Product placement in 'The Archers'

Oh dear! There's a storm brewing in the teacups of 'The Archers' characters at the moment. It's all thanks to a mention of 'Duchy Shortbread'. Duchy is the brand of shortbread produced by the Prince of Wales and I think it's really delicious. So does Ian, the Chef in 'The Archers' radio series (an 'Everyday Story of Countryfolk'). As he produces a pretty mean shortbread himself, this was praise indeed for the Prince's famous brand. Unless you were listening very carefully, though, you'd have hardly heard the word 'Duchy' as Ian barely whispered the word.

Nevertheless, it was enough to have listeners writing into the BBC. Many people think that the BBC should be above that sort of 'cheap' product placement.

It just goes to show that, even though most of the avid listeners of 'The Archers' are the wrong side of 30, quite a lot of them are not as doddery and 'over-the-hill' as you might think.