
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And all discussing how bad COTY was. COTY was a blatant attempt to humiliate and belittle caravanners. Yes that does make good TV, but should it have been made?
Not all, there is some positive, if not much, positive criticism across the forums.
"The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night"
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Hi everyone,
We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear or read about The Caravan Club – this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant last night… we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and explore the great outdoors.
The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged in supporting this initiative.
We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry that a number of you feel disappointed with the programme.
Rochelle
ROTFL! You are kidding? Every newspaper article I read seems to slate the program in addition to EVERY caravan forum in the UK so who are these peopel that think it was marvellous. Can you point us in the direction of the positive reviews by supplying links? Thanks.
BTW what happened to teh Facebook page as reported by some posters?
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