From Deliveroo to Yorkshire Tea, brands were quick to cash in on the Beckham family drama. But, asks Emily Ash Powell, when reactive marketing punches down on real people, is chasing cultural relevance really worth it?
A reactive On The Beach ad riffing off the Beckham saga
Blue Monday was a really good day to be a Very Online Person. For a day that encourages us to step outside, prioritize self-care, and reach out to others, it turned out to be one where the nation was glued to its phones. So much for the year of ‘going analog,’ eh?
But in terms of raising the nation’s mood and increasing social connection, there was probably no better gift than a new episode of celebrity drama to drop on our feeds. Indeed, this year’s Blue Monday was the official unveiling of the new order in the Beckham family, with their eldest son, Brooklyn, taking to Instagram to share a series of ‘bombshell’ stories that ‘broke his silence’ on the ongoing rift between him and his wife, Nicola Peltz, and the rest of the family.
Immediately after Brooklyn’s ‘nuclear’ posts were dropped, endless writers and publications rushed to unpack the drama, to analyze the ‘wild’ claims and to reveal the origins of the family feud. Creators and professional funny people raced to make memes to be shared in group chats. To quote Pam from Gavin & Stacey, ‘it’s all the drama, Mick.’ We just love it.
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And the brands know we love it, too. Because less than 24 hours after Brooklyn Beckham had broken his ‘silence’ over his (I assume devastating) family rift, brands had jumped on the brandwagon to add to the noise.
Deliveroo, a food delivery app, posted a TikTok with a Brooklyn Beckham-ified version of Lily Allen’s album cover (originally designed by the artist Nieves Gonzàlez) with the caption, ‘pov: brooklyn delivering the tea last night’. On the Beach, a package holiday company, created an OOH ad that showed a ticket to Brooklyn being torn in two, with the line, ‘We get it. Sometimes families fall out.’ to promote a new free cancellation policy called the ‘Family Fall-Out Perk’. Even Yorkshire Tea got involved, sharing a replica of Brooklyn’s black background/white text Instagram story, in which they ‘broke their own silence’ over their tea bags deciding to ‘shake off the controlling influence of spoons.’ (Yes, I was confused, too.)
Who had to work late for this? I wondered this morning, with my head in my hands. And for what? For the self-congratulating LinkedIn bubble to reshare, exclaiming, ‘now that’s how you do reactive marketing!!!’? Reader, it isn’t. At least not for me.
I know that the world loves a feud, a scandal and a rift. We were all hooked by the Coldplay kisscam scandal last year, featuring the CEO and the head of HR of Astronomer. But there’s a difference between the relevant, reactive marketing of Astronomer recruiting Gwyneth Paltrow as a ‘temporary’ spokesperson for an ad about the company’s latest data and AI products, and these desperate attempts from brands to shoehorn their way into the cultural conversation by punching down on a piece of news – one that has very real people, with very real feelings, behind the scenes.
I get it! We all want our brands to stay relevant! But our brands should stay relevant to our products and to our audiences – not just to the latest drop of celeb gossip in the news cycle. As Vikki Ross says, we should ‘stay classy’, and maybe weigh up whether the quick joke for a cheap laugh will really serve our brand – or just leave a bitter taste in the long run.
Humanity and empathy are really key elements of creating work that has lasting impact and effectiveness. They’re also really key elements of being a good human being. And perhaps I’m misremembering, but aren’t they also the very things we said AI could never ever replicate or take away from us? Maybe we should make sure we don’t give them up so willingly.
Emily Ash Powell is a freelance writer, brand consultant and creative leader and the author of Hurdling, the Substack that looks at how we get over the things that get in our way.