A new and amusing phenomenon has come to my attention recently (is your breath bated yet?). To wit, the finance company radio ad in which the disclaimer at the end is longer, in some cases significantly longer, than the ad proper. Example:

'Roll up, roll up! Mortgages for all! Come and get them while they're hot.

Disclaimer: Terms and conditions apply. The Mutual Irish Mortgage and Home Repossession Society is regulated by the financial services regulatory authority. Interest rates may rise exponentially as well as falling slightly, very slightly, if you're lucky, but this seems unlikely. The European Central Bank etc etc Subject to stringent conditions, charges, terms and conditions, we break thumbs. Terms and conditions apply. Overcharging may also apply.'

This second part is recited at high speed, presumably so Johnny Radio Listener doesn't dwell on the barrage of many-syllabled, forbidding words such as 'regulatory', 'conditions' and 'authority'.
The actors try to speak so fast you can't absorb the information, which, naturally, makes it much more interesting. I strain to hear every word of the disclaimer, whereas the ad itself bores me. Besides, it's ancient history by the time the disclaimer is finished.

'What was that ad about?'
'Dunno. Terms and conditions, I think.'

I take a childish delight in this, because I have a not entirely rational dislike of the advertising industry and a very rational dislike of banks.

Some disclaimers are longer than others, which suggests that some financial institutions are cutting corners in the small-print stakes. The cheeky scamps. It would be nice to think that the more evil institutions had to include enormous disclaimers that comprised the entire 20 seconds of their slot. Or they could simply issue an apology for their generally perfidious activities.

Whoever introduced the legislation that forced banks and building societies to tack on these riders had a wonderfully impish sense of humour. Faceless bureaucrat, I salute you.