The BBC has launched a new advertising campaign, aimed at appealing to the British public's charitable instincts, rather than bullying them into paying for a TV license.
In a departure from tradition, instead of reminding people how powerful the BBC is, and how it can summon hoards of thuggish debt collectors and tell them exactly where you live, the new campaign depicts the human side of the Beeb.
'My name is Imogen' says one advert, 'and I need your money to check into a top drawer american hotel, or indeed any country with good room service, to attend an important seminar on diversity.' For just £145 a year, says the advert, you can help thousands of people, like Imogen, to help themselves.
Without the £145 license fee, the BBC could fall into the hands of private enterprise or worse, the BNP. "And they're more likely to let black people in," said an expert.