Hails & Fails – July 8th 2022
Boris Johnson’s early exit might be dominating the headlines but there hasn’t been a shortage of stunning PR campaigns in the news this week. Coca Cola appointed a world famous supermodel as creative director, Nike projected England’s Lionesses onto London monuments and KFC’s Boris Johnson jibe was hailed as the ‘best tweet of all time’. It was not a great week for banking giant Halifax however, after they were branded ‘disgraceful’ in a pronoun row.
HAILS
Diet Coke appoints Kate Moss as creative director
Supermodel Kate Moss has signed a £5m deal with Diet Coke to become ‘creative director’ for the brand.
She starts her new role as the brand celebrates its 40th anniversary and will help launch the new Diet Coke ‘Love What You Love’ campaign.
The supermodel was brought on board to bring her ‘unique aesthetic and style to the brand’.
The subtle nod to her previous association with…err…Coke…is, quite frankly, genius and has won column inches everywhere this week.
Nike gives us the Lionesses of London
London showed epic support for the Lionesses in the Euros this week, as giant images of the England Women’s football team were projected onto landmarks across the city.
Star players Leah Williamson, Lucy Bronze, Demi Stokes, Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp were splashed across monuments looking like amazing superheroes.
Projecting icons onto icons, the stunning photos covered The Royal Opera House, Battersea Power Station, Euston Underpass, The National Portrait Gallery, the Thames Barrier and Tower Bridge.
The Nike campaign featured images of the women alongside slogans like ‘You’ve never seen an icon like this. Leah Williamson is never done.’
KFC’S Boris tweet the best of all time
Fast-food giant KFC finally got revenge on the Conservatives this week, after they were tagged in a tweet three years ago mocking a Labour leader.
The brand responded to the news of Boris Johnson’s departure by recreating a famous meme, first tweeted in 2019 by the Tory party – a photoshopped picture of the then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wearing a giant chicken suit.
The picture also included the rebrand “JFC” along with the tagline “totally spineless chicken.”
This week it was payback time as KFC tweeted an image of Boris, in the same chicken suit – but minus the taunting tag line. It was captioned: “Hey @Conservatives, fixed it for you”.
It’s been widely celebrated across social channels as the best tweet of all time…and won the brand serious kudos this week.
FAILS
Halifax branded 'disgraceful' by most famous employee in pronoun badge row
There’s been a rush by Halifax customers to close their accounts this week after the bank told people who don’t like their staff pronoun badges to leave.
Halifax shared a picture of a nametag on Twitter with Gemma and “she/her/hers” written on it.
They were immediately accused by social media users of “virtue signalling” and responded by tweeting: “We strive for inclusion, equality and quite simply, in doing what’s right. If you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account.”
The tweet has sparked a huge negative backlash.
Even former employee Howard Brown, who became a household name as the face of Halifax for over a decade, branded the bank’s attitude towards customers “disgraceful”.
Account holders have since been swapping to rival banks in their droves, cutting up credit cards and withdrawing assets worth up to £450,000, reports say.
Ouch!
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