Canada: A Ban Too Far?

News emerged this week, Oliver Rawlings readers, that Canada banned among others things, marmite. It seems ridiculous but it’s true. What we wanted to ask this week is; is this ban too far?

Canada announced last week that it was now banning the importation or sale of several key classic British foods and drinks. Amongst others these included marmite, Irn-Bru, Ovaltine and Lucozade. However this wasn’t just some arbitrary ban, there was a reason for it.

It was done on health grounds. Basically the owner of a British store was told to stop selling the products because food officials discovered that these items contained an illegal additive. Well, at least one that’s illegal in Canada.

Subsequently the man was made to stop selling these times. However it brings up a key issue for food enthusiasts and culture warriors everywhere. How much should we be restricting certain food stuffs?

It comes at a time where more and more people are worrying about what we put into our bodies. In particular people are worried about the effects of E-Cigarettes and sugar. This is likely to add to the chorus of people who are saying that we should be enforcing stricter laws about what we put into our bodies.

This is a debate that has been raging foryears, and it’s unlikely that we’re ever collectively going to arrive at a conclusion that everybody’s happy with. It’s one that asks how much should we be a nanny state?

We are somewhat of a nanny state these days. We restrict most drugs; we also have major restrictions on alcohol and tobacco. We have these restrictions in place because we recognise, to some extent, that we have to have rules in place to protect people from themselves.

However we certainly haven’t gone as far as this before. Addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco are still legal and widely available. Sugar is laced into practically everything we eat and only Canada has banned these items; we still consume them by the bucket load.

So it’s a balancing act, which isn’t that surprising really. The real question is that now Canada has raised attention to these items, will other countries follow. Will Britain one day treat marmite as contraband? Only time will tell the answer to this question many of us never thought we’d have to ask. 

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Should ‘Get Lucky’ Have Gotten Lucky

Every so often at the Oliver Rawlings blog I like to step back from the current affairs and explore pop culture. With the Grammy Awards airing last night, I wanted to take this post to ask, should ‘Get Lucky’ have gotten lucky?

I’m asking this because Get Lucky; the Daft Punk collaboration with Nile Rodgers and Pharrell won one of the ultimate gongs; Record of the Year.

This wasn’t the only time Daft Punk got lucky on the night.  The tracks album, Random Access Memories, took home the prestigious Album of the Year award. However one of the night’s other top gongs, Song of the Year, went to New Zealand starlet Lordes for her mega hit ‘Royals.’

So what I want to ask is did get lucky deserve to indeed get lucky? Well we always knew it had the makings of a mega hit. It was the collaboration between three of the most successful acts in modern music history. Nile Rodgers in particular has been the moving force behind many hits; perhaps most notably Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin.’

So when it came out, you might have imagined that such a dream team would fall flat on its face; mega collaborations that are hyped up are often disappointments.

However this certainly wasn’t the case with Get Lucky. It was a monster hit. It topped charts all over the world, it made a lot of money and it entered the hearts and minds of people everywhere. It could very well be a top contender for the most successful record commercially in 2013.

However the Grammy’s aren’t just about commercial success. Time and time again commercial success actually hinders an acts crusade to score a Grammy; it’s almost as though they see commercial success as a badge of dishonor; as though they’re no longer worthy of being cool.

However Get Lucky wasn’t just a commercial success; it was also a critical one.  Critics around the world went crazy for it. If we’re being honest only ‘Royals’ itself saw as much critical acclaim as Get Lucky did.

So it appears that the Grammy’s really did get it right for once, and this time they actually managed to pick a track that is both critically and commercially successful. Here’s hoping that trend continues!

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