A genuinely stupifying statement from the people over at insurance company CompareTheMarket, who have just made a decision to pull their meerkat ads from appearing around TV news broadcasts. The ads have featured the Russian billionaire meerkat and his sidekick Sergei for 13 years, however it seems the ad team felt the invasion of Ukraine might cast the CGI creatures in a less favourable light. Is nothing sacred anymore…

“The CompareTheMarket meerkats are fictional characters… they have no association with Russia and the current situation. We are continually reviewing our advertising to ensure we’re being sensitive to the current situation.”

Guido’s old enough to remember Theresa May parroting the meerkat’s slogan – “simples” – at PMQs in February 2019. Is this PR genius or over-sensitivity?