Food

Gay McDonald’s commercial

Posted Tuesday 8, June 2010 by: JJG

McDonalds in France has premiered its first ever gay teenager tv commerical entitled, ‘Come As You Are’.

The commercial addresses traditional ‘macho’ views of homosexuality with a teenager boy being questioned about his ‘all -male’ school by an older man who feels sorry for him as he lost opportunities to date girls. The teenager responds with a wry smile.

McDonalds spokesperson explained that the commercial aimed to recognise the diversity of McDonald’s customers in France.

A YouTube version of the ad has already received in excess of 1,691,642 hits.

Posted in McDonalds, fmcg brand, global brands | No Comments »>

Love it or Hate brand hits back at hate it or ignore it political party

Posted Thursday 22, April 2010 by: JJG

Not content with hijacking St. George’s Day to publish the BNP’s odious manifesto, Nick Griffin, the leader of the ultra-right political party, the BNP has decided to plagerise another great British icon – Marmite.

Posted in Marmite brand, Misc, bnp brand | 1 Comment »>

Cadbury brand. What’s in it for the Kraft Foods brand? (Updated)

Posted Wednesday 20, January 2010 by: JJG

To all intents and purposes, unless there is a last minute change by January 25th, it appears that global brand giant, Kraft Foods has succeeded in a £11.9bn bid to buy one the UK’s best loved brands, Cadbury.

Kraft increased its bid from an initial offer of 771p a share back in September 2009 to 840p plus a dividend (the equivalent of 8581/2 p, including the fee).

If and once the deal goes ahead, it will lead to the creation of the world’s biggest confectionary group with sales of nearly £37bn.

Kraft said it would own 40 confectionary brands with sales in excess of $100m.

From a regional branding perception stance, in the short term at least, such a deal could spell trouble ahead for the Bourneville brand.

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, Cadbury brand, Food, Kraft food brand, fmcg, fmcg brand | No Comments »>

Santa – the real thing?

Posted Thursday 24, December 2009 by: JJG

In 1862 the Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly.  Santa was depicted as a small elf-like figure who supported the Union.  By good chance for the Coca-Cola Company, the character wore red and white – inadvertently reflecting the company’s brand colours.  Officially the company explains the red suit came from [...]

Posted in Branding, Food, Misc, global brands | 1 Comment »>

McDonald’s viral marketing rap

Posted Friday 10, July 2009 by: JJG

Love this piece of viral marketing – but is it real? Share on FacebookBookmark to:

Posted in Food, Misc, global brands, top brands | 2 Comments »>

When beans are just too much of a mouthful

Posted Sunday 13, July 2008 by: JJG

How stupid do brands think people are? Discussing Heinz’s decision last week to drop the word ‘baked’ which has graced its tins of iconic beans since 1886, John Alderman, marketing manager for the company said: “Heinz Beanz have been powering the nation for over a hundred years and to say thank you to our loyal fans, we have given this iconic product a 21st century makeover”.

Posted in Brand expert, Branding, Food, fmcg, top brands | 1 Comment »>

Heinz pulls out of gay sex before it gets in too deep.

Posted Thursday 26, June 2008 by: JJG

Heinz, the perennial family brand favourite, has withdrawn its television commercial for mayonnaise because it believes it offends family values. The thirty-second commercial, which was due to run over five weeks, features a man in a typical middle-class family kitchen setting preparing sandwiches for a schoolboy and girl.  The man, dressed as a chef, sounds [...]

Posted in Advertising, Branding, Food, fmcg, global brands, top brands | No Comments »>

The McDegree that keeps students on track to fly

Posted Monday 28, January 2008 by: JJG

In an unprecedented move to bolster the workforce, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will today announce that McDonald’s, Network Rail and Flybe will become the first three companies to have the authority to grant Level 3 status qualifications (equal to GCSE, A Levels or even specialised diplomas). Some academics are already complaining that the diplomas [...]

Posted in Branding, Food, education | 12 Comments »>

Pure marketing goodness on tap

Posted Sunday 29, July 2007 by: JJG

Despite labels depicting setting suns peaking from behind clean-lined mountaintops, and a slogan reading: “pure water, perfect taste”. PepsiCo in USA has admitted that the water in its Aquafina bottles in fact comes directly from the same source as tap water.The division, part of the world’s second biggest beverage company, has been labelling their bottled [...]

Posted in fmcg, health | 9 Comments »>

A bitter sweet taste for Cadbury’s

Posted Monday 16, July 2007 by: JJG

The British public has long enjoyed a reputation for forgiving  its treasured national brands. Yet how much will they continue to absolve what has long been held as the UK’s best loved chocolate maker, whose heritage traces to the Quakers – the founders of what we now know as Social Corporate Responsibly?Whatever the outcome of [...]

Posted in fmcg | 2 Comments »>