Bill Hicks once described anyone working in marketing or advertising as “Satan’s little helpers. You are the ruiner of all things good.”
Maybe that explains why Piers Morgan has taken up the role of promoting steak for Marks & Spencers.
For those of you lucky enough not to have seen the new M&S advert – Morgan explains how when he buys a steak it must be succulent, devine and “as thick as my chubby thumb”.
Celebrity endorsement is nothing new. Penny McDonald, Managing Director of The Outside Organisation, said, “good brand endorsement is about commitment. It shouldn’t be just about the money. The team behind the brand must research the “talent” and the “talent” must love the brand. Be it a well-known household brand or a charity, you must get the chemistry right and brand-celebrity tie-ups can work handsomely.”
Therefore can anyone please explain to me exactly what was M&S’s thought process behind selecting Morgan to promote their steaks? Were they all sitting around thinking – who can we hire? who is trustworthy and highly respected by all? I know! An ex-tabloid editor who was sacked for publishing fake photos of British soldiers abusing Iraqis and also makes little girls cry on TV by telling them they can’t sing! He’ll do. Or maybe they’ve been reading Ian Hyland’s News of the World TV Column, most recently calling Morgan a sad, smarmy, balding, tubby, right-wing relic.
Who knows, but the point I’m trying to make is why would anyone buy something promoted by a journalist? What next? Kelvin McKenzie selling real estate in Liverpool?
Then where?! Tony Blair promoting Middle Eastern holidays? Max Mosley selling riding equipment? Peter Sutcliffe selling Durex?
I’ve always respected Piers Morgan. Love him or hate him (and most people feel the latter) he was a superb editor – the youngest editor on Fleet Street, editing the News of the World at only 28. He broke fantastic stories and produced enduring papers culminating in winning Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2002.
I’m not sure who to blame for this. Of course Morgan will chase the money, who wouldn’t. But then he did just sign a new £4m deal with ITV for Britain’s Got Talent, so he’s not short of a few.
I wonder what he would have said if he was still an editor and another fellow journalist had sold out…
After all, he did say in a 2004 interview: “I have not been forced to accept crap telly work on the Living channel for 20 quid and a couple of Milky Bars.” Hmmm.
