A British Gas promotion for its Local Heroes home maintenance service asking ‘Need a plumber pronto?’ has dampened the public’s enthusiasm to read The Metro after some cleverly-intentioned advertising turned out to be all wet.
The Campaign Live website reported on commuters’ reaction when they reached for the free newspaper distributed on public transport. Campaign’s article describes how a parade of people drew back when they noticed that the top copy was soaking wet. Most people decided it wasn’t worth the risk to dig underneath for one that hadn’t been contaminated by an unidentified liquid of dubious origins, and carried on their way without their daily dose of Metro news.
What the commuters didn’t realise is that the British Gas cover wrap on the newspaper had been purposely designed with a background showing a messy spill, but it looked real enough to cause concern and, ultimately, disgust in would-be readers. The ‘Need a plumber pronto?’ slogan was ignored in favour of what looked like a real hazard.
In the end, the ad for British Gas’s Local Heroes home maintenance service may not have made the big splash the company had hoped for.
