When did winning household bills become a prize on a television game show segment?
With rising prices of energy and food, it is overt that many of our nation will face a “Winter of Disconnect” as they struggle to make ends meet. Experts announced in October that domestic energy bills were due to increase a further 80%, on top of an earlier 54% increase in April this year. Despite the inflation in the cost of living impacting hugely on a large proportion of the country, the crisis has not been spared from the sensationalist approach of the media. From TV game show segments to influencers and money-saving experts offering canny money-saving tips, the cost-of-living crisis has been spun as a spectacle.
This Morning is perhaps the most apparent example of this. Whilst a relief from groceries and such has long been a prize up for grabs in newspaper competitions, such competitions have now taken to daytime television. Viewers were appalled with a recent This Morning game show segment, many labelling it as ‘tone-deaf’. The segment involved a new prize in their ‘Spin to Win’ competition, offering four months of payment towards energy bills. Is it right that a tv show plays on individuals’ struggles?
A delicate subject such as the cost-of-living crisis, a very harsh reality for some that will struggle to make ends meet this winter, is one that should be handled with forethought and consideration. It is arguably not a topic to be sensationalised within the media, and for it to have done so is incredibly unfortunate.