It would appear that The
Halifax have finally got wind of the fact that the we are having
a bit of a tough time of it out in the real world. I say this
because, as you'll have noticed, the advertising campaign featuring staff
having a right old laugh at 'Radio Halifax' have finally been put to rest.
Instead, the fun-loving financiers have now been brought together to
give us an altogether more toned-down rendition of 'I'll
be there'.
Now I'm tempted to suggest that
if they really wanted to win hearts and minds, getting back behind
the counter and putting the music careers on hold until the
economy perks up a bit mightn't be a bad idea. The move to a more
recessive staff presence in the new advertising (there's only 100 of them in
the featured choir) may go some way to convince us that all is well again
at The Halifax. It's possibly less convincing for the remaining staff
that didn't make it into the choir - they're probably having to do
double-shifts to cover for their singing chums who are now preparing for X
Factor.
Whether or not you think
the new advertising is an improvment on what has gone before, and I do, it
is probably unfair to lay responsibility at the door of the incumbent
advertising agency. One imagines that 'staff' remain a large element of
the advertising brief.
There's a long history of staff
and clients appearing in ads - who can forget Victor Kiam doing his best Leslie
Nielsen impersonation. So let's not leap to judge. Instead, let's take the
opportunity to enjoy this well-known advertising truism which sums up the
issue of clients appearing in ads most eloquently,
“If the client moans and sighs,
make his logo twice the size.
If he still should prove
refractory,
show a picture of his factory.
Only in the gravest cases,
should you show your client’s
faces.”
Amen.
