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More than 30 northerners angry about being stereotyped as

overweight, bingo-playing idlers, have complained to the Independent

Television Commission about WH Smith's Christmas ad campaign starring

Nicholas Lyndhurst. The ads, by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, show the Smith

family paying a Christmas visit to their exuberant Geordie cousins. In

one, they arrive to find the house smothered in decorations and a note

on the door that reads 'Gone to Bingo'. Another depicts the family

camped in front of the television wearing the Newcastle football strip

and eating their meal messily on their laps. Lyndhurst plays every

member of the Smith family and appears alongside other celebrities

including Delia Smith, Alan Titchmarsh and Jackie Collins. The ITC,

which is investigating the complaints, said most alleged regional

prejudice, while others were concerned about the harsh portrayal of

obesity.