What advertising can't fix

A Reuters report Church of England law relaxes wedding rules reveals that a new British law came into force in October making it easier for couples to get married in Anglican churches.

Previously, couples could only get married in a church if they worshipped there regularly, lived in the parish or applied for a special license. Under the new rules, couples can choose to get married in a place with a special connection for themselves or their families.

According to Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading: "Getting married in church just got easier. People who are serious about getting married naturally want a marriage ceremony and a setting which is equally serious." This report story reminded me of a recent blog post from marketing guru Seth Godin called What advertising can't fix and the following cartoon from Tom Fisburne.

With due respect to the good Bishop, marriage rates in Britain are at the lowest level since records began. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people choosing to sign up for a state marriage fell in 2005 by 10 per cent, producing the lowest marriage rates since they were first calculated in 1862. In the words of British think-tank Civitas:

It is not too extreme to talk about the death of marriage.

The Church of Enlgand deserves credit for relaxing rules that some of its flock may have found cumersome, but it does not change the fact that state marriage is a contaminated brand managed by a self-serving, state-backed monopoly known as the 'family law system'. Marriage rates have halved since the family system took over state marriage in the mid 1970s; according to the UK Independent, the last state marriage will be performed sometime in 2033

The terminal decline of state marriage is not a demand problem but a supply problem; it's not that people don't want to get married (every opinion poll and survey says most do); it's that there is currently only one type of marriage currently available (and it's a rubbish product). The wonder is not that fewer people are signing their names to the state marriage contract; it's that so many are still doing so. But, as the statistics show, it won't be for a whole lot longer.

Few would disagree with Bishop Stephen Cottrell when he says that people who are serious about getting married "want a marriage ceremony and a setting which is equally serious". But should they also not want a marriage contract that is serious: a contract they have choosen for themselves, not a non-negotiable deal imposed by the state? A contract for two, commited people - and without a state-backed monopoly as a dominant and abusive third partner.