View Full Version : Wokkas in Waitrose !!
rogerk
2nd Dec 2008, 08:48
The latest TV Ad for Waitrose has a great shot of a Wokka landing, lowering the tail gate and a crewman walks out.
The theme of the Ad is "to be home for Christmas"
So to the boys and girls who won't be there - have a good one wherever you are.
:ok::ok:
8-15fromOdium
2nd Dec 2008, 09:09
YouTube - Libera-How Can I Keep From Singing [Waitrose Advert 2008] (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZWjmScqqY)
Its at ~40 seconds in.
If its the ad I'm thinking of, isn't it a civvy snapper with a cuddly toy in his belt, and not a crewman? Sorry if I've missed the bleddin' obvious or if the irony has passed me by here, but I remember seeing it and wondering why they felt the need to replace a nasty, warmongering serviceman with a lovable and creative civvy?
sprucemoose
2nd Dec 2008, 10:44
I was intrigued by this one also, and found this official comment yesterday in response to a critical message on the Waitrose blog about the ad being insensitive to service families:
"We are really sorry to hear that we have caused you distress with our Christmas advert. This was certainly not our intention and we hope that in explaining our reasons for including this scene, you will see that our intentions were to show that there are people who will be travelling home from various places and with various occupations.
In this particular scene we are showing a photo journalist coming home for Christmas. We specifically lingered on the camera around his neck to show that we are not suggesting that he is a soldier. We acknowledge that at first glance this can be viewed as a soldier coming home as he arrives in a helicopter. We would not want you to feel that we are suggesting that all soldiers or even photo journalists will be able to return home this Christmas.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for this and we will certainly take your comments on board for all of our future advertising."
So it's a journalist - puts paid to your description of a "loveable and creative civvy", Al R!
Come on then, did Waitrose make a contribution to the RAF Benevolent Fund or Help for Heroes in exchange for the Wokka time? If not, it would appear to be a bit of an own-goal, as they are in no way implying anything military in the advert!
We are really sorry to hear that we have caused you distress with our Christmas advert. This was certainly not our intention and we hope that in explaining our reasons for including this scene, you will see that our intentions were to show that there are people who will be travelling home from various places and with various occupations.
What bollocks. Why didn't they have a valiant road gritter riding in bareback on a space shuttle then?
Who is more stupid? Them, for thinking that people would buy that meaningless PR generated crap, or erm.. them for not being in tune with public sentiment and overlooking the positive attributes that The Services are currently enjoying.
I won't be going to Waitrose this year for my Chrimbo nosh (tbh, it looked quite poor in the ads anyway) and my new telly and cooker won't be coming from Johnny Ls in the sales either.
Lord_Flashheart
2nd Dec 2008, 11:25
Come on then, did Waitrose make a contribution to the RAF Benevolent Fund or Help for Heroes in exchange for the Wokka time?
Nah - its Waitrose's new Christmas Turkey home delivery service - get your huge plump bird delivered by Chinook....:ok:
"Hello Ocado? - yes I'd like the 9.30 slot - and try not to use the minigun on the gardener this time - I know he looks a bit shifty and has a beard but I assure you he's not a member of the Taleban."
Nantucket Sleighride
2nd Dec 2008, 11:29
Interesting…
Charlie Mayfield – current Chairman of John Lewis was an officer in the Scots Guards not that long ago, wonder how this make him feel?
Jackonicko
2nd Dec 2008, 11:46
The Chinook is far more obvious than the journo, who could as easily be a serviceman in civvies. Chinooks don't deliver journos to their back doors, any more than servicemen disembark in civvies, so it's clearly not a realistic portrayal of anything.
To my good lady wife, the ad said: "Only a handful of servicemen will be home for Christmas", with the subtext "Waitrose knows that even as the rest of us celebrate with our turkeys, Chinooks (and the rest) will still be doing their duty".
I must admit that that was how I took it, too.
