February 19, 2008

Why Mother’s PO ads are wrong

Clients, eh? Always doing stuff that bodges up all that hard work invested in their advertising.
In this case, one of Britain’s favourite institutions, the granny magnet otherwise known as the Post Office, is falling victim to market forces that are causing the closure of even more branches.
POs are seen as vital hubs of town life. Rural areas are hardest hit because their branches are costlier to run.
Sadly, the PO’s incumbent agency is running a cosy campaign showing twee 1970s-style sitcom characters running just the sort of cute little branch that’s getting the chop. Fading celebs drop in, Harold drops his cup of tea onto his fundamentals and Mavis’ little dog does a whoopsy on the carpet. OK, I made the last two bits up but you get the picture.
Forget the market-winning geegaws that the PO is pushing through the ads. You can sell gold-plated, gem-encrusted broadband modems at 20p a pop and insurance policies that guarantee your late aunt’s resurrection. But all of that will be ignored because, as the PO seems to have forgotten, it’s service that people want, not products.

2 comments:

George Parker said...

When we lived back there in the seventies, we lived in a little village in Herefordshire. But it had a PO that sold everything essential, milk fags and bags of crisps. It was run by an old dear of about 120. She died, they closed it down, didn't even offer it to me. I could have sold booze and drugs... Got out of advertising and made a fucking fortune. When I was in London three months ago, no one spoke English and you couldn't get whelks and jellied eels anyome... What the fuck is going on?
Cheers/George

Joker said...

Ok, so Chris Eubank was a hell of a boxer... that's about all this ad has going for it.

To george, reading your comment reminded me of a brit friend that once said we wanted a fag so bad and everyone looked at him crooked. You gotta love the language barrier. :D