RTL boss Peter van der Vorst had better choose to distance himself from the shameless ‘stop hating, start loving, be sweet’ campaign, says TV critic Victor Vlam. “So hypocritical.”
For a moment, Peter van der Vorst was working hard to portray RTL as the best boy in the class, but his finger-pointing slogan ‘stop hating, start loving, be sweet’ does not rhyme at all with the actions of the channel group. Certainly not now that RTL is suddenly using Talpa’s Peter Gillis model. As far as the media pact Respectful Collaboration…
Hypocrisy
RTL has chosen to give the violent actor Marouane Meftah the leading role in a new Videoland series, despite the fact that he is being prosecuted in two assault cases and there is video evidence of this. In other words: it is not one word against another, there is just hard evidence. But Peter? That one is especially sweet for Marouane. Very bizarre.
TV critic Victor Vlam in the podcast Victor Indicates TV: “I think it is time for RTL to distance itself more emphatically from this be sweet slogan, because it is increasingly starting to affect its image. The hypocrisy is simply oozing.”
Not realistic
That slogan was always clumsy of Peter, Victor thinks. “Because a broad commercial TV channel simply cannot broadcast only positive TV that makes the world a better place, right? It means, for example, that you have to ignore the entire genre of reality, because yes, that is all about sensation and mutual arguments.”
He continues: “That is one hundred percent contrary to stop hating, start loving and be sweet. Then you have to say goodbye to that. That is a choice you can make, but a choice that costs a lot of money and RTL is of course not prepared to do that. From the start, this was just a very stupid slogan. This made no sense at all.”
Virtues
Why did Peter come up with that slogan in the first place? “What’s behind it: nowadays opinions are the way to display status. These used to be expensive things, clothing or accessories, but nowadays we have come to find that a bit flat. A new way was needed to show that you really belonged to the elite and opinions are the means.”
“The RTL management was able to show the group of friends with this slogan: look, guys, we are not just about making money, but we are about making the world a better place! They then receive applause from those around them, so that was behind it. It is a way to rise in the social hierarchy, but it was clearly a bad idea.”
Scandal
RTL is really suffering from this now, Victor explains. “You can clearly see that this is starting to play a role in the image. Every scandal at RTL is compared to this slogan. It is clear that this slogan was far too moralistic and completely hypocritical. That is simply a major disadvantage. I would actually say to RTL: see if you can adjust this!”
“The sentiment around RTL is quite negative at the moment. I think it is a bit comparable to where Talpa was four years ago, just after the riot surrounding The Voice. At that time you had John de Mol’s statements about counters and Linda attacking everyone. That really stuck and it took a long time before they got over it.”
Negative image
How RTL can make a fresh start? By saying in an interview that the slogan was ‘not wise’ or launching a new slogan, Victor explains.
In any case, that negative image must go away and the new owner DPG also seems to realize that, he concludes. “I think DPG realizes that a bit. I noticed that Kim Koppenol left as the director of communications. He spent a hundred years at RTL and was really a pit bull.”