'Easily be a serviceman in civvies'? I have to admit, whenever we came back and debussed as a unit, we always had teddy bears in our webbing belts coming off the ramp too.
(Anyway, message passed to the Super Soaraway voice of the people)
forget
2nd Dec 2008, 12:00
C'mon girls - let's not get tooooo precious. Good ad; at least the crabs get a look in. :)
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/cumpas/waitrose.jpg
Blacksheep
2nd Dec 2008, 12:13
who could as easily be a serviceman in civvies. That's exactly what I thought he was supposed to be. Travelling home for Xmas in civvies because he's discouraged from wearing his uniform in public in case he offends a member of the public.
A photo-journalist would of course, be Business Class on a One-World Wonderbus.
*Zwitter*
2nd Dec 2008, 12:43
How the media would report the scandal:
http://antonyl.brinkster.net/paul/chinado.jpg
airborne_artist
2nd Dec 2008, 12:48
He's got long hair, so he might be one of Hereford's finest ;)
cazatou
2nd Dec 2008, 13:14
Waitrose 1st half profits £102.7 million. Extrapolate that to a full year in the current financial climate - say £200 million.
One tenth of one percent to "Help for Heroes" would be £200,000.
rogerk
2nd Dec 2008, 13:29
At least the journo got a seat on the Wokka.
Better than the poor girl sitting on her luggage in an overcrowded train !!
:=:=
Vox Populi
2nd Dec 2008, 14:08
Wouldn't suprise me if the MOD had the final say here - would a commercial organisation be allowed to use a British soldier/sailor/airman to flog their wares?
The wokka is simply a Boeing aircraft in green of course.
Beatriz Fontana
2nd Dec 2008, 14:14
A journo with a cuddly toy reminds me of the excellent Drop The Dead Donkey sketch....
Damian's Teddy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLZ1LT0kd-4)
Fg Off Max Stout
2nd Dec 2008, 15:37
Some people are reading way too much into this! I just thought it was pretty cool to see the mighty Wokka featuring repeatedly on primetime TV.
Be pleased that a major company with massive public exposure chooses to associate itself publicly with the RAF. You'd be complaining a lot more if they had taken some sort of anti-forces stance eg "Waitrose refuses to acknowledge armed forces in major publicity campaign". I guess some people just go looking for something to be p1ssed off about! Relax - it's nearly Christmas.
(However, it wouldn't go amiss if they sent a few pallets of Christmas dinner out to the Stan and dropped H for H a few quid. Maybe they will.)
Could be the last?
2nd Dec 2008, 17:13
Jack'
"Chinooks don't deliver journos to their back doors"
No just Royals to Stag Parties...........................:oh:
Sorry it just slipped out.
gar170
2nd Dec 2008, 17:33
nothing about thread but loved this one.
YouTube - DTDD-Damien In The Field (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hL_DyvEV84)
Some precious souls here!
Charlie Mayfield was in the Guards, the head of Waitrose 2 before the current one was an ex- Rock Ape. There are lots of ex-mil in the JLP, and you will find them considerably more pro-service than their rivals.
Skua
Correct, but what they've done is try and tap into the corporate brand values of the MoD (big, strong, reliable, powerful) without aligning themselves to the demographic and individual specifics (ie; single blokes getting pissed etc). I'm not sure its that market which Waitrose is aiming for to be honest but they possibly realise that many service families will be gravitating towards Aldi this year and they have bigger fish to fry.
I'm not sure how Waitrise has been pro military behind the scenes, and thats not really the issue. It has a public face too, and thats the one which has more impact. A damned site more service families will be away from home this Xmas than snappers bearing teddy bears and there will be a lot more service children who'll want nothing more than their mummy or daddy to be dropped off in that blummin' big helo, and not stubble jawed dilitante wearing an Arran sweater because some marketing nerd thought that would make him more attractive to sexually frustrated housewives swooning at the Olive counter.
