Who hates X Factor’s tree-planting gimmick? Jason Micallef of course…

A tree for every ‘yes’ vote in X Factor Malta? It’s a great gimmick for those feeble at the knees for greenwash. Not for one Jason Micallef, the Labour TV boss and head of the Valletta Cultural Agency, who lashed out at the stunt on the show he loves to hate the most.

The tree-planting pledge was announced during a visit by environment minister Aaron Farrugia, in connection with X Factor’s announcement that the running of its show will be “completely paperless”.

“These two initiatives will serve to increase awareness so that our country reaches its environmental targets,” he said.

Unimpressed, Jason Micallef - not a fan of X Factor Malta and its creator Anton Attard, a former PN campaign manager he locked horns with during the 2008 election Labour lost - hit out at the proposal. “If our country’s environmental initiatives are to take place around X Factor, we truly have a serious problem of how we think and treat the environment in our country. Give them a YES so that we plant a tree! What mediocrity.”

Nothing can please Micallef…