I’ve had a serious sense of déjà vu over the past week.
Some brands just can’t help themselves when it comes to marketing their products – they simply have to poke the bear.
Sometimes controversy-stoking campaigns work, and sometimes they don’t, but many companies have made a virtue of this approach. The likes of BrewDog, Ryanair, and Paddy Power spring to mind.
You might recall that in 2012 the Advertising Standards Authority received complaints regarding an Irn-Bru advert which featured a baby named Fanny.
Social media criticism at the time included comments such as, ‘That ad is an embarrassment to Scotland.’
But the backlash didn’t stop the iconic Scottish brand from selling thousands of bottles of Irn-Bru emblazoned with that word around a year later.
The campaign followed in the footsteps of Coca Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ which saw the US giant’s logo replaced with popular names. This proved a huge success for the brand, with people all over the UK keeping an eye out for their name and sharing photos on social media.
Not to be outdone, Irn-Bru’s slyly ‘Scotified’ version included names such as Rab, Tam and Senga.
Just last month, someone cheekily listed one of the bottles of ‘Fanny’ Irn-Bru on eBay, describing it as a limited edition collector’s item. Bids reached a mammoth £1,700.
In 2013, the Advertising Standards Authority received even more complaints about another one of the company’s adverts. This one featured a ‘MILF’, her son, and his friend. Complainers branded the advert offensive and irresponsible, due to the sexual and inappropriate scenario between the mother and young men.
Once again, Irn-Bru was cleared following an ASA investigation.
Another of Irn-Bru’s controversial adverts to face scrutiny in 2013 was one depicting a Scottish father drinking Irn-Bru to keep his temper in check as he met his daughter’s England-supporting boyfriend. The advert was labelled ‘anti-English’.
Fast forward to 2018 and a new advertising campaign from Scotland’s other national drink has – surprise, surprise – come under fire.
The campaign is focused around the slogan ‘don’t be a can’t, be a can’.
Before I go on to discuss my thoughts on this latest advert in more detail, what is of course the one age-old saying in the marketing and communications industry?
No publicity is bad publicity!
If anything, I think the backlash-baiting has been very positive for Irn-Bru. Its ‘close to the bone’ adverts have almost become expected and while they do attract complaints from a minority, I think most Scots would be disappointed if the drinks company played it safe.
Regarding the ‘can’t’ campaign, it’s obviously a clever play on words to conjure connotations with a less savoury word. However, the key element is that it’s up to the viewer how they interpret it. It’s not innately offensive in itself – it requires the viewer to take a step and infer offence.
Much like the latest Irn-Bru slogan, in business a can-do attitude gets you noticed. It’s the companies and individuals who say they can and do deliver on this that make the biggest impact.
Over the years, Irn-Bru has positioned itself as the Scottish brand with that can-do attitude – it’s the drink that ‘gets you through’ and ‘the soft drink for hard men’ made from girders.
That cheeky, dry Scottish wit is what gives it personality and creates the phenomenal impact it has enjoyed for decades.
Yes, there are definitely boundaries that should not be crossed when it comes to advertising, but Irn-Bru does a fantastic job of treading this fine line and letting people’s own imaginations lead them to an alternative meaning.
I for one hope that the company continues to Bru up a storm with its memorable adverts.
Equal pay for an equal job remains the only way to ensure a forward-thinking, happy and productive workforce that definitively places skills before gender – it’s a modern day given.
And after the BBC scandal last year highlighting the massive salaries that the taxpayer-funded BBC continues to dole out to its most bankable male broadcasters, I’m not surprised we are reading more headlines about this.
The pay gap is an endlessly debatable topic. It’s complex too. For every obvious injustice, there are a thousand nuances that the headlines simply don’t communicate.
However, according to the latest government figures, the majority of medium and large companies pay higher wage rates to men than to women.
The government data showed 74 per cent of firms pay higher rates to their male staff and just 15 per cent of businesses with more than 250 employees pay more to women, with 11 per cent of firms saying there is no difference between the rates paid to either gender.
The average gender pay gap across all medium and large-sized firms is now 8.2 per cent, as measured by median pay. In other words, men typically earn over eight per cent more per hour than women.
It was also interesting to see that big companies such as Easyjet, Virgin Money and Tui Airways – where men earn 47 per cent more than women – were amongst the firms favouring the males over the females in the pay gap.
By law, all firms with more than 250 staff must report their gender pay gap to the government by 4 April this year.
So far, only 1,047 firms have complied, leaving another 8,000 to go. I expect the results to be interesting indeed.
It Made Me Weep
It was disappointing to read that Scottish unemployment rose by 14,000 in the final three months of last year to stand at 124,000.
According to official data, the increase took the unemployment rate from 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent – above the UK rate of 4.4 per cent.
The Scottish Government has stated that this is very disappointing and have recognised the need for further investment in the economy and labour market.
However, it is troubling that they are increasing taxes for thousands of Scots – making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK – instead of focusing on improving our country’s prosperity.
Wages have also failed to keep pace with inflation, making the situation worse for many families who are already struggling to get by.
It Made Me Laugh
No Kentucky Fried Chicken? We obviously need to call the police.
I still can’t believe customers were alerting the force to complain that KFC had run out of chicken last week.
A mix-up during the switch to a new distributor led to chaos across the vast network of UK restaurants.
Store closures in Scotland included Cumbernauld, Glasgow, Ayr and Rutherglen with many more having to offer a reduced menu or shortened hours.
From hilarious tweets with the #KFCcrisis hashtag to viral videos, KFC dominated the news.
But let’s face it, this won’t stop chicken lovers buying their Bargain Buckets. If anything, it could drum(stick) up fresh demand and actually boost business in the long-run.
It’s the old adage – we always want what we can’t have.
