Monday 14 March 2016

Appreciating Inspiration.

You might remember a post I made a few months ago about a piece of marketing genius observed in one of Uttoxeter’s discount stores – a picture of Marilyn Monroe with a speech bubble in which was printed:

WOW!

Pretty bad, right? Right. But it gets badder. The picture of Marilyn has now gone and been replaced with a picture of Spot the Dog, who also has a speech bubble. It says:

WOWF!

An image of a brainstorming session swam into my mind: half a dozen marketing personnel looking vague and dejected because nobody’s brain is really storming very well today. Suddenly, the youngest and spottiest of the brainless crew finally gets an idea.

‘I know,’ he says, ‘let’s replace Marilyn with a dog and change the quotation to WOWF.’ Blank stares ensue.

‘WOWF?’ queries another brainless wonder.

‘Yeah, WOWF. You know, like woof, only combined with wow.’

All hints of glumness vanish like early mist in the rising sun as squeals of laughter fill the air, overfed stomachs quiver like jellies in an earthquake, five misshapen bodies slide ungraciously to the carpet, and veritable cataracts of urine run involuntarily down legs.

‘That’s the crassest piece of marketing shite in the history of marketing,’ cries the man in the most expensive suit with the biggest waistband as he sets about searching sundry drawers for signs of a towel. ‘It’s the dumbest thing since Doctors Smoke Camel. Nice one, Kevin. Let’s do it.’

And so they did, and my only question is: ‘How many customers get the joke?’

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