TV rage

Do you remember that advert for the BBC's business idea show "Dragons' Den"? It featured all five "Dragons" (a term that I can only use with ironic speech marks) strolling up to the camera in slow motion, brushing aside a load of giant coins in their way, and bellowing with silent, mocking laughter. As far as ads go, it's nearly as annoying as the Halifax karaoke monstrosities on TV, which seem to have been running since 1934. 

Still, at least the "Dragons' Den" advert accurately sets up the premise for each show. If you haven't seen it, what happens is that potential entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to the "Dragons" - a group of professional entrepreneurs who are invited to invest. The "Dragons", for the most part, gradually reduce these people to quivering wrecks with a string of casual put-downs and dismissals.

Now, these "Dragons" are undoubtedly successful in their fields, and their put-downs are in tune with the spirit of other reality TV contests like "The X Factor" or "Strictly Come Dancing". The entrepreneurs are even welcome additions to the speaker roster of the occasional franchise exhibition. But as seen on TV, they might give potential franchisees a misleading impression of entrepreneurs and the corporate world.

The conventional wisdom is that shows like "Dragons' Den" and its close associate, "The Apprentice", will encourage more people to start up a business or give franchising a try.

But what worries me is that potential franchisees, who may be interested in signing up with a franchisor, could be put off by the behaviour of some of the participants in these TV shows. They may think that they'll be sneered at by interviewers. Or they may think that they'll be done over and backstabbed like the sweaty wannabes in Sralan's boardroom.

The most recent series of "The Apprentice" featured more backstabbing than before (which is saying something) among the candidates hoping to work for Sralan. There was an ill-conceived plan to bribe a shop owner into ruining the rival team's chances, there were arguments aplenty among the candidates and there was also a textbook example of how not to produce a CV for a prospective employer.

The slightest hint of decent behaviour wouldn't pull in the viewing figures - nice guys and gals finish last apparently - so the programmes make everyone involved in these shows look a lot worse than they may actually be. The reality is that franchisors and franchisees ARE nice, a word that's rarely found in the media these days. That state of affairs, though, needs to be promoted a whole lot more.

Gordon Gekko, the notorious main character in the movie Wall Street, has a lot to answer for. His character, far from being a parody (and brilliantly sent up in "Only Fools And Horses"), has now, it seems, become a twisted reality. Have rudeness and backstabbing become the norm these days? If they have, as the aforementioned shows seem to indicate, then let's hope that they don't damage the level of franchise applications.