"White van man" is a stereotype used in the United Kingdom for a smaller-sized commercial van driver, perceived as selfish, inconsiderate, mostly working class and aggressive. According to this stereotype, the "white van man" is an independent tradesperson, such as a plumber or locksmith, self-employed, or running a small enterprise, for whom driving a commercial vehicle is not the main line of business, as it is for a professional freight-driver.
The first recorded use in the British press was in an article titled "Number is up for White Van Man – scourge of the road." published by The Sunday Times on May 18, 1997 written by Jonathan Leake, that paper's then-transport editor. The Sun newspaper ran a regular "White Van Man" column for some years in which the driver of a light goods vehicle was interviewed in his van on the issues of the day. These columns were accompanied by a picture of whichever driver had been interviewed leaning out of his cab. Later in 1997, it was used by BBC Radio 2's Sarah Kennedy. In 2005, Sarah Kennedy was made honorary president of the First Ford Transit Owner's Club.
White Van Man is a Britishsitcom that was created and was written by Adrian Poynton and first broadcast on BBC Three and BBC HD in 2011. It began screening in March 2011, becoming the highest-rated launch ever for a sitcom on BBC Three.
Will Mellor plays Ollie, a man who has to put his business dreams on hold while he takes over the family handyman business from his father, Tony, played by Clive Mantle. The series was filmed in and around Greater Manchester, including the Best Bet betting shop in Cheadle and Hollins DIY Store in Marple. A second series ran from 23 February to 29 March 2012.
BBC Three announced on 29 April 2012 that it had cancelled White Van Man. On 11 May 2012, it was announced that an American version of White Van Man, Family Tools, was picked up by ABC for a full series. Poynton will serve as its co-creator.
Synopsis
White van man is a media construct that has become a stereotype of a working class tradesman in the UK.
Ollie (Will Mellor) takes over his father's handyman business, which includes an old white van and a dodgy assistant named Darren (Joel Fry), who displays little interest in working. Ollie is desperate to make his father proud, yet fails to bring in enough money. Emma (Georgia Moffett), who went to catering school with Ollie, has dreams of owning a restaurant. Liz (Naomi Bentley), Darren's sister, works in the local hardware store and is regularly visited by Ollie for supplies.
The white van speaker scam is a scam sales technique in which a con artist makes a buyer believe they are getting a good price on home entertainment products. Often a con artist will buy generic speakers worth around $40 and convince potential buyers that they are premium products worth over $2,000, offering them for sale at around $200. Con artists in this type of scam call themselves "speakerguys" or "speakermen", and usually claim to be working for a speaker delivery or installation company.
The speaker scam was common in the 1980s, and despite widespread information about the scam on consumer forums, watchdog sites and Wikipedia, the scams continue operating across several continents.
Process
The typical white van speaker scam involves one to three individuals, who are usually casually dressed or wearing uniforms. They drive an SUV, minivan or a commercial vehicle (usually a white commercial van, which may be rented inexpensively) that often displays a company logo. To find suitable targets, the van operators set up their con in moderately-trafficked areas, such as parking lots, gas stations, colleges, or large apartment complexes. Alternatively, they may target people driving expensive cars and wave them down. The marks (victims) are usually affluent, young people, college students, or others thought to have large amounts of disposable income. The marks may also be foreigners or people who are unfamiliar with typical business transactions in Western countries.
I couldn't help but notice you were looking at me, Are you surprised at what you see? I'm a white man and proud to be, I'm a white man! You look at me you think I'm ignorant, You'll try to call me intolerant, And as a white man I've had enough of it, I'm a white man! Chorus: Just take a look at this society, Where everywhere you go mud is all you see, It's not a place for a white to be and I'm a white man! We are here to collect our inheritance, We will take it back or we'll take our revenge, Is this the beginning or the beginning of the end...?
I’m not a white van man no more, the white van is broke ... She comes from a background with a silver spoon and it is kind of frowned upon because you had a white van on the drive.
“Gongs for Khan and Thornberry are an insult to White Van Man” – They both are part of Labour’s new identity as the party of the sneering class, says Ella Whelan in the Telegraph... And didn’t ... a wrecking ball, says Andrew Neil in the Mail ... What links ... 6.
Khan is so proud of his one-man-war on working-class ... not knowing the French foreign minister’s name and tweeting in disgust at a flag-bedecked house in Rochester with a white van parked outside.
A witness told police she was traveling on LakeviewAvenue when she saw a man exit a white van and approach the driver's-side window of a dark-colored truck, police records show.
Amazon DSPs are the drivers you likely recognize who deliver in Amazon-branded vans in uniform ... While they were in full uniform, instead of getting into one of the large, white vans with the logo on it, the person stepped into a regular regular sedan.
The men were last seen getting into a white four-door sedan with an unknown license plate ... The other man was wearing a brown beanie, black hoodie, ripped blue jeans, black and white Vans, and glasses.
Lawless left the carpark in a black BMW in the company of one man, while a third man left in a white van. The man in the van drove to a self storage unit in Ballymount in Tallaght before he entered ...
The Man in the White Van (PG-13) This retro horror film is like a 1970s slasher flick in all the wrong ways ... and everyone thinks our heroine is insane for reporting the white van stalking her.
Witnesses told police the man on the bicycle, ... As part of the public plea for help, police said the driver of the van was described as a white man with dark hair and possibly age 17-20.
As the former football player watched the clips of the competition, he set the ground rules and claimed that it wasn’t too hard to look like him, as all it needs is an overweight white man with a beard.
Pinkerton, who is white, said he only saw the man’s face for a few seconds and couldn’t determine his age or note any distinguishing characteristics ... He said he remembered seeing large white letters on the man’s shirt.
Pinkerton, who is white, said he only saw the man’s face for a few seconds and couldn’t determine his age or note any distinguishing characteristics ... He said he remembered seeing large white letters on the man’s shirt.
Strange men followed me and my friends on public transportation, men catcalled me from passing cars, and I was often gripped by a general sense of fear, constantly glancing behind me to ensure no man in a white van was coming to harm me.
