Patriotism And The Marmite Effect

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The build up has been happening for some time now. It seems a bit like buses, they all come at once. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about then you haven’t been living on the same planet as me. Two words- Olympics and Jubilee. Yeah that’s right two of the biggest events of the century are happening in 2012 and let’s be honest we are not going to be allowed to forget it.

Just a couple of days ago on my drive home from work I was listening to an interview on Radio One about the lack of enthusiasm for the London 2012 Olympics from people who live outside of London. A lady who was interviewed suggested that she did see why people were not as enthusiastic if they stayed outside of London but said that we should all be excited as it’s the ‘British’ Olympics. 

I personally think that the Olympic Games are great but have to say I have lost interest because they are being held in London. This is not because I don’t rate England or feel that Scotland has been pushed out, but it is because it has literally been shoved in our faces every hour of every day for the past three years.

This is evident in the various marketing and advertising ploys used by companies who are looking to jump on the Olympic bandwagon. Again I am not against this, working in PR we try to use a relevant topic or trend to try and put together stories for our clients. This is purely to ensure its relevance to journalists and publications. 

The one thing I hate however is this sense of patriotism that surrounds these campaigns. It would be nice to believe that British people are like this but this is far from the truth.  Scotland wanting out of Great Britain, the Summer riots and the fact we celebrate St Paddy’s day more than we do St George, St Andrew’s or St David’s day are all examples that we don’t really care.

Schweppes and Pimms, both owned by the Coca Cola group are being promoted as the drinks of summer as part of their British heritage campaign. Absolutely hitting the patriotic high note this campaign is exactly what I’m talking about. ‘Social monarchs’ is just one arm of its social media campaign that it has created and features on its dedicated jubilee page http://www.schweppesjubilee.com. Although quite an insightful campaign, it has that air of ‘I’ve seen this before’ about it.

I have to say I am a fan of all things royal and will be looking forward to the Jubilee. After getting right into the royal wedding last year I really tend to enjoy watching all the royal occasions.  I have to say that a campaign on The Drum that was done for the Jubilee which although it seems patriotic is really taking the mick has really caught my eye. 

Marmite has introduced its new ‘Ma’amite’ spread designed to honour the queen as well as mark the brands 110th anniversary. Love it or Hate it that is what I call clever because as well as the fact of tying it in with a current event they have made the campaign relevant with the companies own landmark.

Let us know what you think about these patriotic campaigns as well as your thoughts on the Olympics and the Jubilee at our Facebook and Twitter pages.