Supermarkets manipulating things is harmless? Lets consider Asda flogging cheap T Shirts showing smiling kids on skateboards or a Sainsburys opening with a vista of some plantation and cropping in to reveal smiling happy little black children? Sorry, the reality is different. What these companies do at a higher level is wrong when they start exploiting demographics to their advantage and what they do behind the scenes is not as important as being seen to be having a sense of social responsibility too, and that starts with showing it as it is. What is represented is false and people at the sharp end in the sweatshop or plantation are either working their nuts off, missing out on education and/or being paid f#ck all squared. Similarly, yes.. Chinnoks deliver aid to isolated, snowed in farmhouses but they also deliver lots of other less agreeable things too, but Waitrose has decided to airbrush that out of the picture for its own commercial gain.
This isn't a question of telling a woman she can 'halve the appearance' of wrinkles or a car making a bloke think he can shag more. This is a supermarket once again choosing to manipulate a demographic and ignoring not only the bloody reality, but also choosing to be so above it all, that it has decided it doesn't need to consider what makes that brand so strong in the first place and worth tapping into. And by that, the men and women who walk (hopefully) off the back of the damned thing when it lands and who put themselves in harms way for others, and at Xmas too, thousands of miles from home away from their families.
Do you really think Waitrose would have included a shot of a coffin being bought off the back? No, so why should they be allowed to make money by manipulating the truth in this way? You can't knock Waitrose for doing this, commercially or legally but if they want to pull the wool over punter's eyes they could at least ensure its not 95% nylon. Sorry for being dull and boring about this (storm teacup etc, I know), but exploitation is exploitation and this is more of a implied deceit than a explicit conceit and I need a coffee and I have a long day ahead.
forget
3rd Dec 2008, 07:54
Al, Did you really write all that at 7.30 this morning? My brain's aching just reading it. It's an unoffensive TV ad for Gawd's sake, and rather good. :)
spheroid
3rd Dec 2008, 08:02
You are correct. It is rather good. And who cares if JLP will be making money out of the RAF.... what does it matter?
Jumping_Jack
3rd Dec 2008, 10:48
Too true...folks here are getting way too worked up about something that really doesn't matter in the great scheme of things......Jeez....:rolleyes:
Krystal n chips
3rd Dec 2008, 17:13
It's actually a very good advert in my less than humble opinion...and if you look closely, you even get a quick glimpse of the crewman as your man departs the ramp....there, that should keep some on here happy.:rolleyes:..as for Waitrose, well for those who feel their hard earned ££'s can be spent elsewhere ( and probably expect the Board to resign en - masse as well for sanctioning an advert that is possibly a shade beyond their level of erudite understanding...across the UK population as a whole I hasten to add..;) ) just to advise you that in the one I frequent, you get a little token to place in one of 3 charities of your choice...these change frequently and are both local and national...and the one that gets the most, as I understand it, gets a donation from J L....which seems a good deal to me.
Forget.. :E.. I did say I needed a coffee.
Having said that, and it may be beyond my level of erudite understanding, but I've spent too much time in Shaftsbury Avenue to be suckered by assumptive insight about glib corporate bull****.
It MAY be nitpicking, but that aside, the next time someone suggests that military issues are being diluted because a council has cancelled a march, or some stn cdr has banned the wearing of uniform.. or whatever, I'll remind you of (and I know this might be trivial).. those nice folk at JLp and their principles. There is no point in wetting your knickers and gushing about showcase HfH rugby matches if you take your eye off the basics.
airborne_artist
4th Dec 2008, 09:50
I'll stand up for Waitrose - 966 (Wallingford) ATC packs shoppers' bags in the Wallingford store in the last three days before Christmas. We've raised £2000 + each time (admittedly mostly from the customers, though with a top up from the company). It's the squadrons's biggest fundraiser of the year, and it always attracts very positive comments from the customers and the checkout staff and their bosses. I'd say that Waitrose is pro-Services, even if the company does not say so overtly.
minigundiplomat
4th Dec 2008, 14:05
Its a TV commercial, not Obama's foreign policy for the next 4 years. Everyone take a chill pill FFS.
