Food

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, education, Food | 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 »>

Best of British PC in a bag

Posted Tuesday 3, July 2007 by: JJG

It’s definitely the season to be PC and embrace green values. Just about everyone from politicians to grocers are at it. PepsiCo’s Walkers crisps are jumping on the bandwagon; being vigilant to keep their carbon footprint to the minimum by not driving the old wagon too far from home. Packets of crisps carrying the Carbon [...]

Posted in fmcg | No Comments »>

Why Orange Coca-Cola is making retailers see red

Posted Wednesday 20, June 2007 by: JJG

This summer, Coca Cola is hoping consumers will turn Orange. As part of its ‘2007 – Coke Side of Summer’ campaign, Coca Cola Orange (available in 330ml cans and 500ml glass bottles) is hitting the shelves, supported by a £2.5 million media campaign throughout July including product sampling, bespoke packaging, point of sale and outdoor [...]

Posted in fmcg | No Comments »>

Milburn’s U-turn to turn around the fortunes of Pepsi

Posted Wednesday 30, May 2007 by: JJG

In what some may see as a cynical bid to save their brand from lower than expected sales, PepsiCo has appointed former health secretary Alan Milburn to their advisory board. Mr. Milburn is renown for saying the worst health problem facing the world is not the Aids epidemic but chronic illness caused by processed food [...]

Posted in fmcg, Politics | 1 Comment »>

Bernard Matthews should donate its £600,000 compensation windfall from the government to local good causes

Posted Saturday 21, April 2007 by: JJG

In return for having to slaughter stock as part of a containment plan to contain the H5N1 virus outbreak at its Holton plant earlier this year, following an investigation published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Bernard Matthews has been compensated with £589,356.89 (the cost of raising around 159,000 birds).Brand Forensics [...]

Posted in Food, health | 29 Comments »>

Uncle Ben gets a promotion to CEO

Posted Saturday 21, April 2007 by: JJG

The familiar Uncle Ben character (as featured on Uncle Ben’s rice product packaging) has been ‘promoted’ by the brand to the position of chairman of the company. The ‘revised’ character is being portrayed as a busy CEO of 2007, complete with his own slick interactive website (www.unclebens.com) and new strapline, “Ben Knows Best”.This is a [...]

Posted in Branding, Food | No Comments »>

No alcohol please – were already chocoholics

Posted Wednesday 28, March 2007 by: JJG

London 26 March 2006: The residents of picturesque teetotal British village Bournville, founded 100 years ago by George Cadbury as an idyllic village for employees working at his chocolate factory, have won their fight to prevent Tesco from opening an Express store, metres from the village’s border.Shored up by over 1,000 signatures, local residents were [...]

Posted in fmcg, Food | 7 Comments »>

A Big Mac by appointment to the Burger King in waiting

Posted Wednesday 28, February 2007 by: JJG

This week in the UAE HRH Charles may have bitten off more than he could chew when making off-cuff remarks about McDonalds and its effects on diabetes. Some cynics have wondered if there was some kind of subtle ulterior motive behind his outburst – perhaps to do with pushing the organic produce from the farm [...]

Posted in Branding, fmcg, Food | 1 Comment »>