You’ve got to hand it to the team at Marmite. Capitalising fully on its: ‘Love it or hate it’ strap line, its latest advertising campaign seems to be attracting the same level of mixed emotion as Britain’s best-known yeast-extract does itself.
Playing on the heart-string pulling RSPCA-type advertising campaign aimed at attracting donations to save neglected animals, the new Marmite advert presents itself as an urgent appeal to prevent the neglect of the thousands of jars of Marmite that lurk in the back of kitchen cupboards throughout the UK.
Now I definitely fall into the ‘Love it’ camp for this advert. I think it’s a genius way to remind consumers about Marmite, a product that has been around for as long as I can remember and like all much-loved, house hold brands needs a bit of a marketing push from time to time. I’ve certainly got a jar hidden away at the back of my cupboard. Haven’t we all?
However, no doubt there will be those that fall into the ‘hate it’ camp believing that the ad makes light of the good work charitable organisations such as the RSPCA do.
As a B2B PR consultancy our guess is that the advertising and marketing teams behind the RSPCA’s campaigns won’t be offended by Marmite’s campaign at all. Imitation is of a course the highest form of flattery. And, for those outraged viewers who have taken offence to it, perhaps their best course of action is to make a donation to the RSPCA – after all, that’s what its advertising campaigns are designed to achieve.
Haven’t seen it yet, check it out here (skip the ad). What do you think….a genius advertising campaign or a joke at the expense of a good cause? We’d be interested to hear what you think?
