PPC115 | Pests in the press
TV has been at the centre of BPCA’s press activity in the first three months of the year, as ongoing work to position BPCA as a voice for the industry continues to bear fruit.
BPCA’s Natalie Bungay featured on Britain’s most popular current affairs programme, Tonight, on ITV at the end of March.
The team at Tonight – part of ITV News – reached out to BPCA in January and worked with the Association to understand the role of professional pest control and the important part it has to play in protecting public health for their episode ‘Home invasions, Britain’s pest problem.’
And, while an enquiry from the team at This Morning withered on the vine, the Association featured in a quiz question on tea-time ITV game show The Chase in February.
In the Final Chase, host Bradley Walsh asked contestants Claire, Bethan and Paul, “The BPCA is the British Association for Pest… what?” which they answered correctly.
The trio managed to score 18 points in the Final Chase – which Chaser, Anne (The Governess) Hegerty couldn’t quite match, running out of time on question 17.
Online and in print, the seasonal push to raise awareness of rat and mouse issues took the lead in the press in early 2024. It showed no signs of letting up during the first quarter of the year, alongside a few silverfish articles carried over from the tail end of 2023.
As always, BPCA worked with titles dedicated to associated trades, this time focusing on PestEx 2024 in the run-up to the event for Tomorrow’s Cleaning and zeroing in on SPIs for Food and Drink Manufacturing UK.
In March, rats again hit the headlines, with a report into council spending on pest control and an article in the Daily Mail claiming a rat infestation could knock a fifth off property prices.
Top 3 headlines
Ask Dr Rosemary Leonard: is it unhealthy to have a mouse in my kitchen - Daily Express (link)
Fighting the rat race - Platinum Business (link)
Britain’s pest problem - in places where society fails, vermin flourish - ITV (link)
Total articles to-date: 479
Total circulation 2023: 132,857,331
Read all about it!
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