I have been watching a bit more television than before, and it is particularly bad given it’s the height of the silly season.
This recent malady means I become more slathered with atrocious ads like Coles’ “No Added Hormones” commercials featuring Curtis Stone and Normie Rowe.
I like Curtis Stone’s shows. His “Take Home Chef” is a bit of a hit in our home. I don’t listen to Normie Rowe much but he doesn’t bug me too much either.
I don’t care for Coles’ current ads but I just shrug it off and let it be. It would appear however that these ads have riled enough Aussies to make it to the papers as a story. Does the TV silly season extend to the print media or are Aussies’ lives so affected by TV. Whatever happened to laid back Aussies… why can’t it be left alone and just let it run its course…
The over-reaction here:
COLES’ latest cringe-worthy ad has prompted a wave of scorn from consumers and marketing experts.
The ad features celebrity chef Curtis Stone and singer Normie Rowe with a re-working of his hit Shakin’ All Over.
The ear-splitting tune lauds Coles’ range of no added-hormone beef.
But one expert said the singing was so bad, “you miss the main point”.
Another marketing expert said he believed Coles was purposefully heading downmarket to compete with Aldi.
The ad, the latest in the supermarket chain’s sing-and-dance commercials, was released last week.
But an expletive-laden hashtag directed at the supermarket giant was already trending on Twitter on Sunday.
Consumers have threatened to boycott Coles over the advertisements.
On Coles’ YouTube page, one subscriber said: “Suddenly I want to stuff my face with hundreds of thousands of hormones, just to make it stop.”
The backlash was just as vicious on Twitter, where radio broadcaster Derryn Hinch also weighed in saying: “Normie. Look what you’ve done to your own song. Hope Coles has better quality control on meat than on ads.”
Marketing consultant for QBrand Stephen Downes said the chain was dragging its image downmarket in a bid to win back market share from Aldi.
“It’s all very deliberately daggy,” he said.
Dr Downes said Coles had probably designed their ads on the assumption most of us were not going to change where we shop.
“They are talking to a particular group of people, like the swinging voter,” he said.
“Where Coles and Woolies have had their share eaten into is in the outer suburbs and lower socio-economic areas.
“Maybe they’ve chosen Normie Rowe because he presents quite well to a white, older and lower-socio economic demographic who shop at Aldi.”
Branding expert Simon Rowell said it was time for Coles to switch tack.
“They’ve gone down a direction with the advertising style and it is really running out of legs. It looks desperate,” he said.
“The no-added hormone message is getting lost in Normie’s terrible singing. You’re so distracted by the execution of the ad, you miss the main point.”
A Coles spokeswoman said the company had “heard a wide range of opinions about our latest commercial”.
Related articles
- Much ado … (godsmustardseed.com)
- Coles unearths Normie Rowe for Shakin’ All Over remake (mumbrella.com.au)
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