Deeper and the Downs: Brighton says sorry to the Quo

Brighton and Hove council thought it would be nice to have a bit of gentle fun in the job advert for a strategic director position:

The ad men went so far as to state "Status Quo fans need not apply."

The council forgot that Status Quo don't actually have a sense of humour. Or perspective.

Quo's publicist Simon Porter says, "This is a direct insult to the capabilities of millions of Quo fans, many of whom are probably totally overqualified for these jobs."

Erm... if they're overqualified for the jobs, then they shouldn't bother applying, should they?

Anyway, Brighton and Hove have responded by rolling their eyes and carrying on.

Oh, sorry, no: they've issued a fawning apology:

A statement from the council's CEO John Bardell reads, "I'm sorry if any offence has been caused by our advert slogan 'Status Quo fans need not apply' - none was intended.

"I accept that it was a little insensitive. My wife did say when she saw it that it might upset Quo fans. I hoped it would make us stand out from the crowd and would get people interested. Clearly she was right."

The one piece of soothing balm is that it's hugely unlikely any Status Quo fan would have even had the advert read out to them.