Rip off designer water and sex letters advertising cars

Two marketing "muck up's" this week already! What a fine year this is going to be. First off we have the revelation that Coca Cola are using public tap water to produce it's expensive designer label Dasani, which retails at 95p per 500ml while they are being charged 0.0316p per 500ml by Thames water who have already purified the water which passes 99.92 per cent of quality tests. Coca Cola then purify it even further apparently and add some nice flavours. This means that it isn't the same water that comes from the taps at its plant in Sidcup but the damage is done and the PR teams will have been working all night. The bottling plant cost �7m to build but I suspect that this revelation it is going to cost a lot more than that in lost profit. Full story in the Times.

Meanwhile BBC's Watchdog consumer program poured scorn on Jaguar Cars for an abrasive and upsetting sexually orientated mail shot campaign.

This is what the Birmingham Post had to report:
"Promotional material for the XK8 sports car � which included a letter littered with sexual innuendo � was sent to 35,000 existing and prospective customers. Many women, and a handful of men, found this disturbing as it was not obvious that it came from Jaguar. "
"The promotional letter, purporting be from a woman who signed herself Elizabeth Jones, read: �Everyone has their weakness. So what might drive you wild?

�Could it be the touch of skin on your fingertips? A long, honed body? Firm sensuous curves? A deep, responsive purr?

�Or do you simply like the feeling of raw power? If so, I think I have the perfect match for you. I�ll send you a photograph next week.�

It was only when a second letter arrived a week later in an envelope marked �Prepare to be seduced� that it became apparent it was a promotion for the new XK8.

Full story at the Birmingham Post

Posted by Simon at March 3, 2004 1:07 AM

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