Hails & Fails – Feb 26th 2021
While the entire nation rushed to get June 21st booked off work, brands were piggybacking on the national good mood this week, launching PR campaigns that won headlines everywhere. We’re doffing our caps to Hasbro, who re-imagined a classic, Pretty Little Thing, who seized on the June 21st hype, and H&M, who showed lockdown lessons have a place in the future. The British Medical Journal, however, was forced into an embarrassing u-turn after getting it very, very wrong…
HAILS
Hasbro makes Mr Potato Head gender neutral
Mr Potato Head may be 70 this year but you’re never too old to become gender neutral, it seems. Hasbro, in a bid to break away from “gender norms”, has announced that the iconic toy is getting a new name for the first time. The toy will no longer have a ‘Mr’ in front of its name – instead it will now simply be ‘Potato Head’. The toy will come with two non-gendered “adult” potatoes, one “baby” potato and 42 accessories. Cue reams of coverage…though we’re not sure how Mrs Potato Head will take the news…
Pretty Little Thing launches June 21st Collection
June 21st is already underlined in everyone’s social diaries – and Pretty Little Thing just made it extra-special by launching a fashion collection, especially for the big day, jumping brilliantly on the national ‘out out’ excitement.
Dresses, heels (remember them?), bags and accessories, everything you could ever need for a post-lockdown night out.
“Counting down the days until June 21st? We hear you,” PLT said this week. And they’ve bagged tonnes of coverage and social chatter on the back of it. Brilliant!
H&M announces a stitch in time for UK stores
H&M is to start using more of its shops for repairing and renting clothes as well as selling more second-hand stock online as the pandemic has meant a rethink of how its UK stores operate in a post-pandemic high street.
The Swedish fashion retailer has already been trialling a repair and remake service for its H&M Club customers and now it is ‘considering’ doing the same in stores across the UK.
It won loads of great coverage for the initiative this week – jumping on the trend of using lessons learned through the lockdown to power a more ‘in-tune’ future. Bravo!
FAILS
British Medical Journal in embarrassing u-turn after obituary outrage
The British Medical Journal has this week ditched a controversial decision to charge for publishing obituaries after widespread criticism from doctors and a censure from the British Medical Association.
The respected magazine appalled readers when it introducing a £299 charge for publishing 600-word tributes to medics who died. Talk about bad timing – in the middle of a pandemic that has killed many frontline doctors. It rightly prompted derision and shock from the medical profession and sparked an online petition to get it reversed.
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