21st Jul 11
M&S axes glamorous TV ads
by Katie Naylor
In with the old: M&S ditch ads after accusations that models are too young
In with the old: M&S ditch ads after accusations that models are too young
The adverts that saw Twiggy’s return to our television screens and saved the image of Marks & Spencer have officially been ditched.
The retail giant made the decision to scrap to glamorous television adverts – which featured female celebrities such as Twiggy, Myleene Class, Danni Minogue and Lizzie Jagger – after widespread complaints that the store is not taking its older customers into account.
When the commercials were first screened in 2004, the four models who were featured were Twiggy, Erin O’Connor, Noemie Lenoir and Laura Bailey. Twiggy remained right up until the final line-up, nicknamed the Fabulous Five, which also featured former X Factor judge Danni Minogue, television presenter Lisa Snowdon, Brazilian model Ana Beatriz Barros and singer VV Brown.
Reports say that 61-year-old Twiggy and 39-year-old Snowdon will continue to work for the group but only feature on in-store and billboard promotions. Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp, 38, who was acquired to front M&S’s first menswear campaign will also be kept on.
A spokeswoman from the retailer refused to comment about scrapping the advert. When questioned whether Ms Snowdon and Twiggy would be featuring in M&S TV campaigns, she said that they do not comment on future advertising plans.
The chief executive of M&S, Marc Boland, who upon taking over from Sir Richard Rose in May last year, described his plans for the group as “evolution not revolution”, has initially praised the star-studded campaigns. He also injected an extra £12m into the company’s £60m advertising budget.
M&S launched its much hyped Spring 2011 campaign in April. The promotion was led by an advert which featured the five women dancing at a pool party, frolicking at a Miami marina and a bikini-clad Snowdon cruising on a speedboat.
However, despite the multi-million pound layout and lavish style, the advert did not appeal to consumers who had already been hit by the downturn. There were also claims that the campaigns ignored the retailer’s older female customers and they were branded ‘cheesy’ by industry experts.
It becomes the second time the store has made a high-profile U-turn relating to advertising in recent times after it binned its controversial food campaigns last year. The adverts showed lingering shots of ready-made dishes and breathy voiceovers by Dervla Kirwan, the former Ballykissangel actress. However, critics were not impressed, labelling it as ‘food porn’.
But the first television campaign back in 2004 was widely viewed as turning the company’s fortunes around. Sir Stuart Rose, along with his marketing director Steven Sharp, came up with the idea of the M&S girls after Sharp had a chance encounter with Twiggy in a Suffolk pub.
Our Stories
- Sandwich labels misleading shoppers
- Unemployment drops unexpectedly but worse still to come
- Tesco store managers see annual bonuses cut
- Royal Mail: half London sorting office to be sold
- Panasonic announces £3.4bn loss
- Thomas Cook attacks government over holidays at home promotion
- Clinton Cards falls into administration
- Wet April sees high street spending fall
- Five tough years ahead for UK jobs market
- Deal struck to save Thomas Cook
- Discount battle leads to sales decline at Morrisons
- Wetherspoon founder: pubs plans to be hit by taxes
Popular Topics
afghanistan al qaeda amazon Apple ASDA bank of england barack obama BBC british airways china david cameron Debenhams Egypt facebook george osborne Google India ipad iphone ivory coast japan Libya London M&S Marks & Spencer Morrisons nhs North Korea Office for National Statistics pakistan protests russia Sainsbury’s South Korea terrorism Tesco Tunisia UK UK retailers UK retail news UK shopping us Waitrose Wikileaks x factorArchive
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- January 2009
