MEN anti BNP? Sign me up

Rachel — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:39:46 +0000

The Drum ran an article today about the outrage that the BNP is feeling over the current MEN campaign ‘BNP – The Truth’ in which it exposes some of the parties more, shall we say ‘extreme’ (or to call a spade a spade overtly racist) policies in a bid to inform and encourage readers not to support them in the June 4 European Parliamentary Elections. The BNP have responded as expected, decrying all and sundry and claiming that everything is a ‘pack of lies.’ They have also started a counter campaign in which they are encouraging their supporters to target MEN advertisers claiming that if they continue to advertise in the MEN they will boycott their products.

I could begin to go on about the Empire Windrush in the 1940s and how the Commonwealth immigrants pretty much saved our bacon, start to talk about the incredible diversity of culture that this country has to offer and why this makes us great. As it is this could go on for days so I will stick to the point. I’ve lived in Manchester for the past 5 years and love pretty much everything about it bar the weather (and writing this today in the glorious sunshine seems a bit weird). One of the things I like most is the incredible diversity of culture, we have China Town (Wasabi is a favourite) and the ‘Curry Mile’ (although I’m now an Akbars convert) not to mention the Cornerhouse and the amazing foreign films / exhibitions they show. Manchester is a multicultural city with multicultural values and any company should be proud to advertise in a publication which openly condemns the racist, bigoted views of the minority white population.

Funnily enough one of the BNP’s major campaign points is that they want ethnic minorities to ‘remain minorities,’ well this is one MEN reader that is hoping that the minority population will prove to be them in the upcoming election. And that it stays like that.

Credit cringe

AJ — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:58:47 +0000

I hate to admit it but I do “read” the Moan on Sunday (well skim through really). But anyway what it does give us brand enthusiasts is an insight into those who are currently addressing the masses with their credit crunch defying ads. Generally speaking they’re all pretty much the same – i.e. in your face, shouty, repetitive and more than likely from DFS, SCS, Land of Leather, Furniture Village you get my drift. So this one from flybe did catch my eye. Firstly because it’s in mono (and they always go with colour which signifies a “we’re watching our media costs” approach) but secondly in my humble opinion because of its credit-cringeing, “book with confidence because if you’re made redundant we’ll refund you” sign-off. Reading the small print at the bottom of the ad gets more depressing with its redundancy-specific Ts n Cs relating to length of service, not applicable to self-employed etc. Okay I understand this could be argued as a reassurance message but surely not this blatantly? Perhaps when you book your flight you might be greeted with a reassurance message as part of the confirmation process but sticking it right there in front of our noses? Is this not going a little too far? Pushing the realms of credit-crunch marketing decency perhaps.

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MEN anti BNP? Sign me up

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