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Lightbulb plan makes estate agent look dim
An estate agent is stockpiling 100w bulbs to sell to 'desperate' consumers for up to £60 each
Some people are sad to see the back of incandescent lightbulbs. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA
Low energy lightbulbs may take a bit of time to warm up, and the light they give out is not the brightest possible, but does the fact the EU has ordered the withdrawal of traditional 100 watt incandescent bulbs really warrant such furore?
As reported yesterday, outraged light lovers have been rallying on the Facebook page I hate energy saving light bulbs, while the Daily Mail has been running a campaign to save the old fashioned bulbs. Now, Glastonbury estate agent Jules Bending has announced he has been stockpiling traditional bulbs and plans to launch a business in 2012 selling them at vastly inflated prices to desperate low energy refusniks.
"We have been stockpiling normal lightbulbs for some time in a warehouse, actually a farmer's shed, at a secret location just beyond the Mendip Hills," Bending says. So far he he has more than 6,700 bulbs, which he believes will fetch between £40-£60 each once supply diminishes.
Bending says he has even approached "climate change denier botanist David Bellamy" to front the underground campaign to sell old fashioned lightbulbs.
"What if the earth is just naturally heating up and we're not really to blame for the meltdown, and then we are denying ourselves some finally [sic] pleasures like normal light," he says. Bending claims to have identified a big market among women who like the look of themselves in traditional light rather than the "pukey green" given off by the environmentally friendly bulb.
The estate agent has attracted media attention in the past for his brutally honest descriptions of some of the properties on his books ("original and grim late 70s conversion"), and for the refusal of rightmove.co.uk and several local newspapers to publish his listings. On the front page of his website, where most estate agents would place demure pictures of their offices or staff, or even a picture of the houses they are trying to sell, Bending has posted a video clip of a mud wrestling tournament on Glastonbury Tor, as sponsored by his firm. A sure way to attract visitors to his site, perhaps, even though most probably won't be that interested in buying a home in Glastonbury.
And this is perhaps the real key to why Bending is jumping on the incandescent lightbulb bandwagon. He is trying to get publicity and to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, and that includes the Dail Mail-reading climate change deniers.
On trade website EstateAgentToday, Bending is quoted as saying: "Everybody hates an estate agent: the horrible suit, the nasty jargon. If you introduce a note of humour people seem to like that. They trust us. And trust is the holy grail."
But would you trust a man who is prepared to damage the planet in his quest for publicity?
An estate agent is stockpiling 100w bulbs to sell to 'desperate' consumers for up to £60 each
Some people are sad to see the back of incandescent lightbulbs. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PALow energy lightbulbs may take a bit of time to warm up, and the light they give out is not the brightest possible, but does the fact the EU has ordered the withdrawal of traditional 100 watt incandescent bulbs really warrant such furore?
As reported yesterday, outraged light lovers have been rallying on the Facebook page I hate energy saving light bulbs, while the Daily Mail has been running a campaign to save the old fashioned bulbs. Now, Glastonbury estate agent Jules Bending has announced he has been stockpiling traditional bulbs and plans to launch a business in 2012 selling them at vastly inflated prices to desperate low energy refusniks.
"We have been stockpiling normal lightbulbs for some time in a warehouse, actually a farmer's shed, at a secret location just beyond the Mendip Hills," Bending says. So far he he has more than 6,700 bulbs, which he believes will fetch between £40-£60 each once supply diminishes.
Bending says he has even approached "climate change denier botanist David Bellamy" to front the underground campaign to sell old fashioned lightbulbs.
"What if the earth is just naturally heating up and we're not really to blame for the meltdown, and then we are denying ourselves some finally [sic] pleasures like normal light," he says. Bending claims to have identified a big market among women who like the look of themselves in traditional light rather than the "pukey green" given off by the environmentally friendly bulb.
The estate agent has attracted media attention in the past for his brutally honest descriptions of some of the properties on his books ("original and grim late 70s conversion"), and for the refusal of rightmove.co.uk and several local newspapers to publish his listings. On the front page of his website, where most estate agents would place demure pictures of their offices or staff, or even a picture of the houses they are trying to sell, Bending has posted a video clip of a mud wrestling tournament on Glastonbury Tor, as sponsored by his firm. A sure way to attract visitors to his site, perhaps, even though most probably won't be that interested in buying a home in Glastonbury.
And this is perhaps the real key to why Bending is jumping on the incandescent lightbulb bandwagon. He is trying to get publicity and to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, and that includes the Dail Mail-reading climate change deniers.
On trade website EstateAgentToday, Bending is quoted as saying: "Everybody hates an estate agent: the horrible suit, the nasty jargon. If you introduce a note of humour people seem to like that. They trust us. And trust is the holy grail."
But would you trust a man who is prepared to damage the planet in his quest for publicity?
. Haven't had to replace any so far, not sure how that compares with normal ones?
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