Never thought we’d be choosing a Vodafone ad and it’s not because it knocks everything else into a cocked hat this week. But there seems to be a mini-trend for British ads to wear their patriotism rather more loudly than hitherto, very very big companies – who’ve taken a fair bit of stick recently – leading the way.
Vodafone here is boasting that it’s now the UK’s biggest mobile network after swallowing Three while BT was doing much the same in its recent ‘Brilliant Things’ campaign via Uncommon.
Do such cheerleader ads work in the social media age when we know, as we’re packing our own shopping, that Tesco’s boss gets ten million quid a year and Sainsbury’s is changing its rules so Simon Roberts gets £7m?
Three, of course, was one of the few big brands that customers did actually like, not least because of the ads. Can Leo somehow preserve this? O2 is struggling with the hugely unloved Virgin Media.
