O + (N xS) + Cpm/T + He

Posted by Gary Cleland at Fri, 20/06/2008 - 7:23am in

If you were wondering why you had a particular spring in your step this morning, the above equation may explain it.

Today, it appears, is the happiest day of the year, according to Walls Ice Cream.

'What do Walls Ice Cream know?' a cynic (or a journalist) might ask. Well, at the very least Walls Ice Cream know two things.

Firstly, they know that nobody cares what day they think might be the happiest of the year, and no newspaper is likely to give them any coverage for announcing one.

'You're just trying to sell us ice cream,' they will say, rightly.

To combat this, Walls Ice Cream has very cleverly employed the services of a scientist, Cliff Arnall, a former tutor from Cardiff University who pops up every year to tell us which day we should feel happiest, most depressed or otherwise.

No doubt it is a happy day for Cliff. He has been paid for his groundbreaking scientific study. When he inevitably announces the most depressing day of the year in months to come, that will also be a happy day for him. He will be paid for that too.

Good for him. But a cynic might ask, why should I listen to a 'former tutor' of a university? Isn't this all just bonkers? Isn't he actually just trying to sell me ice cream aswell?

Well, perhaps - but the second thing that the clever people at Walls Ice Cream know is that even the most transparent veneer of scientific credence can catapult a story into the news pages.

Does anybody really believe the above formula, in which O stands for outdoor activity, N for connection with Nature, S for socialisation, Cpm for Childhood positive memories (how is that measured!?), T for temperature and He for holiday expected?

I doubt it. I don't think I have more happy childhood memories today than yesterday, and I have absolutely no idea how connected I am with nature. But swathes of Britain's media is today reporting that today is, or at least might be, the happiest day of the year.

My guess is that today, many of us are as miserable as ever, but it is certainly the happiest day of the year for Walls Ice Cream.

Tagged with: ice cream, happiest day, Media