It may be misleading, but then so are the current RAF adverts for Clerks and the ATC 'Battlespace Manager' recruitment ads in FHM etc, so corporately we don't exactly hold all the moral high ground.
And if you think it displays the message that the forces will all be home for xmas, you are either naive or plain stupid.
Can we allow this thread to die?
Vox Populi
4th Dec 2008, 14:58
brand values of the MoD (big, strong, reliable, powerful)
I'm having trouble reconciling this sentence.
Minigun,
I am chilled. But you're right - this probably isn't the place to discuss a specialised topic. After all, its just a tv commercial.
cazatou
4th Dec 2008, 19:35
mgd
It is, surely, how the Great British Public view the advert.
The "Press" is constantly running stories regarding lack of proper Equipment, Combat Vehicles and Helicopter Resources - not to mention inadequate Combat Air Support - in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Someone, however, managed to find a spare Chinook to take part in a TV Commercial whilst Personnel on Active Service are at risk for lack of such facilities.
Perhaps that Persons talents could be better employed in resource management in one of the above mentioned Locations over the Festive Season so that those who have struggled with inadequate resources could have an "out of Theatre break".
minigundiplomat
4th Dec 2008, 19:53
There is no shortage of helicopters, only a shortage of people with any perspective of how to operate them effectively.
Occasionally, you will end up with a rash of U/S aircraft, but that is just life and could happen whatever the size of the fleet.
Many of those who shout loudest about lack of airlift, are amongst the worst abusers of the airlift they do have - JHF included.
I dont remember a similar furore when Apaches appeared on Top Gear, despite similar scarcity.
Jumping_Jack
4th Dec 2008, 19:55
Stop Please Stop.......:{
Bunker Mentality
5th Dec 2008, 16:53
No.
Most squaddies wont have seen it, and most of those who have wont give a f*ck.
There's a credit crunch on FFS :ugh:
spheroid
5th Dec 2008, 17:19
There's a credit crunch on FFS
Yeah, but that only affects the very rich people or the very poor people and I'm neither so there isn't a credit crunch here
8-15fromOdium
5th Dec 2008, 17:41
...and if you look closely, you even get a quick glimpse of the crewman as your man departs the ramp....
Krystal, I think you will find your crewman is a GC as he is wearing a rather fetching dayglo jacket.
Someone, however, managed to find a spare Chinook to take part in a TV Commercial whilst Personnel on Active Service are at risk for lack of such facilities.
Caz, calm down - a bit of filming on a line aircraft is hardly a major hit to capability.
I don't want to read too much into the advert (it's not 0730 and I'm not AI R), but the Twin Tub is one of those aircraft seen in a positive light, and is regularly in the public eye for good reasons. I think it's a good sign that one of our most respected retailers would want its brand values associated with the Chinook.
BTW that must have been a good day at ODI, two in the air and one taxiing for take-off, or was that CGI?
cazatou
5th Dec 2008, 19:38
8-15
Your last sentence actually reinforces my point.
The effort required to generate and maintain the Chinook fleet should not be wasted on a television advert - it should be focused on providing the aircraft and crews required to support ongoing operations.
That is the raison d'etre of the SH Force!!
Laarbruch72
5th Dec 2008, 19:48
What an incredible storm in a teacup! It's a long advert, with oh, 3 or 4 seconds of footage involving a Chinook. From what I see, there's far more focus on mini beef yorkshire puddings, mince pies, and gammon with fruit chutney.
Do you think the guys over at the public bus rumour network are getting in a froth over the use of a bus to transport a long haired student?
I doubt that most of the public even noticed the wokka, let alone read far too much into it. Get over yourselves guys.