Wokkas in Waitrose !!
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Wokkas in Waitrose !!
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.
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.
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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?
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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.
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!
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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.
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.
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Come on then, did Waitrose make a contribution to the RAF Benevolent Fund or Help for Heroes in exchange for the Wokka time?
"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."
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.
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.
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'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)
(Anyway, message passed to the Super Soaraway voice of the people)
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who could as easily be a serviceman in civvies.
A photo-journalist would of course, be Business Class on a One-World Wonderbus.
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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.
One tenth of one percent to "Help for Heroes" would be £200,000.
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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.
The wokka is simply a Boeing aircraft in green of course.
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A journo with a cuddly toy reminds me of the excellent Drop The Dead Donkey sketch....
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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.)
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.)
