Hails & Fails – March 29th 2024
The long Bank holiday weekend has arrived! So, as you wind down and close your laptops, enjoy this week’s Hails & Fails which we think are as tasty as Easter eggs.
Kebhouze made us want some baby food, Cadbury had a small but big idea and Specsavers reminded us why they’re PR experts. Not a great week for Manchester though, as its first ever International Brewing and Cider festival is our fail of the week.
HAILS
Kebaby Food
The UK’s biggest kebab house has launched the world’s first kebab baby food.
The ‘Kebaby Food’ is a blend of chicken kebab meat, caramelised onions, lettuce and mayonnaise, and just like the much-loved adult kebab, 100% halal.
But this isn’t a baby’s 2am guilty pleasure. Each jar is packed with essential vitamins & minerals like calcium and B6, plus protein to give growing babies the energy they need.
Barnaby Kellaway – Account Director: “As a brand, it’s difficult to get April Fool’s right. What’s too much? What isn’t enough? How do we produce something that utterly ridiculous while vaguely believable? Well, say hello to the ‘world’s first kebab baby food’. Wacky, unique, and funny, Kebhouze has hit a home run with this ‘NPD’. While the brand hasn’t revealed all quite yet, we’re (just about) not falling for it”
A Tiny Big Idea
For an Easter campaign, Cadbury created tiny 3cm billboards to bring to life the fact that Mini Eggs are the UK’s biggest selling chocolate egg!
The campaign features tiny billboards made by a miniature model maker, with their true size being revealed with some very cool camera effects.
A big idea for a small but mighty chocolate.
Sophie Reuben – Influencer Account Director: “This campaign cleverly stands out amongst all the world’s flashy full sized ads. It really shows how simple, smart ideas are so powerful and key to grabbing attention”
Specsavers strike again
A van accidentally parked on a retractable bollard in Edinburgh turned out to a brilliant stunt by Specsavers.
The parking blunder left passers-by fooled, thinking that the driver had just had a really bad day, but the brand is seasoned at getting our attention with stunts that bring to life the mantra (you know what I’m going to type) “should have gone to Specsavers”.
Adam Moss – Creative Director: “Specsavers played into its own “Should have Gone to Specsavers” mantra by anonymously planting a branded van onto a bollard in Edinburgh this week – much to the amusement of media everywhere. Only later did the company reveal it was all a marketing stunt and by then had accumulated headlines and attention right across the nation. Genius? Probably.”
FAILS
Willy Wonka & the Beer Festival
Manchester’s first ever International Brewing and Cider festival has been compared to the infamous Glasgow Willy Wonka event that had the world making memes.
The beer festival was held last weekend inside the derelict former train station Mayfield Depot, but attendees wasted no time complaining on socials describing a lack of beer, empty venue and staff leaving early. “This was by a country mile the worst event (not just beer event) I’ve ever attended” said one beer lover. “Truly horrific. Four of us spent £140 total to go this evening and it was the Willy Wonka event of beer. A complete con”.
A rare fail from our favourite city.
Jess Redfearn – Midweight Creative: “Such a shame that customers have been let down, yet again, by what looks like disorganisation? Amid a cost-of-living-crisis, brands everywhere really need to focus on giving customers memorable experiences that live up to their expectations. It means something more than ever and costs more too…”
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