I couldn't help but smile when I saw this article from the beeb website. I've been watching the Christmas adverts recently (since about July believe it or not!) and asking my wife if she recognised some of the characters played out in the glossy family Christmas scenes. In a very honest response she admitted to 'not lifting a finger' at Christmas (well Christmas day anyway)! Now I'm not writing this blog to gain brownie points but with advertisers forcing 'the spirit of Christmas' upon us are they losing touch with reality? Are they ignoring the 'male pound' (if there's such a thing - think of pink-pound...)? Here at Network Marketing Towers, after a quick straw poll and more than 66% of respondents who were male said that they took responsibility on Christmas Day for the meal. So - is this female stereo-type doing the retail industry any good or should they be targeting the 'male pound' harder? Jonathan Robinson Senior Consultant Network Marketing Manchester