Nothing is sacred

Sitting on the sofa on Sunday last week, I came across a picture of Morrisons' baguette projected on to the Angel of the North.

My girlfriend shook her head in resigned disgust, muttering it was the “end of days” and “nothing is sacred”.

I sympathise. But I’m also from a profession where these ideas are thought up, sold to clients, and every so often actually happen.  

Outwardly despairing, but secretly intrigued, I read the Guardian’s story to find out more.

Writer, Mark Tran, said: "When Antony Gormley devised one of the most recognisable pieces of public art in the land – the Angel of the North – he wanted to create a work that would serve as a connection between our industrial past and the future of the information age. He had not anticipated that someone would try to use it to flog bread."

With my girlfriend’s eyes burning into my head, I tried to disguise my snigger.

But, this is where it gets confusing. When I looked for the cheeky Morrisons’ quote plugging its cheaper bread, all I found was: “Morrisons did not respond to requests for comment.”

That’s strange. Surely that was the point?

In later media stories, this changed to: “A Morrisons spokesperson said: 'We’re sorry if people thought we got carried away by shining a baguette on the Angel of the North and apologise unreservedly to those to whom we have caused offence.”'

Behind the scenes

By the reaction in the press, I imagine that panic was breaking out in Morrisons' press office as they realised that they had offended people, maybe even some of their customers.

But surely Morrisons could foresee this? And surely that was part of the reason it did it?

In every story I’ve read, it’s referenced the supermarket taking on Aldi and Lidl through cutting prices on every day items.

Grace Dent in the Independent explains it best: “The ad has influenced berks like me to write about it, name-checking the supermarket while drawing attention to the fact that while Gormley's angel bestows her silent blessing over the North-East, meanwhile Morrisons is giving us, this day, our daily bread, and at a price more saintlier than Lidl.”

This was the story Morrisons was trying to tell. And to tell this story, it’s created something that’s controversial, humorous and shareable.

This approach doesn’t work for all brands, and perhaps not Morrisons. But the complete surprise and sudden back tracking can only have made things worse.

So what are we to glean from this?

·         Morrisons was probably the wrong brand for this idea. Clearly its culture and identity isn’t prepared to play on the controversy and humour tied to a stunt like this. At least not yet.  I could imagine a PaddyPower or even a Greggs carrying it off far more authentically.

·         There are always two points of view. While Morrisons apologised, plenty of people were seeing the funny side of it (see Mail Online comments, for example). The stunt captured people’s imaginations and made them react, which in my opinion, is far better than boring people. The critics are often the ones that shout the loudest. But it doesn’t mean they represent everyone’s views. Morrisons might have reacted differently if it spent more time considering this.

·         Morrisons' reaction was timid. I hate to see “spokesperson said”, as comes across as nervous and unapproachable. Morrisons’ marketing or PR Director should have come out and talked honestly about the campaign, why they did it and saying sorry for causing offence if it was absolutely necessary.

·         And it should have been prepared beforehand to defend its decision, so that its reasoning fitted with the stunt. For instance, could it have played on the cutting prices narrative? i.e. - “We’re cutting on advertising to pass on the savings”. Or could it have done something that showed its northern roots and its connection to the Angel?

Part of me does share the ‘nothing is sacred’ view. But it’s worth remembering that not many people (apart from the Police) complained when some local Newcastle fans dressed the Angel in Alan Shearer’s number 9 shirt.