I want a hero

The past 18 months has been the era of villains.

First it was the nasty bankers that soon expanded to include all “big business” that reached a crescendo with anger and fury at the political class. The corporate world has either tried to stay below the radar, hoping not to be noticed, or to prostrate themselves as being ‘sorry’ and promising to do better.

Nobody has tried to claim the space of being a hero – a company that is sympathetic to the mood of the citizenry and who wants to do the best for them.

This weekend Marks and Spencer must have spent a fortune, even at today’s highly discounted advertising rates, to splater much of the Sunday press with a campaign about its caring and green credentials. The series of ads started with the one above then moved into product specific pitches.

About a year back I sat through a cringe-inducing presentation by a guy from M&S who was selling this “doing the right thing” concept. The audience included a large number of older people. It didn’t go down a storm.

I would be fascinated to know how this new campaign is being received by the older demographic. My hunch is with eye-rolling indifference but I might be totally wrong. Dick Stroud