They are a family of pigs living high on a hill - Mummy pig, Daddy pig, Peppa and George - sporting twee English accents and with an odd tendency to fall over when laughing, which is quite often.
Now, Peppa Pig, a British kids cartoon series that has played only minimally on New Zealand television but is widely known through its multitudinous merchandising manifestations, is being blamed on turning children into, well, little swines.
The criticism that has come about this week in the UK centres on the fact the little brother George says "vegetables, YUK!" a lot - much like any ordinary kid - and both Peppa and George bellow out "Chocolate cake!" when asked what they want for breakfast. They also splash in mud puddles a lot.
These things seem quite minor but I think perhaps more insidious is the suggestion, throughout all Peppa programmes (and we have many of them on DVD) that children should, nay do, rule the roost. Especially Peppa, who, as a real child, would be commonly known as a "little turd". The mother is an accomplice of the children, ensuring whatever they desire they get without seeming to have much else on her plate, and the father comes a solid last in the hierarchy, a bumbling clown that most of them end up making fun of.
In fact, my brother-in-law is so disgusted with the message Peppa sends about fathers, he has banned it in his household.
