Hails & Fails – October 11th 2024
It was a wild week, with Hurricane Milton wreaking havoc overseas in Florida, causing floods, tornados and storm surges. Thankfully in PR land, the storms were mostly of the good kind.
Uber celebrated a milestone with a pub pop-up, Spanish football club Espanyol helped dogs find their forever homes and Waitrose embraced noughties nostalgia to stop us in our tracks. While a tone deaf creative decision from Heinz landed them in controversy.
HAILS
Uber’s carbon-negative pub
Car booking app Uber opened the doors to London’s first carbon-negative pub, to celebrate the 55,000 tonnes of air pollution saved in the city in the last three years!
The pop-up pub, named 55k Tonnes, took over a real pub in Westminster – The Speaker – to offer customers carbon-neutral beers, a 5.30pm happy hour to encourage people to not travel at rush hour and a 55% discount on Green rides to get home.
This was all to celebrate the fact more than a quarter (30%) of all miles driven in London are being carried out by electric vehicles.
Imogen Ruddick – Senior Influencer Manager: “Pub culture in London is a huge part of the city, so I love this pop-up activation from Uber!”
Team Pups!
Spanish football team Espanyol replaced mascots with abandoned dogs to raise awareness of animal adoption.
The players each walked an adorable homeless pup onto the field ahead of their game against fellow Spanish team Mallorca in a bid to find them all new homes.
The campaign resulted in 11 dogs finding new homes and hundreds of supplies being donated to support animal shelters!
Jess Redfearn – Midweight Creative: “Such a smart idea to use football’s huge platform in this way. Amazing creative thinking!”
There ain’t no party like a Waitrose party
Supermarket Waitrose is taking Millennials down memory aisle by collaborating with 90s pop band S Club 7 to promote their new No.1 range.
Tapping into the true power of nostalgia to resonate with multiple generations, the supermarket has reimagined the band’s 1999 ballad ‘You’re My Number One’ and created easy-to-follow dance moves to accompany the music video – transporting us all back to our childhoods.
Charl Hancock – Account Executive: “I think it is really fun and interesting that Waitrose have stepped out of their usual zone to celebrate their range with S Club 7, and the nostalgia is something that will definitely grab the attention of consumers!”
FAIL
Heinz faces stereotyping backlash
Heinz was forced to apologise for “unintentionally perpetuating negative stereotypes” this week.
An advert showing an interracial newlywed couple – with the black bride’s father absent – caused major backlash and online debate.
The poster, currently on display in the London Underground and part of the brand’s latest campaign ‘Family Portraits’, shows an interracial couple and their families tucking into some spaghetti cooked in the brand’s new ‘family size’ pasta sauce.
But the lack of a black father figure at the table has caused fury online with hundreds expressing their anger on X.
“A “subtle” way of perpetuating myths… @HeinzUK you should be embarrassed”, said one user. “Black girls have Dads too”, said another.
Adam Moss – Creative & News Director: “There’s never an excuse for a brand to be tone deaf. But this goes way beyond that, amplifying ridiculously outdated stereotypes in a way that borders on racism. It’s awful and Heinz has rightly borne the brunt of the nation’s ire as a result.”
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