Tag Archives: yale

“People might break into your home in the middle of the night!” says lock-maker

“People might break into your home in the middle of the night!” says lock-maker

Bump in the night? Send in the wife!: One in five men would happily let their other half investigate while they cower under the duvet

So much for chivalry. When there’s a bump in the night, one in five men is happy to send their wife downstairs to investigate, a poll found.

In fact, a quarter of men pretend to be asleep if they hear a strange noise while they’re in bed, according to a survey.

And perhaps it’s not surprising that they’re reluctant to leap into knight in shining armour mode – a fifth of chaps readily admit that their wife is braver than they are.

Source: Daily Mail, 18th September 2013

Chivalry is dead, by all accounts – or at least by the accounts presented by this piece of PR in the press. However, while hiding behind the lazy ‘differences between the sexes’ hook, the real purpose of this story is to remind you that sometimes there are noises in the night, and sometimes those noises are home intruders. We know this is the hook, because we can tell which company paid Bad PR regulars OnePoll to create some useful statistics to get this story into the press:

The survey was commissioned by security company Yale and a spokesman said: ‘Things that go bump in the night more often than not turn out to be false alarms.

‘However, it is still important to ensure home security is a priority.’

“People shouldn’t trust their neighbours!” says security firm

Have you ever noticed how annoying your neighbour is? Gone are the days of borrowed sugar and shared barbecues – neighbours these days are not to be trusted, and ought to be viewed with a mix of cynicism, derision and fear. Don’t just take my word for it (not least because I don’t actually mean any of this), the Daily Mail agrees:

Neighbours? We can’t stand them: Rows over noisy kids, bins and loud music found to kill community spirit.

One in three Brits don’t get on with their neighbours, a study revealed yesterday.

New research into the state of the nation’s community spirit found millions of us have an uneasy truce with those who live nearest.

In fact, as many as one in four homeowners admit they have a full-blown argument with the people next door.

Source: Daily Mail, 7 February 2013 (and paper edition)

The sense of community is an old-fashioned and outmoded idea, then, apparently. Gone are the days when you could rely on your neighbour, when you could leave your doors unlocked and know there’d be no problem, and when you could ask your neighbour to put your flat cap through their mangle without them charging you tuppence ha’penny for the privelege. A lost era.

Or perhaps that’s only what those behind the study want you to think… 

The figures emerged in a study of 2,000 people by Yale

That would be the lock manufacturers, Yale, makes of the Yale lock, explaining via a survey run via 72 Point’s OnePoll service how you shouldn’t trust those who live nearest your house:

Additionally, the average person has two people who live nearby that they struggle to trust, results showed.

The Yale spokesman added: Despite many of us having content relationships with our neighbours, there are occasions when neighbours don’t get along and sometimes they might not feel it would be any of their business to report suspicious behaviour.

Feeling happy in your home should also be a top priority, so taking action towards keeping your property secure should be simple and greatly add to that peace of mind

Action such as, for example, buying locks from Yale, who commissied this study. Knowing that Yale are out there, tirelessly and diligently funding research that tells me how badly I need their services – I for one feel more secure already.